R. M. Levi
Based on lessons by Rabbanit M. Levi (daughter of Rav Shimshon Dovid Pincus)
We should not forget that, alongside the prohibitions of Shabbat, so much is permitted! What a great day it is! The Almighty spends it with us! These are not merely beautiful words—this is reality! We forget everything that worried and concerned us during the week.
Just us and You, Almighty! This is the power of Shabbat.
And how sad that prayer may be neglected precisely on Shabbat. A young woman who prays with feeling every morning decides to linger in bed on Shabbat. She glances at the clock, rolls over onto her other side—a little longer, just a little more… Then, five minutes before the men return from synagogue, she jumps up and launches herself onto the prayer expressway, gesturing to her family: “Uh! Oh! Well, um…” She hurries, hurries to finish, and stumbles into Kiddush.
Shabbat is a day when it is worth getting up earlier to pray. I remember how my mother prayed… Her prayers were special on any day. She prayed three times a day. She would chant Shacharit, enunciating every word… Each of her prayers was a moving experience for us. But I can never forget the melody to which she sang “Pesukei Dezimra” on Shabbat… When we were older, Mother would go to the synagogue on Shabbat morning, but when we were little, she went only for the Torah reading and Musaf. (Missing the Torah reading in the synagogue was unthinkable to her!) She prayed Shacharit at home, and I remember waking up to the melody of “Pesukei Dezimra.” For me, that melody was an inseparable part of Shabbat.
On Shabbat we have a little more time, and we are not as tired. We can pray differently, read the weekly Torah portion. Spend the day with the Almighty.
My students sometimes admit that they do not feel this; to them, Shabbat feels no different from other days. Chatting with friends, reading an interesting book, catching up on sleep… Nothing more.
Father explained that Jews have 613 commandments. And non-Jews can fulfill almost every one of these commandments, too. And receive a reward for doing so! Except for Shabbat… Someone undergoing giyur is not permitted to observe Shabbat until becoming Jewish. The Sages explain this through an allegory. If a king is speaking with the queen and an outsider bursts in on them, would he not be executed?! Father put this allegory into terms we could understand.
A Jewish wedding. A new Jewish home is being built. The bride and groom on the most important day of their lives. Cheder yichud. They are alone together for the first time. Suddenly the door swings open, and a cleaner walks in with a mop: “Excuse me, I have to clean in here… I won’t disturb you…” Of course, he will be shown out of the room. He most certainly is disturbing them! The cheder yichud is no place for outsiders!
Father explained that Shabbat is the cheder yichud of the Almighty and the Jewish people.
In our generation, a worldview foreign to us can easily enter our homes. Not necessarily through the door. Through the books we read, the clothes we wear, the way we speak… All of this intrudes on our private time with the Almighty. Father described a situation he considered absurd.
A Jewish mother lights the Shabbat candles and prays. Then she sits down on the sofa, settles her Jewish children beside her, and… reads them a non-Jewish fairy tale!
Shabbat is a special day when we should approach what we read and what we talk about with greater reverence. If there is nothing foreign around us on Shabbat, there will be room for the Almighty. We will be alone with the Almighty, and no one will disturb us! We will be able to store up closeness to the Almighty, faith in the Almighty, and a sense of His presence for the entire week.