Shabbos as preparation for receiving Torah

בשבת שלפני שבועות צריכין להכין לקבלת התורה כי השבת ניתן קודם התורה שהיא הכנה לקבלת התורה.

On the Shabbos before Shavuos one must prepare for the receiving of the Torah, for Shabbos was given before the Torah, since it is a preparation for receiving the Torah.

The Sefas Emes teaches that Shabbos, given before Matan Torah, is itself the hachanah (preparation) for receiving the Torah — making the Shabbos before Shavuos especially significant.

וכן כתיב וישבות העם ביום השביעי ומשם נסעו להר סיני.

And so it is written, "And the people rested on the seventh day" (Shemos 16:30), and from there they journeyed to Har Sinai.

The Torah records that Bnei Yisrael kept Shabbos (regarding the man) and only afterward traveled toward Sinai.

ויש אומרים בשבת עצמו וי"א ביום ראשון אחר השבת.

And some say [the Torah was given] on Shabbos itself, and some say on the first day after Shabbos.

There is a dispute in Chazal whether Matan Torah occurred on Shabbos or on the day following it.

אבל בכח השבת באו אל הר סיני ויחן שם כאיש אחד בלב אחד זה מכח השבת שנעשין בנ"י אחדות אחד.

But it was by the power of Shabbos that they came to Har Sinai and "encamped (vayichan) there" — "like one man with one heart" (Rashi, Shemos 19:2); this came from the power of Shabbos, that Bnei Yisrael become a single unity.

Whichever view, it was the koach of Shabbos that brought them to Sinai unified "like one man with one heart," for Shabbos forges Bnei Yisrael into achdus.

והוא עצמו בחי' המדבר שהתורה ניתנה בג' דברים באש במים במדבר.

And this very thing is the aspect of the "midbar (wilderness)," for the Torah was given through three things: through fire, through water, and through the wilderness.

The Torah was given in fire, water, and midbar; the wilderness-aspect corresponds to the self-nullification that Shabbos produces.

ומדבר הוא הביטול לבטל הכל להיות כמדבר רק לשמוע דבר ה'.

And "midbar" is bittul — to nullify everything, to be like a wilderness, only to hear the word (dvar) of Hashem.

The midbar represents bittul, emptying oneself of all else, like an open wilderness, ready solely to receive and hear the dvar Hashem.

ויש בכל איש ישראל קצת מזה בכל שבת ששובת מכל המלאכות לכן הוא הכנה אל התורה.

And there is a measure of this in every Jew on each Shabbos, when he rests from all labors; therefore it is a preparation for the Torah.

By ceasing from all melachah on Shabbos, each Jew tastes this bittul, which is why Shabbos serves as the preparation for Torah.

וכן איתא בסדר המעלות ונתן לנו את השבת וקרבנו לפני הר סיני.

And so it is brought in the order of the "ascending levels": "and He gave us the Shabbos," and "He brought us near before Har Sinai."

The liturgical sequence lists Shabbos before being brought to Sinai, again showing Shabbos as the rung that precedes and prepares for Matan Torah.

וכעין שכתבו חז"ל שצריך לעבור השבת על הילד קודם שנכנס לברית מילה כמו כן בכלל ניתן השבת קודם שנכנסנו בברית התורה בהר סיני:

And similar to what Chazal wrote, that a Shabbos must pass over a child before he enters the bris milah — so too, on the collective level, the Shabbos was given before we entered the covenant of the Torah at Har Sinai.

Just as an infant must live through one Shabbos before his bris, so Klal Yisrael had to "pass through" Shabbos before entering the bris of Torah at Sinai — Shabbos being the indispensable preparation.

Summary: Shabbos was given before the Torah as its preparation. It was by the power of Shabbos that Bnei Yisrael came to Har Sinai unified "like one man with one heart." This corresponds to the "midbar" through which the Torah was given — the bittul of nullifying everything to be like a wilderness, ready only to hear the word of Hashem. Every Jew tastes this each Shabbos by resting from all labor; and just as a child must pass through a Shabbos before his bris milah, so Klal Yisrael passed through Shabbos before entering the covenant of Torah at Sinai.