Every Friday night, the world fills with light. In that glow of the Shabbos candles lies the same secret hinted in the Torah’s first word, Bereishis (בראשית). The seforim teach that the entirety of the Torah is contained within that one word, with numerous remazim hidden in its letters, each revealing another facet of meaning.
Rav Tzadok Hakohen in Pri Tzaddik1 explains based on the Zohar that three core mitzvos are hidden within the word Bereishis:
Yiras Hashem - from the letters ירא בשת
Bris - from the letters ברית אש
Shabbos - from the letters ירא שבת
I would like to focus on the third mitzvah, Shabbos, which Rav Tzadok teaches includes within it both Yirah and the Bris. A Shomer Shabbos is called a Yarei Hashem, and Shabbos itself is called both an Os and a Bris.
What is the real secret of Shabbos? Shabbos is not mentioned in the Torah until after Creation, when Hashem completes His work of heaven and earth and rests on the seventh day.
So how can it be the very essence of creation if it only appears after the six days are done?
There is endless depth here and most of it beyond my grasp. However, we can only begin to understand when we try.
On a simple level, each day of the week is already bound to Shabbos, as we say in Shir Shel Yom: “Today is the first day toward Shabbos,” and so on.
The Zohar teaches that every day draws its energy from Shabbos. What does that mean?
To understand, we have to return to the beginning. To grasp what Shabbos truly represents, we must try to understand how creation descends through the worlds. (Much of what follows is drawn from ideas I learned from my father and from Rav Reuven Sasson in his sefarim Ya’alas Chen and Noam Shabbos.)
The six days of Creation that we know are not the beginning of everything. They mark only the beginning of Creation as it relates to us. The Midrash teaches that there were multiple iterations of Creation before this one. It follows, then, that God existed with the Malachim long before what we call the universe came into being.
In that higher space of Creation, the mekubalim identify four worlds, three of which stand above the one in which we live. These are the spiritual roots and connections that sustain the existence of all creation.
These four olamos, worlds, are אצילות, בריאה, יצירה, and עשיה, commonly abbreviated as אבי”ע.
My father explains2:
What are the four Olamos? The seforim of Kabbalah reveal that there are four worlds or levels to every aspect of Creation and to life as we know it. The Four Worlds are Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Assiyah. Each represents a stage in the Creative and Spiritual descent of existence within Kabbalistic cosmology.
In simpler terms: when God creates and continuously recreates the world, all matter begins in a purely spiritual state, without form. This is the world of Atzilut. As the Creative process continues, form takes shape through the worlds of Beriah and Yetzirah, until finally the Created appears as the type of matter we are familiar with and can be experienced through our five senses and becomes tangible in the world of Asiyah, where we live.
The world of Asiyah can be studied by science. It can be broken down into molecules, cells, and even the edges of the metaphysical. Yet our tradition teaches that there is more to matter than science can uncover. Man can split an atom, but he cannot create one. He can make something from something, but never something from nothing. Behind every physical thing lies its spiritual essence, reaching ultimately to God.
Rav Reuven Sasson, in Ya’alas Chen, explains based on the Arizal that the Torah describes only from the world of Beriah downward. The Torah does not speak of Atzilus, though the mekubalim touch upon it to some degree.
Before everything, even before Atzilus, there was what is called Ohr Ein Sof—the Infinite Light of Godliness. It lies beyond the reach of human understanding.
When Hashem created the world, the task was to draw the infinite into the finite. Without that distinction, there could be no separation within Creation; all would remain one unified, endless light. The act of setting boundaries began with the Torah itself. Hashem looked into the Torah as a kind of blueprint through which to form the world.
Rav Sasson explains, however, that it was not truly a blueprint, rather it was a lens, a Divine perspective through which the world was brought into being. If the Torah is the lens, Shabbos is the focal point. It appears at the end of the week because it stood at the very beginning of thought, as we say in Lecha Dodi: סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה.
With the emergence of the highest world, Atzilus, the Ohr Ein Sof became contained. Each successive world and each element of existence, such as the Asarah Maamaros and the Sefiros, serves as a conduit to further channel and refine that light, step by step, until it manifests in physical form.
This process is anything but simple. It forms the very foundation of Kabbalah and all its intricate teachings.
Even as the light descends, its source never disappears. When the Ohr Ein Sof gathers and rests within a person or place, that moment is called Hashraas HaShechinah.
This flow, sustained only through Atzilus, is the current of existence itself. If Atzilus were to be removed, the circuit would break. It would be like unscrewing a light bulb and expecting the room to remain lit.
With this flow established, Creation unfolds. Each day introduces new elements, culminating with the creation of Man, and then Hashem rests.
Shabbos recharges the batteries of Creation. On Shabbos, we reconnect to the world of Atzilus; we plug into the Ohr HaGanuz, the hidden Infinite Light, and draw strength for the six days that follow. For this reason, Shabbos is likened to Olam Haba.
Here we return to Rav Tzadok, who taught that within Shabbos lies both Yiras Hashem and the Bris. Shabbos is an Os, a sign of covenant between us and Hashem, and one who guards it is called a Yerei Hashem. Together, they form the essence of what it means to be a partner in Creation.
Chazal teach that a non-Jew is not permitted to keep Shabbos. Perhaps it is because Yisrael are partners with Hashem in Maaseh Bereishis. When we keep Shabbos, we tap into the Ohr Ein Sof and join in the creative current itself. Were one who is not bound to that covenant to do so, he too would draw down the light of Atzilus, but in a realm unprepared for it and the light would lose its purity.
Now the idea comes full circle: Shabbos is the root of all Creation. Through it, we take all of existence and plug it back into the Ohr Ein Sof.
Now, let’s bring this idea down to our table on Friday night.
When we light the Shabbos candles, we add one for each child. Rav Sasson explains3 that in lighting them, we draw the Ohr HaShechinah into our home. We remind ourselves that life isn’t only about the outer noise of the week, but about the inner root beneath it all.
As the flames rise, we see more than light. We see the Shechinah, and through that lens we see each other, our spouse, our children, ourselves, on the level of neshama. When we look that way, as conduits of light, darkness fades. What’s left is clarity, shalom bayis, and the quiet glow of children who shine in turn.
I’m working on turning my posts from the past few years into a book.
If you’d like to support the project, please reach out at shui@shuihaber.com.
Thank you.
Bereishis 1
New Heights in Jewish Prayer
Noam Shabbos
This was awesome and a beautiful way to go into Shabbos!