לכה דודי לקראת כלה

It is taught in a baraita: They said about Shammai the Elder that all his days he would eat in honor of Shabbat. How so? If he found a choice animal, he would say: This is for Shabbat. If he subsequently found another one choicer than it, he would set aside the second for Shabbat and eat the first. He would eat the first to leave the better-quality animal for Shabbat, which continually rendered his eating an act of honoring Shabbat. However, Hillel the Elder had a different trait, that all his actions, including those on a weekday, were for the sake of Heaven, as it is stated: “Blessed be the Lord, day by day; He bears our burden, our God who is our salvation; Selah” (Psalms 68:20), meaning that God gives a blessing for each and every day. That is also taught in a baraita in more general terms: Beit Shammai say: From the first day of the week, Sunday, start preparing already for your Shabbat. And Beit Hillel say: “Blessed be the Lord, day by day.”

I make a feast for the Sages. Rava said: May I receive my reward because when a young Torah scholar comes before me for judgment, I do not put my head on the pillow until I seek as many of his merits as possible, based on conditions and his claims. Mar bar R av Ashi said: I am disqualified to sit in judgment of a young Torah scholar. What is the reason that I am disqualified? It is because the Torah scholar is as beloved to me as my own self, and a person does not find fault in himself. The Gemara now returns to the issue of delight in and deference to Shabbat. Rabbi Ḥanina would wrap himself in his garment and stand at nightfall on Shabbat eve, and say: Come and we will go out to greet Shabbat the queen. Rabbi Yannai put on his garment on Shabbat eve and said: Enter, O bride. Enter, O bride. The Gemara relates: Rabba bar Rav Huna happened to come to the house of Rabba bar Rav Naḥman. They brought before him three se’a of oiled biscuits. He said to them: Did you know I was coming and prepared all of this in my honor? They said to him: Are you more important to us than Shabbat? The biscuits were prepared in deference to Shabbat. Rabbi Abba bought thirteen plain staters [astirei peshitei] worth half a zuz of meat from thirteen butchers in deference to Shabbat, so that he would have various types of fine meat. And he would place the meats at the door hinge at the entrance to his house to hurry to bring another type of meat. And he said to the cooks, in order to rush them: Hurry and prepare it, hurry and prepare it. The Gemara also relates: Rabbi Abbahu would sit on an ivory chair [takhteka] and fan the fire cooking the food for Shabbat, in order to play a role in preparations for Shabbat. Rav Anan would don a simple black garment for the Shabbat preparations, as the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: While wearing the garments in which he cooked a pot of food for his master, one should not dilute a cup of wine for his Master. One should wear a garment appropriate for the task at hand. Rav Safra would roast the head of an animal to prepare it for Shabbat. Rava salted a shibuta fish in deference to Shabbat. Rav Huna kindled lamps in deference to Shabbat. Rav Pappa spun the wicks for the Shabbat lamp. Rav Ḥisda cut the beets in preparation for Shabbat. Rabba and Rav Yosef cut wood. Rabbi Zeira prepared thin sticks for kindling. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak would load objects on his shoulder and enter, load objects on his shoulder and exit. He said: If Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi happened to visit me, would I not load objects on my shoulder before them? So too, it is fitting to do so in deference to Shabbat. And some say that Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would load objects on their shoulders and enter, load objects on their shoulders and exit. They said: If Rabbi Yoḥanan happened to come to visit us, would we not load objects on our shoulders before him? The Gemara relates with regard to Yosef who cherishes Shabbat: There was a gentile in his neighborhood whose property was extremely plentiful. The astrologers said to the gentile with regard to all his property: Yosef who cherishes Shabbat will consume it. The gentile went and sold all of his property, and with the money he received he bought a pearl, and he placed it in his hat. When he was crossing a river in a ferry, the wind blew his hat and cast it into the water, and a fish swallowed it. The fish was caught and removed from the water and it was brought to shore adjacent to nightfall on Shabbat eve. The fishermen said: Who buys fish at a time like this? The townspeople said to the fishermen: Go bring it to Yosef who cherishes Shabbat, as he regularly purchases delicacies in deference to Shabbat. They brought it to him and he purchased it. He ripped the fish open and found a pearl inside it. He sold it for thirteen vessels filled with golden dinars (Tosafot). This elderly man who encountered him and said: One who lends to Shabbat, Shabbat repays him. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi raised a dilemma before Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei: With regard to the wealthy of Eretz Yisrael, by what virtue do they merit their wealth? He said to him: Because they tithe, as it is stated: “A tithe you shall tithe [asser te’asser] from all the crops of your seed that come out of the field each year” (Deuteronomy 14:22). The Sages interpreted this homiletically: Take a tithe [asser] so that you will become wealthy [titasher]. He asked: With regard to the wealthy of Babylonia, who are not obligated to tithe, by what virtue do they merit their wealth? He said to him: Because they honor the Torah and the Sages in Babylonia. With regard to the wealthy of other countries, where there are no Sages, by what virtue do they merit their wealth? He said to him: Because they honor Shabbat, as Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: One time I was hosted at the home of a homeowner in Laodicea and they brought before him a table of gold that was so heavy it required sixteen people to carry it, and there were sixteen chains of silver attached to it, and there were bowls and cups and pitchers and flasks attached to it, and there were all sorts of food, and delicacies, and fragrant spices on it. And when they placed it there they would say: “The earth and all that fills it is God’s, the world and all that inhabit it” (Psalms 24:1). And when they removed it they would say: “The heavens are God’s heavens, but the earth He gave to mankind” (Psalms 115:16). I said to him: My son, what did you do to merit this? He said to me: I was a slaughterer, and when I would come across parts from every animal that I slaughtered that was fine, I would say: This will be for Shabbat. I said to him: Happy are you that you merited this, and blessed is God, Who has afforded you this merit. The Roman emperor said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya: Why does the fragrance of a cooked Shabbat dish diffuse? He said to him: We have a certain spice called dill [shevet], which we place in the cooked dishes and its fragrance diffuses. The emperor said to him: Give us some of it. He said to him: For anyone who observes Shabbat, the spice is effective, and for one who does not observe Shabbat, it is not effective. The Exilarch said to Rav Hamnuna: What is the meaning of that which is written, “The holy one of God is honored” (Isaiah 58:13)? Rav Hamnuna said to him: That is Yom Kippur, when there is no eating or drinking, and so the Torah said: Honor it with a clean garment. And with regard to that which is stated about Shabbat, “And you shall honor it,” Rav said: To honor Shabbat, make the Shabbat feast earlier than on other days, in order to show that one delights in eating it. And Shmuel said: To honor Shabbat, make the Shabbat feast later, so that one’s appetite will be greater. The sons of Rav Pappa bar Abba said to Rav Pappa: People like us, for whom meat and wine is found on our table every day, in what manner can we change it on Shabbat? He said to them: If you are accustomed to eating your meal early, make it later on Shabbat; if you are accustomed to making it late, make it earlier on Shabbat. This difference will underscore the uniqueness of Shabbat. The Gemara relates: In the summer, Rav Sheshet would seat the Sages who attended his lecture in a place where the sun would reach; in the winter, he would seat the Sages in a place where the shade would reach. He did this so that they would stand quickly after the lecture ended and not engage in discussion, which would detract from the time devoted to delighting in Shabbat. Rabbi Zeira

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded, whether the vine-blossom be opened, and the pomegranates be in flower; there will I give thee my love.

And there shall be one day Which shall be known as the LORD’S, Not day, and not night; But it shall come to pass, that at evening time there shall be light. And it shall come to pass in that day, That living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: Half of them toward the eastern sea, And half of them toward the western sea; In summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one. All the land shall be turned as the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell therein, And there shall be no more extermination; But Jerusalem shall dwell safely.

Let thy fountain be blessed; And have joy of the wife of thy youth. A lovely hind and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; With her love be thou ravished always. Why then wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, And embrace the bosom of an alien?

Why did God bless Shabbat? Rabbi Berekiah says: "Because it has no partner. The first day of the week has the second, the third has the fourth, the fifth has the sixth, but Shabbat has no partner. Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman said: Because it cannot be postponed: a festival can be postponed, as well as the Day of Atonement [because these are days which a beit din must declare to be a new moon]. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught: Shabbat pleased with the Holy One, Blessed be God saying: "Everyone else has a partner, but I have nothing!" God answered saying: "The community of Israel will be your partner." God continued: "And when thy stood before Sinai, God said to the Israelites: "Remember what I said to Shabbat, that the community of Israel is your partner, [in the words of scripture] "Remember Shabbat and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8)...

Tremble, and sin not; commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. Many there are that say: 'Oh that we could see some good!' LORD, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than when their corn and their wine increase. In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; for Thou, LORD, makest me dwell alone in safety.

beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, took Moses upon him to expound this law, saying: The LORD our God spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ‘Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain; turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore; the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.’

In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. .

Awake, awake, Put on thy strength, O Zion; Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For henceforth there shall no more come into thee The uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; Arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem; Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the peoples; But upon thee the LORD will arise, And His glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall walk at thy light, And kings at the brightness of thy rising. Lift Up thine eyes round about, and see: They all are gathered together, and come to thee; Thy sons come from far, And thy daughters are borne on the side.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why moanest thou within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him for the salvation of His countenance.

For I will restore health unto thee, And I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; Because they have called thee an outcast: ‘She is Zion, there is none that careth for her.’ Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have compassion on his dwelling-places; And the city shall be builded upon her own mound, And the palace shall be inhabited upon its wonted place.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: All these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, And gird thyself with them, like a bride. For thy waste and thy desolate places And thy land that hath been destroyed— Surely now shalt thou be too strait for the inhabitants, And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

For as a young man espouseth a virgin, So shall thy sons espouse thee; And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, So shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, They shall never hold their peace Day nor night: ‘Ye that are the LORD’S remembrancers, Take ye no rest,

And it shall be said in that day: ‘Lo, this is our God, For whom we waited, that He might save us; This is the LORD, for whom we waited, We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’ For in this mountain will the hand of the LORD rest, And Moab shall be trodden down in his place, Even as straw is trodden down in the dunghill. And when he shall spread forth his hands in the midst thereof, As he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim, His pride shall be brought down together with the cunning of his hands. And the high fortress of thy walls will He bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, And bring her into the wilderness, And speak tenderly unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for a door of hope; And she shall respond there, as in the days of her youth, And as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, That thou shalt call Me Ishi, And shalt call Me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, And they shall no more be mentioned by their name. And in that day will I make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, And with the creeping things of the ground; And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, And will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; Yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, And in lovingkindness, and in compassion. And I will betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; And thou shalt know the LORD.