Drawing on Shabbos to refine the world

ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע.

"And Yaakov went out from Be'er Sheva" (Bereishis 28:10).

The Sefas Emes opens with Yaakov's departure from Be'er Sheva toward Charan, which he will read as a movement rooted in the holiness of Shabbos.

במדרש אז תלך לבטח כו' כי יעקב הכניס עצמו בעובי הקורה לכנוס בכל אלה המקומות הצריכין תיקון כדאיתא בזוה"ק.

In the Midrash: "then you will walk securely…" (Mishlei 3:23) — for Yaakov thrust himself into the thick of the beam (i.e., into the heart of the difficulty), to enter all these places that require tikkun, as is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh.

Yaakov deliberately entered the dangerous, lowly places of Lavan's domain in order to refine and rectify the holy sparks scattered there.

והנה א"י אדם להכניס עצמו במקום הזה עד שיהי' למעלה מן הטבע וזה נקרא אז כמ"ש בזוה"ק בשלח א' על ז' כי הטבע הוא כלל ז' ימי בראשית.

And behold, a person cannot thrust himself into such a place unless he is above nature, and this is called "az" (then), as the Zohar HaKadosh says in Beshalach — "one upon seven" — for nature is the totality of the seven days of creation.

To safely enter such lowly places one must stand above nature; "az" (spelled aleph-zayin, "one over seven") signifies rising above the seven days of nature to the level of the One beyond them.

ולכן שבת קודש הוא אור שבעת הימים והוא מעין עוה"ב.

Therefore Shabbos kodesh is the light of the seven days, and it is a foretaste of Olam HaBa.

Shabbos gathers and transcends the light of all seven days, which is why it is a taste of the World to Come — the "above nature" level.

ונק' באר שבע.

And it is called "Be'er Sheva" (the well of seven).

Shabbos is hinted in the name "Be'er Sheva" — the wellspring of the seven days.

וז"ש ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע שהתקשר עצמו בבחי' שבת כנ"ל.

And this is the meaning of "and Yaakov went out from Be'er Sheva" — that he bound himself to the aspect of Shabbos, as above.

Yaakov "went out from Be'er Sheva" by first attaching himself to the Shabbos dimension, the above-nature level, before descending into Charan.

וכן הוא בכל שבת קודש שע"י שמקשר האדם עצמו בשבת יכול לירד לימי המעשה שהוא תיקון דברי עוה"ז ומעשים גשמיים.

And so it is with every Shabbos kodesh — that by a person binding himself to Shabbos, he is able to descend into the weekdays, which is the rectification of the matters of this world and physical deeds.

The lesson for every week: by drawing strength from Shabbos, a person can then descend into the mundane weekdays and rectify the physical world, just as Yaakov did.

עוד פי' באר שבע ע"י שבשבת מתכללין כל הנבראים ומתיחדין להיות אחד.

A further explanation of "Be'er Sheva": through Shabbos all creatures are gathered together and unified to become one.

On Shabbos all of creation is drawn together and united into a single whole.

כמ"ש אתיחדת ברזא דאחד.

As is said: "it becomes unified in the secret of the One (raza d'echad)."

The Zohar describes Shabbos as the time when all unites in the mystery of Hashem's Oneness.

ולכן נפתח פי הבאר בע"ש כמ"ש ונאספו שמה כו' וגללו את האבן כו'.

Therefore the mouth of the well was opened on Erev Shabbos, as it is written: "and all the flocks were gathered there… and they rolled the stone…" (Bereishis 29:3).

The gathering of the flocks and rolling away the stone from the well hints at this Shabbos ingathering and unification.

ולכן בשבת קודש שמתיחדין כל העולמות וכל הנבראים לכן מתגלה פי הבאר.

Therefore on Shabbos kodesh, when all the worlds and all creatures are unified, the mouth of the well is revealed.

Because Shabbos unifies all worlds, the hidden wellspring of holiness is uncovered, just as the well's mouth was opened.

והשיבו את האבן כו' כי בודאי מי שזוכה לתקן עצמו ולגבור נגד היצה"ר רואה אח"כ כי בא ע"י היצה"ר ליתרון.

"And they returned the stone…" (Bereishis 29:3) — for surely, one who merits to rectify himself and to prevail against the yetzer hara afterward sees that through the yetzer hara he came to an advantage (yisron).

Returning the stone hints that one who overcomes the yetzer hara later recognizes that the very struggle brought him a greater gain than he would have had without it.

כי זה הי' כוונת הבורא כמ"ש טוב מאוד הוא היצה"ר.

For this was the intention of Hashem, as Chazal said: "very good" — this refers to the yetzer hara (Bereishis Rabbah 9:7).

The yetzer hara was placed in creation by Hashem's design, called "very good," precisely so that overcoming it would yield this advantage.

וזה שהכתוב מעיד כי הזוכין לגלול האבן מבינים זאת.

And this is what the verse testifies — that those who merit to roll away the stone understand this.

Those who succeed in "rolling away the stone" (overcoming the obstacle of the yetzer hara) come to grasp that the obstacle itself served a purpose.

ומצדיקים את הבורא ומשיבין האבן למקומו כנ"ל:

And they justify Hashem and return the stone to its place, as above.

They affirm Hashem's righteousness in having created the yetzer hara, and "return the stone to its place" — accepting that the very obstacle was part of His good plan.

Summary: Yaakov "went out from Be'er Sheva" by first binding himself to the aspect of Shabbos — the "above nature" level ("az," one over the seven days) that gathers and transcends the seven days of creation. Only from that height could he safely thrust himself into the lowly places of Charan to refine the holy sparks. So too every week: by drawing on Shabbos, when all creation is unified in the secret of Hashem's Oneness and the hidden wellspring is revealed (the opened mouth of the well), a person can descend to rectify the physical weekdays. And the "returning of the stone" teaches that one who overcomes the yetzer hara comes to see it as a "very good" creation that brought him a true advantage — and so he justifies Hashem.