Jan 26 2024
Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. The Yaarot Devash teaches that there are seven mazalot , which correspond to the seven days of the week, and Shabbat corresponds to a negative mazal . It is for this reason that other religions celebrate their Sabbath on Friday or Sunday, rather than Shabbat. They believe that connecting their day of rest to Shabbat will bring negativity upon them. However, as Jews, we believe that by celebrating Shabbat, we demonstrate that we do not believe in other forces, such as mazalot , controlling us. Rather, we know that it is HaKadosh Baruch Hu Who is in charge and determines the course of our lives. The Avudraham (as quoted in the Anaf Yosef in Ein Yaakov on Masechet Shabbat 119b) teaches that the mazal of Friday is named “ Tzedek ,” and it is accompanied by the angel Tzadkiel , a good angel. The power of this mazal remains in existence through the final moments of Erev Shabbat. The mazal of Shabbat is mahadim , from the root word edom - red. The Gemara teaches that one who is born under this mazal of redness has a bloodthirsty nature and will have a tendency to direct his energies to being a mohel, shochet, or murderer. Rav Wolbe explains that for such a person, his violent tendencies will not change. However, he can chanel it for a mitzvah , such as milah ; a positive action (though not a mitzvah ), such a preparing kosher meat; or murder. This mazal of redness is the mazal of Shabbat. The power of this mazal comes into effect right from the start of Shabbat and is accompanied by the malach is סמאל , a negative angel (it is preferred not to pronounce the name of this malach and therefore people refer to it as ס-מ ). The Avudarham explains the connection between these two angels and the famous Gemara in Shabbat: two angels accompany a person home from shul on Friday night, a good angel and a bad angel. The Avudarham explains that these two angles are the positive angel of Friday and the negative angel of Shabbat, who “change shifts” and walk a person home as Shabbat begins. When they reach his home, they check if the table is set, the bedroom is made up, and the candles are lit. Then, either the good angel blesses the home and the bad angel answers “Amen,” or vice versa. When we sing שלום עליכם מלאכי השרת on Friday night, we welcome in these two angels: Tzadkiel of Friday and the negative ס-מ of Shabbat. Commenting on the words ה' פֹּ֘קֵ֤חַ עִוְרִ֗ים , G-d opens up the eyes of the blind, the Chidah (Tehillim 146:8) explains that the root of the name ס-מ is סומה , a blind person ; he blinds others from seeing the difference between an aveira and a mitzvah . ה' פֹּ֘קֵ֤חַ עִוְרִ֗ים does not just refer to a blind person who cannot see, but also a person that is blinded by the yetzer hara and can’t see correctly . When a person does Teshuva , Hashem is ה' פֹּ֘קֵ֤חַ עִוְרִ֗ים , He opens up the eyes of the blind. On Shabbat, the angel of ס-מ brings darkness and negativity. Therefore, we light candles to symbolically light up that darkness. The Iyun Yaakov teaches that the two candles as well as the two angels represent Shamor and Zachur . It is our hope that lighting the two candles will bring light into our Shabbat. Have a Shabbat Shalom.