Shabbos Relief
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Shabbos Relief
The Gemara says כיון ששבת ווי אבדה נפש; once one has completed Shabbos, woe, he has lost the soul.[1]
R’ Moshe Kobriner[2]
gives us a novel interpretation and says the Nefesh removes (אבדה) the woe and pain through Shabbos. Indeed, we sing in the Zemer
on Friday night in יום זה לישראל- לנפש מצרה
תסיר אנחה; for a troubled soul, it removes moaning.
The מתוק מדבש[3] says that ‘one needs to
accept Shabbos with happiness and delight in it. Included in delighting in
Shabbos is to distance oneself from sadness. With our eyes, we saw many people
that a certain instance of pain happened on Erev Shabbos and through accepting
Shabbos with happiness and diverting from the pain, the situation reversed from
יגון לשמחה מאפילה לאורה; darkness to light.’
[1] Beitza 16a
[2] Toras Avos, Shabbos, 22
[3] Taamai HaMinhagim, pg 151. Adam Neumann, an
Israeli-American billionaire businessman, once said, “Shabbat…it’s
never been a day more relevant than today as technology takes over our lives.
The average human being will look at his phone 160 times a day… And then comes
Shabbat and we disconnect from technology. You connect to your loved ones and
friends, and you connect to something greater than yourself. You suddenly
remember why you are here and what it is all about…
[4] The following story of the Levush is brought in a
sefer from the Chofetz Chaim (Machane Yisrael, chapter 19). While in his youth,
the Levush once found himself trapped in the home of a woman who tried to
seduce him. His only escape route was through a chute that was used to empty
the house’s sewage system. Without hesitation he escaped through there, ruining
the clothes he was wearing. Following this, it was decided in heaven that as a
reward he would become the author of 10 Sefarim each known as the Levush.
Indeed, לבוש;
Levush means garment alluding to his great deed in fleeing from sin.
[5] Mekadshai Shevii, p 307
