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Shabbos Insights of the Maharal
Rabbi Eliyahu Yaakov Deutsch
Shabbos Insights of the Maharal
Shabbos — the source of all blessing.
The Maharal — a giant of Torah who has had a profound impact on Jewish thought.
This one-of-a-kind work combines the two in an unforgettable commentary and birkon. Gleaning from the various works of the Maharal, the author illuminates the familiar words of Shabbos and Yom Tov tefillos and zemiros as he presents the Maharal’s outlook on core concepts of Judaism as they relate to the words of our bentsching. And his masterful commentary is accompanied by a beautiful, original translation by Rabbi Avraham Sutton, making it far more than just a bencher. Enlightening and inspiring, Shabbos Insights of the Maharal offers an elevating glimpse of the levels you can reach on each and every Shabbos.
Book Excerpt from Shabbos Insights of the Maharal
 |
Shabbos Insights of the Maharal
The
Shabbat Birkon with the Jewish birkat hamazon/grace after meals and
Jewish prayers elucidated by the Maharal's commentary, Shabbos Insights
of the Maharal is the perfect bentscher to enhance your Shabbos,
shedding light on the ancient words of the Jewish birkas hamazon, the
blessing after meals. |
Eishes Chayil
Bringing It All Together
Women have a special quality and force for creating unity. The Talmud (Gittin 52a) says that Rabbi Yosei always called his wife his “house,” meaning that the woman has the special power of the “house.” A house brings together all that is within it as one. This power of unification is the power of a woman.
[We see this idea expressed in the fact that] Rachel was buried along the road [outside of Yerushalayim], instead of [in Chevron] in the Tomb of the Patriarchs [with the rest of the patriarchs and matriarchs]. Yaakov, who was also called “Yisrael,” was the father of the twelve tribes, which eventually became the Jewish people and were called “Yisrael” after him. Since Rachel was Yaakov’s main wife [Yaakov would never have even met Leah if not for Rachel], she therefore represents a special force of unity within the Jewish people. Yaakov foresaw that in the future his children would be exiled from Yerushalayim and scattered around the globe. Therefore, he buried Rachel along the road [outside of Yerushalayim], so that when the Jews would pass by her burial place on their way into exile, she would cry out and pray to God for their reunification in the Land with her special power for unity as the mother of the Jewish people.
(Netzach Yisrael 1; Chiddushei Aggados, Bava Basra 58a)
A Woman’s Tranquility
The essence of a woman is “receiving,” while the essence of a man is “giving.” It is this essence of a woman that makes her more primed for the World to Come, which is all about the receiving of reward. This is what is meant by the verse in Yeshayah (32:9) which describes women as “content” — as opposed to a man, whose essence is to be that which initiates and effects, a woman’s essence is to be tranquilly receiving.Thus, the woman leans more to passivity and complacency and is more fitting for the true serenity received in the World to Come.
(Drush al HaTorah)
The Shabbos Meal
Judaism’s Fascination with Food
Just as God rested after He created and completed the world, so we are commanded to rest on Shabbos. In addition, in case one might think that even though God completed the world there is still something missing from it, we are to take part in oneg Shabbos, Shabbos pleasure, to show that nothing is missing from the world. Because of this, it is fitting to have three Shabbos meals, one at night and two in the day, as this is the way of the world, and it would not be appropriate that anything be lacking on Shabbos.To take this to a deeper level, the Talmud teaches (Shabbos 118a) that one who partakes of these three meals is saved from three forms of Divine retribution: (1) the judgments of Gehinnom; (2) the birth pangs of Mashiach; and (3) the war of Gog and Magog. This is because there are three states of imperfection that the world can experience: (1) when there is something missing; (2) when there is something extra that does not belong; and (3) when there is constant change, which is a lack of stability.
The three forms of Divine retribution and the three forms of incompletion correspond to the three Shabbos meals:
1. Gehinnom is for those who make choices that deny reality. In doing so, they are choosing nothingness, or a lack of true existence. Gehinnom serves as a deterrent for these types of choices and rectifies those who have made such choices, thereby bringing completion to the world.
Nighttime is symbolic of this concept of a lack of existence because the night is a time of darkness and lack of clarity. Therefore, the nighttime Shabbos meal corresponds to the first form of imperfection — i.e., when something is missing.
2. Towards the end of time, the nations may amass an extraordinary amount of power and wealth that will be used for the bad. This is clearly something that will have to be done away with for the world to come to perfection, as indicated by the second form of imperfection, when there is something extra that does not belong, and the war of Gog and Magog is the way this will happen.
This apocalyptic era is referred to as Bikran shel Yisrael, “the Morning of Israel,” because it will take place at a time when Mashiach is revealed and there will be light in the world, and so the first daytime meal corresponds to it.
3. The birthpangs of Mashiach change the world. They bring us from the state the world is in now to the world of the Messianic age, corresponding to the third state of imperfection, the lack of stability and the constant change.
The time of the birthpangs of Mashiach is referred to in Zecharyah 14:7 as “erev,” the evening time, when it is not completely light or dark, alluding to the mixture of clarity and confusion of that time. Therefore, the third meal, which we eat on the eve of Shabbos before it becomes night, corresponds to this.
When a person believes in God’s completion of the world and eats these three meals which demonstrate his belief, he does not need these forms of Divine retribution, and it would therefore be inappropriate for him to go through them.
(Be’er HaGolah 2, Netzach Yisrael 36)
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