Shabbos Tasting Olam Haba

במדרש לטובתך נתתי לך השבת את אוכל ושותה ומענג א"נ ואני נותן לך שכר כו' מפירותיהן אתה אוכל בעוה"ז ושכרן בעוה"ב ע"ש

In the Midrash: "For your own benefit I have given you the Shabbos" — you eat and drink and take delight in it, and moreover, "And I give you reward"; "From their fruits you eat in this world, and their principal reward is reserved for the World to Come" — see there.

The Midrash teaches that Hashem gave Shabbos for our benefit — both the pleasure of eating, drinking, and delighting in it, and an additional reward beyond that, like mitzvos whose "fruits" are enjoyed now while the principal is saved for Olam Haba.

הענין הוא כי שכרן של מצות א"א לקבל עד תיקון כל האדם בשלימות ע"י תרי"ג מצות שמתקנין כל האיברים וגידין

The matter is as follows: the reward of the mitzvos cannot be received until a person is fully perfected through all six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, which repair all of his limbs and sinews.

Ordinarily the full reward of mitzvos cannot be paid out until a person has completed all six hundred and thirteen mitzvos, which together repair every limb and sinew of his being.

אכן השבת הוא מעין עוה"ב ואיתא בשבת פורס סוכת שלום עלינו פי' שהגם שהשלימות חסר בעוה"ז נותן הקב"ה במתנה חלק מן השלימות

Nevertheless, Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come, and we say in the davening that Hashem "spreads the shelter of His peace over us" — the meaning being that even though perfection is still lacking in this world, the Holy One, Blessed is He, grants us a portion of that perfection as a gift.

But Shabbos is different, for it is a foretaste of Olam Haba; though our perfection is not yet complete, Hashem gifts us a share of that perfection, as expressed in the tefillah that He spreads His shelter of peace over us.

והשכר הוא מדה במדה על ידי שאדם שובת בשבת קודש לשמו ית' ומענג את השבת

And the reward is measure for measure: because a person rests on the holy Shabbos for the sake of His Name, may He be blessed, and takes delight in the Shabbos —

The reward of Shabbos works measure for measure, flowing from the fact that a person rests on the holy day for Hashem's sake and takes delight in it.

שאפי' שהוא בחסרון

even though he is still in a state of incompleteness —

This is so even while the person himself remains incomplete and unperfected.

בבוא השבת מתבטל וכאלו כל מלאכתו עשוי'

when Shabbos arrives this incompleteness is nullified, and it is as though all of his work is already finished and complete.

Once Shabbos arrives, that sense of lack is nullified, and it is as if all his labor were already brought to completion.

לכן זוכה להיות מרגיש מעין עוה"ב אפי' קודם תיקון השלימות

Therefore he merits to feel a taste of the World to Come even before the perfection has been fully attained.

Because of this nullification of his incompleteness, he is able to taste Olam Haba even before he has actually reached full perfection.

וז"ש שע"י שמענג את עצמו אני נותן לו שכר

And this is the meaning of the words: through a person taking delight in himself on Shabbos, "I give him reward."

This explains the Midrash's phrase that for delighting in Shabbos Hashem grants reward — the delight itself draws down the recompense.

וזהו ענין מפירותיהן אתה אוכל בעוה"ז שיש מצות שתשלומן מדה במדה הוא להיות זוכין בעוה"ז למעין עוה"ב:

And this is the meaning of "From their fruits you eat in this world" — that there are mitzvos whose recompense, measure for measure, is precisely that one merits in this world a taste of the World to Come.

And this is the deeper meaning of eating "from the fruits" in this world: certain mitzvos pay out measure for measure by letting a person experience a taste of the World to Come already in this world.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the Midrash that Hashem gave Shabbos for our benefit, granting both present delight and reward. Normally the full reward of mitzvos cannot be received until a person is wholly perfected through all six hundred and thirteen mitzvos that repair every limb and sinew. Shabbos, however, is a taste of the World to Come: even though our perfection is still lacking, the Holy One, Blessed is He, gifts us a portion of that perfection, as we say that He spreads His shelter of peace over us. When a person rests for Hashem's sake and takes delight in the Shabbos, his incompleteness is nullified and it is as though all his work is already finished. Measure for measure, he therefore merits to feel a taste of Olam Haba in this world itself, even before that perfection has been fully attained.