Turn Friday into Erev Shabbos #223 - Glowing with the Light of Shabbos

you. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Welcome back to Turn Friday into Arab Shabas. Today is not Friday. It is indeed shabas which is the message and the theme that I want to share with you today. First of all turn Friday shabas is generously sponsored by mendy and fish in memory of rabbi Jonathan Saxi Ben David Ary today's also turn Friday is sponsored specifically by Joyce and David Mueller in memory of Joyce's sister whoseite is the shabas for the of y ben ra should have a complete speedy and painless rafua shalma and so we're turning our Friday into shabas for us the days of the week are not the way the days of of the week are for the rest of the world. The rest of the world operates differently. There's Sunday which in most places is a day off and then there's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, which are work days, mundane days. And then there's Saturday, it's the weekend and you wish and you long for a long weekend. But for a Yid, for a Jew, the entire week is not built around uh counting up to the long weekend. But Shabas it's not the whole week and Shabas is at the end of it but rather we have Sunday Monday Tuesday sorry rather we have Wednesday Thursday Friday our air of Shabas Wednesday Thursday Friday anticipate Shabas Wednesday is in the sh we're already beginning to smell we're already beginning to taste we're already beginning to see the house get set up we're already beginning to feel the energy on Wednesday when the Wednesday already begins shabas certainly Thursday and Friday. Shabas is the peak, the middle of the week. And then mose shabas is Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday are still eligible to make havdala. If a person didn't make on Saturday night on mo shabas. So it's not that there's a whole week that ends with shabas. It's that there's air of shabas Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Shabas is the peak. It's the mura. It's the ofious. It's the source of blessing. It's the essence. It's the goal. And then we come down from it. We have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday before we enter the ascent again of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday that are shabas. If you picture what the week looks like from a Jewish perspective, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday arabas, shabas at the top, the sparkle, the brightest light shining and then mo shabas, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. It looks a lot like a minora. It looks a lot like a minora. And that's what the Islam teaches on this parala. Although you could be listening to this any time of the year dava, not necessarily that para. He quotes the medius. The seven candles, the seven branches of the monora of the candalabra in the mishkan correspond with the seven days of creation. The face of the minora, the middle light, the middle candle. All the wicks in the minora, all the wicks, they don't light up. They don't go up. All the wicks face the middle. The three on the west, the three on the east, they all face, they all lean into the middle. And the middle then shines the brightest. What is that middle candle? The middle candle is shabas. And the three after it are moes shabas. And the three before it are shabas. And the image, the image of the minora, the light of the minora, the energy of the minora is reflective of and a symbol of shabas of shabas. And that's what the para is saying in our it's that seventh day. It's Shabas that illuminates and catches and captures the light, channels the light of all the other six days of the week. We work all week because the payday, the payoff is Shabas. Shabas, we don't rest to be able to go back to work during the week. We rest and we work all week so that we can be rewarded with Shabas. It's the of it's the goal. It's the essence. It's the payoff. It's the payday. It's the brightest light. That's why all the wicks of the other six branches, they lean, they face towards that middle branch, the branch that is the symbol of Shabas. The tells us God blessed the seventh day. How did God bless the seventh day? He blessed the seventh day that we have a different countenance. Our face is not all and worried and stressed and wrinkled and tight. Our face is relaxed. Oo p shabas naba. Put on your shabas pim. The shabas panim radiates light. The shabas panim is the payday, the payoff is the reward of all the work of the week. The shabas panim is relaxed and rested. Shabas panim is not looking into a screen answering emails scrolling through reels. The shabas punim is the ore. Is that light? Is that countenance? Does your face look different on Friday afternoon tonight as you transition into shabas? Will you let go of all the tension in your face? If someone sees you, do they see a shabas yid, a shabas punim? Do you play shabas naba? Do you put on that shabas face? We should literally look different on shabas than we do during the week. And I don't just mean the shabas clothing that we wear but our very face itself should look different rested a countenance a light a light that organos blessed the seventh day with this illumination this light this countenance this energy this brightness this nishama which is so the whole image of the minora exactly aligns with shabas there's Wednesday Thursday Friday shabas the peak the brightest this light all the wicks pointing towards it and then backing off walking away from Shabas there is Sunday Monday Tuesday the havdala the mo shabas days all the wicks on both side point towards that middle which that middle of the seven branches of the candalabra are part of are part of the image and the rhythm and the picture of what shabas looks like this is what a yid lives this is the rhythm of our lives so we're operating the same week Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. We're the same week. Our calendar shows the same days, but they're entirely different days. A Jew a yid is listening living differently. Living differently. There's the buildup to Shabas. There's the come down from Shabas. And Shabas is not at the end of the week. Our lives, this is how we turning Friday into Shabas. Listen carefully because from now on, you need to think about your week differently. I wish that we could come out with a calendar app. Outlook, Google, whatever you use. I wish the calendar app did not begin with Monday or Sunday. Most of them let you choose what begins the week. Do you begin the week on Sunday or on Monday? I wish it let us begin the week on Wednesday. Our week begins on Wednesday because it's Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of Shabas. Shabas is the payday, the middle, the peak and then Thursday and then Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. So the whole orientation, the whole orientation of a Jew's week is different. It's different. It's categorically different and it looks just like the minora. So shine bright, be illuminated, be relaxed. Put on your shabas upon him. God bless the seventh day. But how did he bless it? With the aura, with the light of our face, the ability to the ability to let go, to relax the tension, the muscles, the micro muscles in your face to look and to feel and to exude relaxation and tranquility and serenity to put on that chabas punam. So when you're getting ready today, when you're getting dressed, don't just make your tie. Don't just put on your suit. Don't just put on your beautifully dressed. Don't just make your hair. When you're getting ready, put on your Shabas panim. Put on that Shabas face. Put on that light and that brightness and that energy and that enthusiasm that is the blessing of Shabas. May it be a Shabas that's healing and invigorating. May be a Shabas filled with bisuros to Yeshuos. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music]