Clarifying Good Before Shabbos

במדרש לטובתך נתתי לך השבת כו'

The Midrash teaches: "For your benefit I gave you the Shabbos," etc.

The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash that Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael Shabbos as a gift for their own benefit. He will now unpack what that benefit consists of.

כי השבת הוא ס' מעין עוה"ב כדאיתא בגמ' וכמו שא"י לזכות לעוה"ב רק ע"י תיקון והכנה בעוה"ז

For Shabbos is one-sixtieth of a taste of Olam Haba, as we find in the Gemara; and just as one cannot merit Olam Haba except through rectification and preparation in this world,

Shabbos is a foretaste of Olam Haba. Just as Olam Haba can only be reached through the avodah of this world, so too Shabbos can only be reached through the preparation of the weekdays.

כן בימי המעשה הכנה לשבת כדאיתא מי שטרח בע"ש יאכל בשבת

so too the weekdays are a preparation for Shabbos, as we find: "Whoever toiled on Erev Shabbos will eat on Shabbos."

The weekdays serve as preparation for Shabbos, just as Chazal teach that only one who toiled before Shabbos has what to eat on Shabbos.

פי' ערב שבת

This is the meaning of "Erev Shabbos" (the eve of Shabbos).

He clarifies that the weekdays are precisely the "eve" or preparation period leading into Shabbos.

כי השבת הוא כולו טוב וכפי מה שמבררין בימי המעשה התערובת של טוב ורע כן זוכין בש"ק

For Shabbos is entirely good, and according to the degree to which one sorts out, during the weekdays, the admixture of good and evil, so does one merit on the holy Shabbos.

Shabbos is wholly good, and the measure of good one experiences on Shabbos depends on how much one has, during the week, separated the good from the evil mixed into the world.

וז"ש לטובתך ולא לרעתך

And this is the meaning of "for your benefit" and not for your detriment,

This is why the Midrash says Hashem gave Shabbos "for your benefit" and not for harm: it reflects back the good that was clarified.

כמו שהוא כפי הבירור בעוה"ז זוכין אח"כ בעוה"ב

for just as one stands according to the sorting accomplished in this world, so does one merit afterward in Olam Haba.

Whatever a person sorts out and refines in this world is exactly what he merits to receive in Olam Haba.

ובאמת כל עוה"ז נברא לברר התערובות ונק' ערב שבת

And in truth, this entire world was created in order to sort out the admixtures, and it is called "Erev Shabbos" (the eve of Shabbos).

The deeper point: the entire purpose of this world is to separate good from evil, which is why it is fittingly called "Erev Shabbos," the preparation before the eternal Shabbos.

שבוודאי נמצא הטוב בכל מקום [*ורק] שנתערב בין הרע וצריך בירור כנ"ל

For certainly the good is to be found in every place, only that it has become intermingled among the evil and requires sorting, as above.

Good is present everywhere in creation, but it lies tangled together with evil, so the avodah of a person is to extract and clarify it.

והנה כ' והי' עקב תשמעון כו' ושמרתם ועשיתם

Now it is written: "And it shall be, on account of (eikev) your listening," etc., "and you shall guard and you shall do."

The Sfas Emes now connects this to the pasuk in the parsha, which speaks of listening, guarding, and doing.

והוא ג' בחי' מעשה דיבור ומחשבה

And these are the three aspects: action, speech, and thought.

These three terms correspond to the three avenues of avodah: deed, speech, and thought.

ובכולן צריכין בירור

And in all of them sorting is required.

Each of these three domains contains an admixture of good and evil that must be clarified.

ואיתא שיש שכר מיוחד לתיקון המעשה והדיבור בתורה ותפלה והמחשבה בחי' נפש רוח ונשמה כמ"ש בשם האר"י ז"ל שזה עצמו ג"כ תיקון ג' ימים דקמי שבתא ובתר שבתא

And it is brought down that there is a special reward for the rectification of action and of speech through Torah and tefillah, and of thought, corresponding to the levels of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, as is stated in the name of the Arizal, that this itself is also the rectification of the three days that precede Shabbos and the three days that follow Shabbos.

There is a distinct reward for refining action, speech (through Torah and tefillah), and thought, paralleling nefesh, ruach, and neshamah; the Arizal teaches this is also the rectification of the three days before and the three days after Shabbos.

שכפי מה שמבררין בימי המעשה הדיבור ומחשבה ומעשה

For according to the degree to which one sorts out, during the weekdays, the speech and the thought and the action,

The amount of clarification one achieves during the week in speech, thought, and action determines what one receives on Shabbos.

כן זוכין בש"ק לכל הג' הנ"ל

so does one merit on the holy Shabbos with respect to all three of the above.

Whatever one sorts out across all three domains during the week, one merits to receive correspondingly on the holy Shabbos.

וזהו הג' סעודות שבש"ק:

And this is the meaning of the three meals of the holy Shabbos.

This is hinted at in the three Shabbos meals, which correspond to these three rectified levels.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the Midrash that Hashem gave Shabbos to Bnei Yisrael for their benefit: Shabbos is a foretaste of Olam Haba, which can only be reached through the preparation and clarification accomplished during the week. Since this entire world was created to separate the good from the evil with which it is intermingled, the weekdays are themselves "Erev Shabbos," the preparation before the great Shabbos. He ties this to the pasuk of "eikev tishmaun... ushmartem va'asisem," which hints at the three avenues of avodah, action, speech, and thought, corresponding to nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. According to how much a person sorts out and refines each of these three during the week, so does he merit to receive them on the holy Shabbos. This, he concludes, is alluded to in the three meals of Shabbos.