The additional soul‏

BS’D

Today’s daily dose is dedicated to the refuah shleimah of Yosef Shlomo ben Yakov Dov who was involved in a serious car accident.  May he be blessed with a complete refuah shleimah amongst all those sick and suffering in Klal Yisrael b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen!

Rashi ztk’l explains that the neshama yetirah (additional soul) that we receive every Shabbat has a dual purpose.  The outer purpose is to gift us with an expanded heart so that we can more readily feel and sense creation in a more heightened state.  We can then experience the delight of Shabbat with greater magnitude.

The inner purpose for being granted an additional soul is so that we can focus our entire mind on Hashem.  It is in this way that we receive a boost of kavannah in our tefillot.  Additionally, we are now on a higher level of understanding the depth of Torah and can bask in the pleasure of this awesome knowledge.

Being that Shabbat offers such a spiritual experience, the soul is able to overcome the body’s desires.  Therefore, the mind is open to receiving new Torah insights and this brings us great happiness on Shabbat.  The gates of Torah understanding are opened on Shabbat, and as a result, we feel an intense connection which ultimately increases our level of emuna.

Rashi continues to explain that this is one of the hidden meanings of the verse in Shir HaShirim, “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth.”  Hashem is informing us that on Shabbat the deepest Torah secrets will be revealed as though we received them directly at Har Sinai; face-to-face and mouth-to-mouth.

On Shabbat, any Jew who wishes to come close to Hashem through attaining additional Torah wisdom is granted a free pass.  Delight depicts a state in which the entire body rejoices over this attachment.  In essence, for anyone who so wishes, on Shabbat the body can more easily become dominated by the soul.  The force weighing down the body is lessened, and we are free to fly to amazing peaks.