Shabbos delight and the boundless inheritance

ופרצת ימה וקדמה כו'.

"And you shall burst forth westward and eastward…"

The Sefas Emes begins with Hashem's blessing to Yaakov that his offspring will spread out in every direction without limit.

דרשו חז"ל על פסוק והאכלתיך נחלת יעקב אביך המענג שבת נותנין לו נחלה בלי מצרים.

Chazal expounded on the verse "and I will feed you the inheritance of Yaakov your father": one who delights in Shabbos (me'aneg Shabbos) is given an inheritance without boundaries (nachalah bli metzarim).

Chazal connect that boundless blessing to Shabbos: whoever takes proper oneg (delight) in Shabbos is granted a "limitless inheritance," an unbounded portion.

דאיתא שם שדי שאמר לעולמו די שהיתה מתרחבת והולכת בלי שיעור.

For it is brought there: "Sha-dai" — He who said to His world "enough (dai)," for it was expanding and spreading without measure.

The Name "Sha-dai" is read as "She'amar dai" — Hashem told the world "enough"; the world had been expanding endlessly until He set its limits.

והצמצום הי' עבור הרשעים שאינם כדאי להשתמש כו'.

And the contraction (tzimtzum) was for the sake of the resha'im (wicked), who are not worthy to make use [of the boundless light].

The limiting of creation was necessary because of the wicked, who are unfit to draw from the unbounded Divine light.

כמ"ש חז"ל שלכך גנז אור הראשון כו'.

As Chazal said, that for this reason He concealed the original light (or haganuz).

This is parallel to Chazal's teaching that Hashem hid away the primordial light of creation so the wicked could not benefit from it.

נמצא כל גבולי ארץ מתבטלין להצדיק.

It emerges that all the boundaries of the earth are nullified for the tzaddik.

For the righteous, who are worthy of the unbounded light, those very limits dissolve — the tzaddik is not confined by the world's boundaries.

כמ"ש שהמלך פורץ גדר ואין מוחין בידו.

As it is said, that a king may break through a fence and none may protest against him.

Just as a king has the right to break through any barrier unhindered, the tzaddik likewise breaks through all boundaries.

כי הצדיקים מקיימין העולם.

For the tzaddikim sustain the world.

Since it is the righteous who uphold the very existence of the world, the limits that were set for the unworthy do not apply to them.

ולכן אין המצרים עומדין בפניהם.

Therefore the boundaries (metzarim) do not stand before them.

No constraint can hold back the tzaddik, for the world's restrictions exist only to keep the unworthy from the light.

ובאמת זה ניתן לכל איש ישראל.

And in truth this is given to every Jew.

The Sefas Emes adds that this capacity for the boundless is not reserved for great tzaddikim alone; it is the birthright of every member of Bnei Yisrael.

אך ע"י שפנימיות האדם מתלבש בגוף מזה בא הגבולים.

But because the penimiyus (inner essence) of a person is clothed within the body, from this come the boundaries.

The limitations a person experiences arise precisely because his inner soul is enclothed in a physical body, which constrains its boundless inner nature.

וכפי התפשטות כח הנשמה בגוף נאמר כי ירחיב ה' את גבולך כו' כמ"ש במ"א.

And according to the spreading of the power of the neshamah within the body, it is said, "when Hashem will broaden your boundary," as is explained elsewhere.

To the degree that a person allows the light of his neshamah to permeate his body, his "boundary" is correspondingly widened — the constraints loosen as the soul's influence expands.

ולכן נאמר והאכלתיך כמ"ש שהכל מוכן ואין לנו פה לאכול.

Therefore it says "and I will feed you," as it is said that everything is prepared, but we have no "mouth" with which to eat.

The blessing is phrased as Hashem "feeding" us because all the bounty is already prepared and waiting; what we lack is the proper vessel — the refined body — capable of receiving and "eating" it.

לכן אכילת שבת מצוה כי הוא מתקן הגוף ובא לנחלה בלי מצרים כנ"ל:

Therefore eating on Shabbos is a mitzvah, for it rectifies the body and one comes to a boundless inheritance, as above.

This is why eating on Shabbos is a mitzvah: the holy Shabbos meal refines and elevates the body itself, making it a fit vessel, so that one attains the limitless inheritance promised to those who delight in Shabbos.

Summary: The boundless blessing of "you shall burst forth" is the "inheritance without boundaries" granted to one who delights in Shabbos. Hashem contracted creation (and hid the primordial light) only because of the unworthy; for the tzaddik — and for every Jew — those limits dissolve. Our boundaries stem from the soul being clothed in the body, so as the neshamah's light spreads through the body the limits widen. Eating on Shabbos is a mitzvah precisely because it refines the body into a vessel fit to receive that limitless, prepared bounty.