Shabbos as partner and gateway to geulah

בענין שבת הגדול פרשנו כבר כי השבת הי' מצפה על גאולה כמ"ש כנס"י יהי' בן זוגך.

Concerning Shabbos HaGadol we have already explained that the Shabbos was awaiting the redemption, as it says, "Knesses Yisrael shall be your mate."

Shabbos itself longed for a partner, and Chazal teach that Hashem designated Knesses Yisrael (the collective soul of Klal Yisrael) as the "zivug" (mate) of Shabbos.

וכביכול נתגדל השבת ביציאת בנ"י ממצרים.

And so to speak, the Shabbos was made great through the going out of Bnei Yisrael from Mitzrayim.

This is the deeper reason it is called "HaGadol" (the Great) — the Shabbos was elevated and "grew" when Bnei Yisrael were redeemed.

כי השבת הוא מעין עוה"ב ואין בכח התחתונים לקבלו.

For the Shabbos is a foretaste of olam haba, and it is not within the power of the lower beings to receive it.

Shabbos carries a light of the World to Come, a level too high for ordinary earthly creatures to contain.

זולת בנ"י שהם יש להם כח מלמעלה מהטבע אם כי הם תוך הטבע.

Except for Bnei Yisrael, who possess a power from above nature even though they themselves are within nature.

Bnei Yisrael alone can receive this light, because though they live inside the natural world, they carry within them a koach (power) that transcends teva (nature).

וזה ענין נשמה יתירה.

This is the matter of the neshamah yeseirah (extra soul).

That supernatural power expressed on Shabbos is the extra soul granted to a Yid each Shabbos.

ולכן נק' ב"ז של שבת.

Therefore they are called the mate of the Shabbos.

Because Bnei Yisrael alone can receive the light of Shabbos, they are fittingly its "ben zug" (partner).

וכתיב זכור כו' יום השבת לקדשו מכלל שבנ"י מוסיפין קדושה להשבת.

And it is written, "Remember… the Shabbos day to sanctify it" (Shemos 20:8) — implying that Bnei Yisrael add holiness to the Shabbos.

The command "to sanctify it" shows that a Yid is not merely a passive recipient; through his keeping of Shabbos he actually adds kedushah to the day.

ואין זה חידוש כי הוא כח הבורא ית' ששם בנפשות בנ"י.

And this is no wonder, for it is the power of the Creator, may He be blessed, that He placed within the souls of Bnei Yisrael.

The ability of a finite person to add holiness is itself a divine power that Hashem implanted in Jewish neshamos.

וז"ש במד' זכור אשר אמרתי לשבת כנס"י יהי' בן זוגך.

This is what the Midrash says: "Remember that which I said to the Shabbos: Knesses Yisrael shall be your mate."

The Midrash links the mitzvah of "Zachor" to the promise that Klal Yisrael would become the partner of Shabbos.

והנה העולם מקשים מדוע נקבע שם זה לשבת ולא לכל יום עשור לחודש.

Now, people ask: why was this name fixed to the Shabbos and not to whatever weekday fell on the tenth of the month?

The original tenth of Nisan, when the korban Pesach was set aside, fell on a Shabbos that year — but why commemorate it on Shabbos rather than on the calendar date of the tenth?

אבל באמת הרגישו חז"ל כי השבת סייע להם לקבלת מצוה ראשונה זו והשי"ת עשה התקשרות לגאולתן של ישראל ע"י השבת.

But in truth, Chazal sensed that the Shabbos assisted them in receiving this first mitzvah, and Hashem forged the bond to the redemption of Yisrael through the Shabbos.

It was specifically the koach of Shabbos that empowered Bnei Yisrael to accept their first mitzvah; the geulah was tied to Shabbos, not merely to a date.

לכן אומרים זכר ליציאת מצרים בקידוש של שבת.

Therefore we say "a remembrance of the going out of Mitzrayim" in the Kiddush of Shabbos.

The connection between Shabbos and the redemption is why yetzias Mitzrayim is mentioned in the Shabbos Kiddush.

ועיקר שם שבת הגדול הוא רמז לעתיד ליום שכולו שבת שיש לנו לקוות בימים אלו לגאולה שלימה.

And the essential meaning of the name Shabbos HaGadol is a hint to the future, to the day that is entirely Shabbos, for which we must hope in these days for the complete redemption.

"HaGadol" also points forward to the ultimate "day that is wholly Shabbos" — the future geulah sheleimah we are meant to long for in this season.

וע"י התשוקה לצאת משיעבוד הסט"א ולכנוס בעול מלכות שמים.

And through the yearning to go out from the servitude of the sitra achra (the other side) and to enter the yoke of malchus Shomayim,

The avodah of this season is the burning desire to break free of the grip of impurity and to take on the ol malchus Shomayim (yoke of Heaven's kingship).

עי"ז זוכין לגאולה.

through this one merits redemption.

It is precisely this longing that draws down the geulah.

כמו שהי' המצוה מקחו בעשור שקודם הגאולה לא היו יכולין לקיים המצוה כראוי.

Just as the mitzvah of taking the lamb on the tenth — before the redemption they could not fulfill the mitzvah properly.

Still mired in the impurity of Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael could not yet truly carry out the mitzvah of the korban Pesach.

והמצוה הי' הכנה לגאולה לכן הי' העצה ע"י הרצון והתשוקה באלה הד' ימים נעשה הכנה להגאולה וזה שהי' ר' מתיא בן חרש דורש ע"ש ברש"י בא.

The mitzvah was a preparation for the redemption; therefore the counsel was that through ratzon (will) and yearning during these four days a preparation for the redemption was made — and this is what Rabbi Masya ben Charash expounded, see Rashi in Bo.

Since they could not yet act fully, the avodah of those four days from the tenth to the fourteenth was the desire and ratzon to be redeemed, which itself prepared them for the geulah, as Rashi brings from Rabbi Masya ben Charash.

כמו כן גם עתה המצוה שואלין ודורשין קודם הפסח ע"י שמצפין לגאולה שיש לכל נפש מישראל גאולה בפסח וע"י התשוקה יכול לקבל בפסח כל אחד לפי מדריגתו:

Likewise now too, we ask and expound about the mitzvah before Pesach by anticipating the redemption — for every soul of Yisrael has a redemption on Pesach, and through the yearning each one is able to receive on Pesach according to his level.

The same dynamic operates today: by learning the halachos and longing for redemption before Pesach, each Yid awakens the personal geulah available to him, and his teshukah (yearning) determines how much he receives on the night itself.

Summary: Shabbos is a taste of olam haba that only Bnei Yisrael, who bear a supernatural power within nature, can receive; through them it is elevated and "made great," which is the inner meaning of Shabbos HaGadol. The redemption from Mitzrayim was bound to Shabbos and was won through the four days of yearning to escape impurity and accept the yoke of Heaven. So too every year, our anticipation and longing before Pesach become the very vessel through which each Yid receives his own geulah according to his level.