Shabbos Returns Lost Souls

במצות השבת אבידה

On the mitzvah of returning a lost object (hashavas aveidah).

The piece opens by introducing the mitzvah of returning a lost object as its central theme.

כי כל המתנות שניתנו משמים אל בנ"י לעולם נמצאים הם בתוך בנ"י דגמירי משמיא מיהב יהבי משקל לא שקלי

For all the gifts that were given from Heaven to Bnei Yisrael remain forever within Bnei Yisrael, as the Gemara teaches that it is a tradition that the things granted from Heaven they grant, but they do not take back.

Every spiritual gift Hashem grants to Bnei Yisrael stays permanently within the nation; Heaven gives but never takes back.

ואיתא זכה נוטל חלקו וחלק חבירו בג"ע והיתכן שיהי' חלק ג"ע בלי עבודה שבעוה"ז רק בכל מצוה נמשך שפע קדושה מלמעלה והחוטא אובד כל השפע ובאו הזכותים אל הצדיק והוא עובד בהם להשי"ת וכמו דאיתא בא"א ע"ה נטל שכר כולם

And it is brought down that one who merits takes his own portion and the portion of his fellow in Gan Eden. And how could it be that there be a portion in Gan Eden without the avodah performed in this world? Rather, with each and every mitzvah a flow of kedushah is drawn down from Above, and the one who sins forfeits all that flow, and the merits then come to the tzaddik, who serves the Holy One, Blessed is He, through them. This is like what is brought down regarding Avraham Avinu, peace be upon him, that he received the reward of them all.

The reward a tzaddik gains for others' mitzvos comes from the spiritual flow that sinners forfeit; that abandoned kedushah passes to the tzaddik, just as Avraham Avinu received the reward of all.

וכן איתא במרע"ה שזכה ונטל כל הכתרים של בנ"י שניטל מהם אחר החטא וכן הוא בכל אבידת אחיך א"ת ממנו ומצאתה כי נמצא הוא ביד איזה צדיק וכ' והי' עמך עד דרוש אחיך אותו

And likewise it is brought down concerning Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, that he merited and received all the crowns of Bnei Yisrael that were taken from them after the sin (of the Golden Calf). And so it is with every "lost object of your brother" (Devarim 22:3) -- do not turn away from it, "and you shall find it," for it is found in the hand of some tzaddik, and Scripture writes, "and it shall be with you until your brother seeks it" (Devarim 22:2).

Moshe Rabbeinu received the crowns Bnei Yisrael lost after the Golden Calf; in the same way, a person's lost spiritual portion is held safe by a tzaddik until he comes to reclaim it.

ובוודאי בשבת קודש דאיתא שמחזיר מרע"ה לישראל הכתרים מפני שבש"ק הם דורשין ומחפשין אחר האבידה

And surely on the holy Shabbos, of which it is brought down that Moshe Rabbeinu returns the crowns to Yisrael, this is because on the holy Shabbos they seek out and search after the lost object.

Shabbos is when Moshe returns the crowns, because on Shabbos a person is finally searching for what he lost.

כי בעוה"ז השכחה גוברת ואין זוכרין כלל מה שנאבד לנו ושבת יומא דזכירה והנשמה יתירה מזכרת האדם לזכור לחפש אחר האבידה

For in this world forgetfulness prevails, and we do not at all remember what has been lost from us; but Shabbos is the day of remembrance, and the neshamah yeseirah reminds a person to remember to search after the lost object.

Weekday life is dominated by forgetfulness, but Shabbos is a day of remembrance, and the extra neshamah of Shabbos prompts a person to recall and seek out his spiritual loss.

וזה הרמז וינפש וי אבדה נפש

And this is the hint in "vayinafash" ("and He rested," Shemos 31:17) -- read it as "vai avdah nefesh," "woe, a soul has been lost."

The Sfas Emes reads the word vayinafash as a hint to vai avdah nefesh -- a cry over a lost soul -- to show that Shabbos awakens awareness of the loss.

שהשבת מזכיר לאדם מה שנאבד ממנו

For Shabbos reminds a person of what has been lost from him.

Shabbos itself is what jogs a person's memory about what he has forfeited during the week.

וכל שבת יש בו השבת אבידה

And every Shabbos contains within it the returning of the lost object (hashavas aveidah).

Therefore every Shabbos inherently performs hashavas aveidah, returning to a person his lost spiritual portion.

מכלל שניתן לנו המצוה של השבת אבידה מכ"ש שכך הם מדותיו של הקב"ה ששומרין להשיב את האבידה להדורש אחרי' וזה הרמז בכל יום ב"ק יוצאת מהר חורב ומכרזת להזכיר לאדם לחפש אחר האבידה

From the very fact that the mitzvah of returning a lost object was given to us, how much more so are these the very middos of the Holy One, Blessed is He, that the lost object is guarded so as to be returned to the one who seeks after it. And this is the hint in the teaching that every day a Heavenly voice (bas kol) issues forth from Mount Chorev and proclaims, to remind a person to search after the lost object.

Since Hashem commanded us in this mitzvah, surely He Himself acts this way, guarding the lost portion for whoever seeks it; the daily bas kol from Chorev is His call rousing a person to search.

ואיתא בגמ' אפי' מומר כל שאינו להכעיס מכריזין על אבדתו:

And it is brought down in the Gemara that even regarding an apostate, so long as he is not one who sins out of spite, an announcement is made over his lost object.

The Gemara's ruling that we announce even an apostate's lost object (as long as he does not sin spitefully) shows how far the obligation to restore what is lost extends.

Summary: The Sfas Emes builds the mitzvah of hashavas aveidah into a deep avodah. Every gift of kedushah that Hashem grants to Bnei Yisrael remains forever within the nation; when a person sins he forfeits his portion, and that spiritual flow is held in safekeeping by a tzaddik -- as Avraham Avinu received the reward of all and Moshe Rabbeinu received the crowns lost at the Golden Calf -- until the owner comes to reclaim it. On the holy Shabbos these crowns are returned, because Shabbos is the day of remembrance: while weekday forgetfulness blinds a person to his loss, the neshamah yeseirah rouses him to search for it, hinted in reading vayinafash as "woe, a soul was lost." Thus every Shabbos is itself an act of hashavas aveidah, and from the fact that Hashem commanded us in this mitzvah we learn that it is His own middah to guard the lost object for whoever seeks it. The daily bas kol from Chorev, and even the ruling to announce an apostate's lost object, are reminders calling every person to search after what he has lost and reclaim his portion in kedushah.