Vayakhel תרנ”ד 4
בפסוק לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם ביום השבת.
“In the verse: ‘You shall not kindle fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath.’”
The Sefat Emet begins by anchoring the discussion in the Torah’s prohibition of kindling fire on Shabbat.
איתא בזוה”ק פ’ זו ובפ’ בראשית כי בשבת בחי’ מאורי אור. ומאורי אש. מסתלקין בשבת.
“It is stated in the Zohar, in this section and in Parashat Bereishit, that on Shabbat the qualities of the ‘luminaries of light’ and the ‘luminaries of fire’ depart.”
The Zohar teaches that certain spiritual forces associated with fire withdraw on Shabbat, leaving only pure divine illumination.
לכן במוצאי שבת מברכין מאורי אש להחזירן למקומם ע”ש.
“Therefore on Saturday night we bless the ‘luminaries of fire’ to return them to their place.”
The Havdalah blessing reintroduces the energy of fire, which had been absent during Shabbat.
וכתבנו מזה בפ’ מקץ הרמז כי בעוה”ז כל ההארה בכח מה ששורפין ומבערין הפסולת כמו הנר שמאיר רק כפי מה שיש לו לשרוף ולכלות.
“We wrote in Parashat Miketz the hint that in this world all illumination comes through burning and removing waste, like a candle that shines only according to what it has to burn and consume.”
In the physical world, light is produced only through consuming fuel; spiritually, illumination appears through refining and removing impurity.
וזה הרמז שאין העין רואה מתוך הלבן אלא מן השחור.
“This is the hint that the eye sees not from the white but from the black.”
True perception emerges not from superficial brightness but from the disciplined, focused point of vision.
לומר כי עיקר הראיה כששומרין העין שלא להסתכל בגשמיות אז רואין בעין השכל המאיר כמ”ש לעיל בשם המדרש ועוצם עיניו כו’ מלך ביפיו תחזינה.
“To teach that real sight comes when one guards the eye from gazing at physicality; then one sees with the intellect’s illuminating eye, as the Midrash says: ‘He closes his eyes… the King in His beauty they shall behold.’”
By resisting material distraction, a person opens a deeper spiritual vision.
וכן איתא בזוה”ק וארא סתום עיניך וחזור גלגלך ויתחורין לך נהורין דסתימין.
“Similarly the Zohar (Va’era) says: ‘Close your eyes and turn your gaze inward, and hidden lights will be revealed to you.’”
The Zohar describes inner illumination that appears when outward vision is restrained.
אכן בש”ק אין צריך בירור פסולת רק אור המאיר.
“However, on Shabbat there is no need to purify waste—only the illuminating light remains.”
Shabbat lifts a person above the weekday struggle of refinement into a state of pure light.
ובאמת צריך אדם לברר מעשיו בימי המעשה שלא יהי’ לו פסולת ביום השבת.
“But truly, a person must refine his deeds during the weekdays so that he has no waste on Shabbat.”
Weekday labor prepares one’s inner world so that Shabbat can be fully luminous.
וזהו פי’ לא תבערו אש כו’ ביום השבת.
“This is the meaning of: ‘Do not kindle fire… on the Sabbath day.’”
The prohibition hints that the burning process of refinement belongs to the weekdays, not Shabbat.
ובאמת השבת הוא מעין עוה”ב וכמו שצריכין לברר כל הפסולת בעולם הזה לזכך החומר להיות מוכן לעולם הבא ולא יצטרך להזדכך באשו של גיהנם.
“For Shabbat is truly a taste of the World to Come, just as in this world we must refine all waste to purify the material so it is ready for the next world and not require purification in the fire of Gehenna.”
Shabbat parallels the purified state of the afterlife, where prior refinement prevents harsher purification.
כמו כן צריכין לברר בימי המעשה להיות בשבת מוכן לאור המאיר וזהו עבודת האדם לזכך החומר להפכו לצורה.
“So too we must refine ourselves during the weekdays to be ready for the shining light of Shabbat; this is human work: to purify matter and transform it into form.”
The Sefat Emet frames spiritual practice as elevating raw physicality into spiritual form.
והוא שם איש ואשה כדאיתא בגמרא זכו שכינה ביניהם כו’ וא”ש הוא החומר והיו”ד הוא בחי’ הצורה.
“This is the meaning of ‘man and woman,’ as the Gemara says: If they merit, the Shechinah is between them; the fire (esh) is the material, and the letter yod is the aspect of form.”
The letters of ‘ish’ and ‘isha’ encode the relationship between matter (fire) and divine form (yod or heh).
מטבע של איש החותם שבו. והוא בחי’ שבת ומילה.
“This is the stamp within the nature of a person, and it is the aspect of Shabbat and circumcision.”
Shabbat and brit milah both imprint the human being with the capacity to elevate matter into sanctified form.
The Sefat Emet teaches that weekday refinement enables Shabbat’s pure illumination. Fire represents the consuming process needed to remove impurity, absent on Shabbat because Shabbat is aligned with the World to Come. Human work is to transform materiality into spiritual form, symbolized in the letters of ‘ish’ and ‘isha’ and embodied in Shabbat and circumcision.
