Yearning for the mitzvah brings geulah

קריאת שם הגדול נראה עפ"י מ"ש אמרה שבת לכל יש בן זוג כו' כנס"י בן זוגך.

The naming "the Great [Shabbos]" appears to be understood according to what is said: Shabbos said, "Everyone has a partner," etc.; [Hashem replied,] "Knesses Yisrael is your partner."

The Sefas Emes explains the name "Shabbos HaGadol" through the Midrash in which Shabbos complains that all the other days have a pair, and Hashem answers that Knesses Yisrael — the collective soul of the nation — is Shabbos's partner.

נמצא ביציאת מצרים שנבחרו בנ"י במצוה ראשונה החודש הזה כו' נתגדל השבת.

It follows that at yetzias Mitzrayim, when Bnei Yisrael were chosen through the first mitzvah, "This month [shall be for you]," etc., the Shabbos was made great.

When Bnei Yisrael were chosen at the Exodus through their first mitzvah, they became fit to be Shabbos's partner — and so this particular Shabbos was elevated and called "the Great."

וענין כנס"י יהי' בן זוגך כתבתי במ"א כי כל השפעה צריך מקבל.

And the matter of "Knesses Yisrael shall be your partner" I have written elsewhere: that every flow of influence (hashpa'ah) requires a receiver.

Any divine bounty needs a vessel to receive it. Shabbos pours forth holiness, and Knesses Yisrael is the receiver that completes it — that is why they are called partners.

וימי המעשה יש מדריגות בבריאה לקבל הארת הימים.

And the weekdays have levels within creation to receive the illumination of the days.

The six days of work each correspond to a level within the created order that serves as a vessel to receive that day's particular light.

אבל הש"ק למעלה מהבריאה לכן אמרה לי אין בן זוג.

But the holy Shabbos is above creation; therefore it said, "I have no partner."

Shabbos transcends the created world, so within creation there is no vessel fit to receive its light — hence its complaint that it has no partner.

וביצ"מ שנעשו בני חורין ויצאו מהטבע ונתגלה להם מקור הנסים שהוא הנהגה שלמעלה מהטבע.

And at yetzias Mitzrayim, when they became free men and went out from nature, the source of miracles was revealed to them — which is a conduct above nature.

At the Exodus, Bnei Yisrael broke free of the natural order, and the supernatural wellspring of miracles — Hashem's guidance from above teva — was uncovered for them.

לכן נתגדל ונתוסף ברכה בשבת זה.

Therefore this Shabbos was made great, and blessing was added to it.

Because the nation now reached above nature — to Shabbos's own plane — this Shabbos received added greatness and blessing.

כמ"ש אבן עזרא ע"פ ויברך כו' יום השביעי שברכה זו לשומרי שביעי נאמר ע"ש.

As the Ibn Ezra wrote on "and He blessed the seventh day," that this blessing was said for those who keep the seventh, see there.

The Ibn Ezra explains that the blessing of the seventh day is bestowed specifically upon those who keep Shabbos — the blessing is drawn down through the receiver who guards it.

וכ' משכו וקחו משכו ידיכם מע"ז כו'.

And it is written, "Draw out and take" — withdraw your hands from avodah zarah, etc.

Chazal read the command to take the korban Pesach ("draw out and take") as also meaning: withdraw yourselves from idolatry — a choice the people had to make.

א"כ ניתן זמן בחירה שיהי' ביד בנ"י לבחור איזה דרך שרוצין.

If so, a time of choice was given, that it should be in the hands of Bnei Yisrael to choose whichever path they desire.

This Shabbos thus became a time of bechirah — a moment when the power to freely choose their path was placed in the hands of Bnei Yisrael.

וכמו כן מסתמא נשאר מזה בכל שנה.

And likewise, presumably, something of this remains every year.

That same power of choice and elevation surely recurs on Shabbos HaGadol in every generation.

דהכלל דהזמנים הנזכרים בתורה הם קיימים לעד.

For the principle is that the times mentioned in the Torah endure forever.

The sacred times the Torah marks are not one-time events; their spiritual reality returns and stands eternally.

וברש"י הי' ר' מתיא בן חרש דורש ואעבור עליך כו' וצריך ביאור מה תי' הקושיא ע"ש.

And in Rashi: R' Masya ben Charash expounded "and I passed over you [and saw you, and behold your time was the time of love]," etc.; and it requires explanation how this answers the difficulty, see there.

Rashi cites R' Masya ben Charash's teaching that the time had come for redemption yet Bnei Yisrael had no merits, "naked and bare" of mitzvos. The Sefas Emes asks how giving them the mitzvos of Pesach blood truly resolves that lack.

אבל הענין הוא כי הי' צריכין זכות המצות לגאולה.

But the matter is that they needed the merit of mitzvos for the redemption.

Geulah required the zechus of mitzvos, yet the people had none — this is the very tension Rashi's midrash addresses.

אבל קודם הגאולה לא יכלו לקבל עול מצות כמ"ש מאן דכפות באחרא פטור מעול מלכות שמים ע"ש זוהר בהר.

But before the redemption they could not accept the yoke of mitzvos, as it is said: one who is bound by another is exempt from the yoke of the kingship of Heaven, see Zohar Behar.

Still enslaved to Pharaoh, they could not take on the ol mitzvos — for, as the Zohar teaches, one bound under another master cannot yet accept the yoke of malchus Shomayim.

ואך העצה הי' ע"י.

And so the counsel was through this:

The solution to this impasse lay in a different kind of preparation.

הכנה ד' ימים השתוקקות להמצוה.

The preparation of four days — a yearning for the mitzvah.

By setting aside the lamb four days early, Bnei Yisrael spent that time in longing and anticipation for the mitzvah — a desire that itself became their merit.

זה הי' זכיתם שהביא הגאולה ונתקיים אז משכני אחריך נרוצה:

This was their merit that brought the redemption, and there was then fulfilled "draw me, after You we shall run."

That yearning for the mitzvah, even before they could perform it, was the merit that brought the geulah, fulfilling the verse of Shir HaShirim — "draw me, after You we will run" — the soul's longing to be pulled close to Hashem.

Summary: Shabbos is called "the Great" because at the Exodus Bnei Yisrael, chosen through their first mitzvah and lifted above nature, became the fitting partner to receive Shabbos's supernal light. This Shabbos became a time of free choice and added blessing. Though the people lacked the merit of mitzvos needed for redemption — being still enslaved and unable to accept the yoke of Heaven — their four days of yearning for the mitzvah of the korban Pesach became the very merit that drew down the geulah, fulfilling "draw me, after You we will run."