Boundless Inheritance Through Shabbos
אמרו חז"ל המענג את השבת נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים כמ"ש נחלת יעקב אביך כו'
Chazal said that one who delights in the Shabbos is granted an inheritance without boundaries, as it is written, "the inheritance of Yaakov your father" (Yeshayah 58:14).
The Sfas Emes opens with the teaching of Chazal that delighting in Shabbos earns a boundless inheritance, citing the verse about the inheritance of Yaakov.
כי מצד שפעו ית' אין הפסק ומצר
For from the standpoint of His blessed flow of bounty there is no cessation and no narrowness.
He clarifies that Hashem's outpouring of bounty itself never stops and has no constriction.
רק ע"י שכל ההשפעה אל האדם צריך לבוא ע"י עוה"ז
Rather, it is only because all the bounty must reach a person by way of this world.
The limitation arises only because that bounty must be channeled to a person through the medium of this world.
כי האדם בגופו נדבק בעוה"ז לכן מצד הקבלה יש מצרים
Since a person, in his physical body, is bound up with this world, therefore from the standpoint of the one who receives there is narrowness.
Because a person's body is attached to this physical world, the narrowness exists on the receiving end, not in the Giver.
ובשבת קודש שכל הנבראים יש להם עלי' למקומם כמ"ש אל יצא איש ממקומו פי' בזוה"ק מקומו של עולם והוא השי"ת שבשבת קודש מתבטלין הכל אליו ית' ממילא הוא נחלה בלי מצרים והוא נשמה יתירה שיש לבנ"י בשבת קודש כי השגת האדם היא במדה בכל הימים
But on the holy Shabbos, when all created beings have an ascent back to their place, as it is written, "let no man go out from his place" (Shemos 16:29), which the Zohar HaKadosh explains to mean the Place of the world, which is Hashem Yisbarach, for on the holy Shabbos all become nullified to Him, blessed is He, and consequently it is an inheritance without boundaries, and this is the neshamah yeseirah which Bnei Yisrael have on the holy Shabbos, for a person's grasp on all the other days is within a measure.
On Shabbos every creation rises back to its source in Hashem, the Place of the world, and all is nullified to Him, so the bounty arrives without constriction; this is the neshamah yeseirah, since on weekdays a person's perception is bounded by measure.
אבל בשבת קודש הוא בלי מדה ושיעור
But on the holy Shabbos it is without measure and without limit.
On Shabbos, by contrast, a person's grasp is no longer confined to any measure or limit.
והוא ע"י האבות
And this comes about through the Avos.
This boundless Shabbos attainment is reached through the Avos.
שכשהאדם מבטל עצמו לשורשו באמת מסייע לו זכות האבות
For when a person truly nullifies himself to his root, the merit of the Avos comes to his aid.
When a person genuinely nullifies himself to his root, the zechus Avos supports and assists him.
ונשמה יתירה בשבת קודש משארת רושם בגוף האדם ג"כ
And the neshamah yeseirah of the holy Shabbos leaves an impression upon a person's body as well.
The neshamah yeseirah does not vanish entirely when Shabbos ends; it leaves a residue imprinted on the body.
כמ"ש בספרים שמנשמת האדם נשאר הבל דגרמי גם אחר הסתלקותו
As is written in the sefarim, that of a person's neshamah there remains the "hevel d'garmei" (the breath of the bones) even after its departure.
He brings a proof from the sefarim that even after the neshamah departs at death, the "hevel d'garmei," a subtle breath in the bones, remains.
כמו כן מנשמה יתירה נשאר רשימה על כל ימי השבוע
So too, from the neshamah yeseirah there remains an impression upon all the days of the week.
In the same way, a trace of the neshamah yeseirah lingers and carries through every day of the coming week.
וזהו תלוי בהתדבקות האדם בנשמה יתירה ומשתוקק שלא להיות נפרד ממנה וקשה אליו פרידתה כנ"ל:
And this depends upon a person's clinging to the neshamah yeseirah, and his yearning not to be parted from it, and how hard its departure is for him, as explained above.
Whether this trace endures depends on how tightly a person clings to the neshamah yeseirah and how deeply he yearns not to be separated from it, feeling its departure as a genuine loss.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the teaching of Chazal that one who delights in Shabbos receives a boundless inheritance. Hashem's flow of bounty is in itself limitless, and any narrowness comes only from the receiving side, since a person's body is bound to this world and can take in His bounty only within a measure. On the holy Shabbos, however, all creation ascends and is nullified to Hashem, the Place of the world, so the bounty arrives without boundary; this is the neshamah yeseirah, an attainment beyond all measure that is reached through the Avos and through a person's true bittul to his root. Just as the "hevel d'garmei" remains in the bones even after the neshamah departs, the neshamah yeseirah leaves an impression that carries through the weekdays. Whether this impression endures depends on how powerfully a person clings to the neshamah yeseirah and yearns not to be parted from it.