Show-bread, Shabbos, and the renewal of Creation

בפרשת לחם הפנים.

Regarding the passage of the lechem hapanim (show-bread).

The Sefas Emes opens on the parsha of the show-bread arranged each week in the Mishkan.

ביום השבת ביום השבת יערכנו.

"On the day of Shabbos, on the day of Shabbos, he shall arrange it."

The posuk (Vayikra 24:8) repeats "on the day of Shabbos" — the show-bread is set out anew each Shabbos, hinting that each Shabbos carries its own distinct order.

היינו שבכל שבת יש סדר מיוחד.

That is to say, every Shabbos has its own special order.

Each Shabbos is not a mere repetition but a uniquely renewed arrangement of the world's spiritual order.

והנה בתורה נברא העולם ולכן יש ג"ן סדרים דאורייתא שבאלו הסדרים מתחדש סדר מיוחד לכל שבת וגם בכל יום שהקב"ה מחדש בטובו בכל יום מ"ב אבל הוא באמצעות התורה והשבת אין טוב אלא תורה.

Now, the world was created through the Torah, and therefore there are fifty-three (gan) sedras of the Torah, for through these sedras a special order is renewed for each Shabbos — and also each day, for the Holy One renews in His goodness each day the work of Creation (maaseh bereishis); but this is by means of the Torah and the Shabbos, for "there is no good but Torah."

Since the world was created through Torah, the fifty-three weekly parshiyos channel the renewal of the world, one for each Shabbos. Hashem renews Creation daily, but always through the medium of Torah and Shabbos — for "tov" (good) refers to Torah.

וכן שבת דכתי' בי' טוב להודות כי שער התורה נפתח בשבת.

And so too Shabbos, of which it is written, "it is good to give thanks" — for the gate of Torah is opened on Shabbos.

The "good" of the posuk "It is good to give thanks to Hashem" (Tehillim 92:2, the Shabbos psalm) again points to Torah: on Shabbos the gateway of Torah swings open.

והקב"ה רצה לזכות את ישראל להיות כל הסדרים מתנהגים לפי עבודת בנ"י ולכן כתי' מאת בנ"י ברית עולם.

And the Holy One wished to grant a merit to Yisrael, that all these orders should be conducted according to the avodah of Bnei Yisrael; therefore it is written, "from the Bnei Yisrael, an eternal covenant."

Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael the privilege that the world's weekly renewals would follow their avodah. The show-bread is "from Bnei Yisrael, an eternal covenant" (Vayikra 24:8) — placing the running of these orders in their hands.

וכ"כ בשבת ושמרו בנ"י כו' לעשות אה"ש לדורותם ברית עולם.

And so it is also written regarding Shabbos: "And the Bnei Yisrael shall keep" etc., "to make the Shabbos throughout their generations, an eternal covenant."

The same phrase "bris olam" (eternal covenant) appears by Shabbos (Shemos 31:16), linking the show-bread and Shabbos as two expressions of the same covenant entrusted to Bnei Yisrael.

פי' שבנ"י יקשרו זה הברית להמשיך הארה מן התורה לקיום העולם וגם בנ"י נכללו בפי' בטובו שנקראו טובים כדאיתא בגמ' יבא טוב ויקבל טוב מטוב לטובים ע"ש במנחות דף נ"ג וכמ"ש בזוה"ק דכולא ברכאין בשביעאה תליין.

The meaning is that Bnei Yisrael bind this covenant to draw illumination from the Torah for the sustaining of the world; and Bnei Yisrael too are included in the meaning of "in His goodness," for they are called "good," as it is taught in the Gemara, "Let the good one come and receive the good from the Good One for the good ones" — see Menachos 53b — and as the Zohar HaKadosh says, that "all blessings depend on the seventh."

Bnei Yisrael's role is to bind this covenant and draw the light of Torah into the world to sustain it. They are themselves part of the "goodness" through which Hashem renews Creation, since they are "good" — Chazal say "Let the good (Moshe) receive the good (Torah) from the Good (Hashem) for the good (Yisrael)." And all blessings hang on "the seventh," i.e. Shabbos.

וזה נמסר לבנ"י לפתוח מקור הברכה כנ"ל:

And this was handed over to Bnei Yisrael — to open the source of blessing — as explained above.

Through the covenant of the show-bread and Shabbos, Bnei Yisrael are entrusted with the power to unlock the wellspring of blessing for the whole world.

Summary: The world was created through Torah, so the renewal of Creation flows specifically through the weekly parshiyos and through Shabbos, when the gate of Torah opens and "all blessings depend on the seventh." Hashem granted Bnei Yisrael — themselves called "good" — the privilege that these weekly orders follow their avodah. Through the eternal covenant of the show-bread and of Shabbos, they bind themselves to draw the light of Torah into the world and thereby open the very source of blessing.