Yearning to Retain Shabbos

אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל הגיד בסעודה ג' של שבת היא בחי' קשה עלי פרידתכם

My grandfather, my master and teacher of blessed memory, said at the third meal of Shabbos that this is the dimension of "Your departure is difficult for me."

The Sfas Emes quotes his grandfather that the third Shabbos meal expresses Hashem's pain at parting from Bnei Yisrael, captured in the phrase "Your departure is difficult for Me."

ויש לאדם להשתוקק שלא ישכח ממנו הארת השבת כל ימי השבוע כו'

A person ought to yearn that the radiance of Shabbos not be forgotten from him throughout all the days of the week.

One should long that the light of Shabbos stay with him and not slip away during the ordinary weekdays.

ואיתא וינפש וי אבדה נפש

And it is brought down: "and He rested (vayinafash)" — "woe (vai), the soul (nefesh) is lost."

The Gemara reads the word "vayinafash" as a play on words: once Shabbos leaves, the extra soul departs, and one cries out in loss.

והקשה הרב בע"ש ז"ל כי זה שייך בסוף שבת ולא בההתחלה

The Rav, the author of the Beis Avraham of blessed memory, raised a difficulty: this idea would be fitting at the end of Shabbos and not at its beginning.

The Beis Avraham asks how this sense of loss fits the third meal, which is still in the middle of Shabbos rather than at its conclusion.

ותי' כי ע"י שיודע האדם זה שאחר שבת יסולק ממנו הארת נשמה יתירה יתאמץ ביתר עוז להתדבק בשבת קודש עוד בו נשמתו ע"ש הובאו דבריו בס' זכרון זאת

And he answered that through a person's knowing this — that after Shabbos the radiance of the extra soul (neshamah yeseirah) will be removed from him — he strengthens himself with greater force to cling to the holy Shabbos while his soul is yet within him; see there. His words are cited in the sefer Zichron Zos.

He answers that anticipating the coming loss of the neshamah yeseirah drives a person to grab hold of Shabbos with extra strength while it is still here. This is recorded in the sefer Zichron Zos.

וי"ל עוד כפשוטו שזה עצמו בחי' שבת שתוך ימי השבוע ג"כ יזכור וישתוקק למה שנאבד ממנו כמ"ש זכור כו' יום השבת כו'

And one may further explain it according to its plain sense, that this itself is the dimension of Shabbos: that even within the days of the week one should remember and yearn for that which has been lost to him, as it is written, "Remember the day of Shabbos."

The Sfas Emes adds a simpler explanation: the very essence of Shabbos is that even during the week one keeps remembering and longing for the holiness that has departed, as the Torah commands to remember the day of Shabbos.

וממילא כפי השתוקקות כל ימות החול

And it follows automatically that according to one's yearning throughout all the weekdays,

The degree of yearning a person maintains during all the weekdays sets the measure for what follows.

כמו כן מקבל השבת בשמחה

so too does he receive Shabbos with joy.

In proportion to that weekday longing, he then welcomes the next Shabbos with joy.

ועיקר הדברים שיש לאדם להשתוקק תמיד לדבוק בשורש החיים שלא להיות נפרד משורש נשמתו בה' אחד

And the essence of the matter is that a person ought always to yearn to cling to the root of life, so as not to be separated from the root of his soul in "Hashem is One."

The core point is that one should constantly yearn to stay attached to the source of all life, never to be cut off from the root of his neshamah, which is bound up in the oneness of Hashem.

וזה עצמו בחי' שבת ותשובה ששב הכל לראשיתו ושורשו

And this itself is the dimension of Shabbos and of teshuvah, that everything returns to its beginning and its root.

This longing is itself the meaning of both Shabbos and teshuvah, where all things return to their origin and root.

וזה התשובה בסעודה ג' בשבת ע"י השתוקקות הנ"ל להיות נדבק בשורשו כל ימות החול ג"כ אף שנסתלק ממנו כענין שכ' שימני כחותם

And this is the teshuvah at the third meal on Shabbos — through the aforementioned yearning to be cleaving to one's root throughout all the weekdays as well, even though it has been removed from him, in the manner of what is written, "Set me as a seal."

This is the teshuvah of the third Shabbos meal: through this yearning, a person stays cleaving to his root even during the weekdays once Shabbos has departed, as in the verse "Set me as a seal."

והיא בחי' תפילין בחול כמ"ש בסה"ק:

And this is the dimension of tefillin on weekdays, as is explained in the holy sefarim.

This weekday clinging is expressed through the mitzvah of tefillin worn on weekdays, as the holy sefarim explain.

Summary: At the third meal of Shabbos, the Sfas Emes, citing his grandfather, teaches that this moment carries the dimension of Hashem's words "Your departure is difficult for Me," and that a person should yearn for the light of Shabbos to remain with him all week. The Beis Avraham asks why the sense of loss in "vayinafash" — woe, the soul is gone — belongs to the third meal, which is still within Shabbos, and answers that anticipating the loss of the neshamah yeseirah spurs a person to cling to Shabbos with greater force. The Sfas Emes adds that this longing is itself the essence of Shabbos and of teshuvah: even during the weekdays one remembers and yearns for the kedushah that has departed, and in proportion to that weekday yearning he receives the coming Shabbos with joy. The heart of the matter is to remain forever attached to the root of life and never separated from the root of one's neshamah in the oneness of Hashem, so that everything returns to its source. This weekday cleaving, rooted in the verse "Set me as a seal," finds its expression in the mitzvah of tefillin worn during the week.