Remembering Shabbos as the year's rectification

ויש להתחזק בשבת תשובה שהיא שבת הראשון בשנה כדאיתא אלמלא שמרו ישראל שבת ראשונה לא שלטה בהם אומה ולשון.

One should strengthen himself on Shabbos Teshuvah, which is the first Shabbos of the year, as it is taught: "Had Bnei Yisrael kept the first Shabbos, no nation or tongue would have ruled over them" (Shabbos 118b).

Shabbos Shuvah is the year's "first Shabbos," and the Gemara teaches that the very first Shabbos carries the power to free Israel from all domination. Hence its importance as a moment to gather strength.

ובר"ה שנעשה סדר חדש על כל ימי השנה כשמקבלין שבת ראשון כראוי מתוקן כל השנה.

And on Rosh Hashanah, when a new order is established over all the days of the year, when one receives the first Shabbos properly, the whole year is rectified.

Rosh Hashanah resets the framework of the entire year. Receiving this first Shabbos of the year correctly sets the tone and brings tikkun to all the days that follow.

כי גם חטא הראשון הי' בזה כי האדם נברא בששי כדי שיכנוס לשבת מיד ובעוד שלא בא השבת חטא האדם.

For the first sin too was in this matter: Adam was created on the sixth day in order to enter Shabbos immediately, yet before Shabbos arrived, Adam sinned.

The very purpose of Adam's creation on Erev Shabbos was to move straight into Shabbos, but he sinned in those last hours of Friday before Shabbos came. The original failure was, at its root, a failure of "entering Shabbos."

ולכן ע"י שמירת שבת יכולין לתקן הכל.

Therefore, through the keeping of Shabbos one can rectify everything.

Since the primal sin was bound up with Shabbos, properly guarding Shabbos becomes the very means of repairing that original breach.

וצריכין לשוב על מה שחטאנו בשמירת שבת כי האדם צריך לזכור את השבת שלא להסיח דעת מן השבת כמ"ש זכור את כו' השבת שלא לשכוח לעולם את השבת.

And we must do teshuvah for how we have sinned in the keeping of Shabbos, for a person must remember the Shabbos and not divert his mind from Shabbos, as it says, "Remember the… Shabbos" — never to forget the Shabbos.

Part of the teshuvah of these days is specifically over our failures in Shabbos. "Zachor" demands a constant awareness — never letting Shabbos slip from one's mind even during the week.

וכשמקבל האדם השבת כראוי ומשתוקק שלא לשכוח אותו אפילו רגע הגם ששוכח ע"י אונס אמרו חז"ל חישב אדם לעשות מצוה ונאנס מעלין עליו כאלו עשה.

And when a person receives the Shabbos properly and yearns not to forget it even for a moment — even though he forgets through circumstances beyond his control (oneis) — Chazal said: "If a person intended to do a mitzvah and was prevented by circumstance, it is reckoned for him as though he had done it" (Berachos 6a).

What counts is the deep, constant desire to hold onto Shabbos. If despite that yearning he is forced by circumstance to lose his focus, Hashem credits him as if he had succeeded, because the ratzon was genuine.

ובאמת השבת עדות על האדם כפי תיקון מעשיו כך זוכה לזכור את השבת ולכן אות היא:

And in truth the Shabbos is a testimony about a person: according to the rectification of his deeds, so does he merit to remember the Shabbos — and therefore it is a sign (os).

Shabbos is called an "os" (sign/testimony) because the degree to which a person can truly remember and connect to it bears witness to the state of his deeds. The clarity of one's Shabbos reflects the rectification of one's actions.

Summary: Shabbos Shuvah is the year's first Shabbos, carrying the power to rectify everything — for the primal sin itself was a failure to enter Shabbos. Through proper teshuvah and a constant, yearning remembrance of Shabbos (even when one is prevented by oneis, the desire is credited as the deed), a person repairs his whole year; Shabbos serves as an "os," a testimony reflecting the rectification of his deeds.