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Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman Shlita

Shabbos: A Synthesis of Guf and Neshamah

Parashas Ki Sisa

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Friedman shlita

This parashah contains the tragic episode of the eigel, but before that it discusses several other topics — including the machatzis hashekel, the kiyor, the shemen hamishchah, the components of the ketores, the appointment of Betzalel and Ohaliav, and the mitzvah of Shabbos Kodesh. The mefarshim discuss the connection between these topics and the cheit ha’eigel. Immediately prior to the discussion of the eigel, the Torah discusses the mitzvah of Shabbos. Considering that the mitzvah of Shabbos appears numerous times throughout the Torah, the question arises: Why is Shabbos, specifically, chosen to be placed right before the episode of cheit ha’eigel?

Several other questions can be posed regarding the presentation of the mitzvah of Shabbos in this parashah. The parashah is introduced with these words: וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אַךְ אֶת שַׁבְּתֹתַי תִּשְׁמֹרוּ כִּי אוֹת הִוא בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי ה’ מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם. Generally, when Hashem instructs Moshe to transmit a message to Klal Yisrael, He simply says דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. Why does Hashem add the word וְאַתָּה — וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל — in this passuk?

Furthermore, when Hashem says לָדַעַת כִּי אֲנִי ה’ מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם, what kedushah is He referring to?

Another unusual element of the mitzvah of Shabbos in this parashah is the final word, וַיִּנָּפַשׁ, as the passuk states: בֵּינִי וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹת הִוא לְעֹלָם כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה ה’ אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ. What does וַיִּנָּפַשׁ mean?

The Gemara (Beitzah 16) teaches that Hashem had a gift called Shabbos, which He wished to give to Bnei Yisrael, and to inform them of this gift. What is this secret of Shabbos that Hashem wanted to impart? One explanation in the Gemara is that this refers to the neshamah yeseirah:

דאמר ר’ שמעון בן לקיש נשמה יתירה נותן הקב”ה באדם ערב שבת ולמוצאי שבת נוטלין אותה הימנו שנאמר שבת וינפש כיון ששבת ווי אבדה נפש.

When a Yid finishes observing Shabbos, then we say “vai,” for he lost his nefesh — his neshamah yeseirah.

Similarly, the Baal Haturim notes that the final letters of the words וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ spell שתים, alluding to the two neshamos a person has on Shabbos.

Why does the Torah allude to the neshamah yeseirah immediately before the discussion of the eigel? What connection is there between the two? And, more generally, why do we learn of the neshamah yeseirah’s existence specifically in the context of losing it, with the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ interpreted as ווי אבדה נפש?

Moshe Rabbeinu Returns the Gift

The Chasam Sofer explains that the reason the Torah juxtaposed the mitzvah of Shabbos with the discussion of the eigel, concluding that mitzvah with the allusion to the neshamah yeseirah in the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ, is linked to Hashem’s final instruction to Moshe Rabbeinu before he descended Har Sinai: לֶךְ רֵד כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלֵיתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. When Klal Yisrael sinned with the eigel, they forfeited their nefesh, and Hashem told them: ווי אבדה נפש. After they had declared naaseh venishma, 600,000 angels descended to place two crowns on each person’s head, but when they sinned with the eigel they lost this gift, and it was transferred entirely to Moshe Rabbeinu. The great radiance of Moshe’s face — קָרַן עוֹר פָּנָיו — stemmed from these crowns, which he received from the rest of Klal Yisrael. When we say יִשְׂמַח משֶׁה בְּמַתְּנַת חֶלְקוֹ, we are referring to this gift.

Every Shabbos, continues the Chasam Sofer, Moshe Rabbeinu returns these two crowns to all those who keep Shabbos, and he takes them back on Motz’aei Shabbos.

In a similar vein, the Arizal states that before the eigel, there was no neshamah yeseirah because Klal Yisrael had their two crowns. Only after they sinned with the eigel did this concept of וַיִּנָּפַשׁ come into existence, because they lost their nefesh. Now it returns only on Shabbos, in the form of the neshamah yeseirah.

The Baal HaTurim expresses this idea succinctly, saying that the word וַיִּנָּפַשׁ is juxtaposed with the eigel because through this transgression, Klal Yisrael became deserving of death, and they lost their nefesh.

What is the Neshama Yeseira?

We can now understand why Moshe Rabbeinu had to be the one to tell Klal Yisrael about this — וְאַתָּה דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. The neshamah yeseirah comes from Moshe Rabbeinu’s chelek, and he gives it back to every person on Shabbos, in the form of the radiance of a person’s face.

This idea is reflected in a Midrash, which expounds the passuk: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, at the beginning of Bereishis, to mean that a person’s face has a special glow on Shabbos:

ברכו באור פניו של אדם, קדשו באור פניו של אדם, לא דומה אור פניו של אדם כל ימות השבת, כמו שהוא דומה בשבת.

This glow is a function of the neshamah yeseirah.

What is the purpose of the neshamah yeseirah? What are we meant to gain from it?

Commenting on the Gemara’s use of the term “neshamah yeseirah,” Rashi says (Beitzah ibid): רוחב לב למנוחה ולשמחה ולהיות פתוח לרוחה ויאכל וישתה ואין נפשו קצה עליו. On Shabbos, he explains, a person’s heart expands so he can rest and rejoice and eat and drink, without becoming disgusted. But if that is the entire purpose of the neshamah yeseirah, then shouldn’t we have been given a guf yeseirah, not a neshamah yeseirah?

Other Rishonim describe the neshamah yeseirah differently. The Avudraham, citing the Ibn Ezra, explains that on Shabbos the guf receives more strength, while the neshamah receives added seichel; we see, then, that Shabbos invigorates both the body and the mind.

The Shitah Mekubetzes adds that the neshamah yeseirah confers Divine bounty upon a person on Shabbos, granting him additional seichel so that he can learn Torah and understand more of maasei Hashem than he can during the week. The Meiri notes that the neshamah yeseirah is not a separate neshamah, but rather an added dimension of the soul, and this expanded neshamah achieves greater clarity so that the person can concentrate and understand things better. The Shaarei Teshuvah (Orach Chaim 290) notes that a person is supposed to innovate chiddushei Torah on Shabbos, as the Zohar teaches that on Motza’ei Shabbos, when the neshamah yeseirah returns to its place, Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks it, “What chiddush did you say in Torah?”

We see, then, that the neshamah yeseirah is connected with limud haTorah. Indeed, the Arizal states that when a person innovates chiddushei Torah, his father in crowned in the Olam Ha’emes, and that’s why the mitzvah of kibbud av v’eim is juxtaposed with the mitzvah of Shabbos. Even someone who doesn’t have the ability to be mechadesh chiddushei Torah should learn something he never learned.

We can understand that the neshamah yeseirah grants a person the ability to learn and understand Torah on Shabbos, but how do we understand Rashi’s statement that it enables a person to eat and drink without becoming disgusted?

Peaceful Coexistence

The Shelah Hakadosh explains this beautifully. If a person would receive his neshamah yeseirah on Shabbos while retaining his regular appetite, the guf would be drowned out, as the two neshamos would overwhelm it, leaving the person less of a desire to eat or be involved in any type of physical functions. Along with the neshamah yeseirah, therefore, the Ribbono Shel Olam added a koach to the person so that he could maintain his gashmiyus as well as his ruchniyus, and the two can complement each other.

The Ben Ish Chai, in Ben Yehoyada at the beginning of Eruvin, explains that the reason for the minhag to say Shabbos Shalom is that on Shabbos gashmiyus and ruchniyus are not in a state of contradiction, and can coexist harmoniously. The extra power of kedushah that we receive grants us the ability to achieve this harmony by elevating all of our regular physical functions, while also becoming more spiritual, as we gain greater clarity and understanding in Torah.

The Chasam Sofer, in his derashos on the Torah (Parashas Vayeilech), expresses another beautiful point regarding the concept of the neshamah yeseirah. Why, he asks, does Nusach Ashkenaz recite במה מדליקין on Leil Shabbos? If the purpose is for us to know which wicks and oils we should use for Shabbos, or to remind us to make an eiruv, take maaser, and light Shabbos candles, then we should say this before Shabbos comes in, as is indeed the Sephardic custom.

He explains that the reason we recite במה מדליקין right after we are mekabel Shabbos is that we’re actually learning mishnayos to elevate our own neshamah yeseirah, which has just arrived.

We should be zocheh to utilize this wonderful opportunity we receive on Shabbos — the neshamah yeseirah, about which the Torah says: וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקִים אֶת יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, conveying that Hashem blessed this day with the special radiance of a person’s face. Indeed, the words כִּי אֲנִי ה’ מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם convey that a special kedushah comes to us on Shabbos, as the neshamah yeseirah grants us enhanced seichel so that we can better understand Torah, appreciate ruchniyus, grasp maasei Hashem, and achieve greater clarity and menuchah, as our gashmiyus and ruchniyus coexist peacefully.

Shabbos shalom u’mevorach.

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