Tefillah 061

81:
We continue our survey of the Shabbat morning Amidah in general and of the fourth of its seven benedictions in particular. In the previous shiur we noted that this fourth benediction, which the sages called K^edushat ha-Yom ('The Sanctity of the Day'), consists of several paragraphs. We shall now turn our attention to the last of these constituent paragraphs.

82:
The last paragraph of the fourth benediction, K^edushat ha-Yom, is standard for every Amidah that is recited on Shabbat: Arvit, Shaĥarit, Musaf and Minĥah. It is a plea to the Almighty to accept the way in which we observe His Shabbat. 'His Shabbat', for, as we have mentioned before, unlike the festivals (even including the Day of Atonement), which belong to Israel, as it were, Shabbat is God's special day, instituted by God for God. Israel is required to observe God's sabbath, which is described by the sages in the Gemara [Berakhot 57b] as being a sampling in this world of the delights of the world to come:

However, the sages – apparently shocked by their own boldness – immediately emend the last element to 'evacuation of the bowels'!

So, for the sages, a beautiful sunny day is a foretaste of heaven; loving copulation too is an intimation of the delights of paradise (or, according to the emendation it would be a successful evacuation of the bowels after prolonged constipation); and Shabbat, too, is 'a foretaste of heaven'.

83:
The fact that Shabbat is seen as belonging to God should not surprise us. It is God who instituted the very first Shabbat for His own benefit:

And another text, already quoted in this very benediction earlier on [Tefillah 059] declares that

However, the text which states quite explicitly that Shabbat belongs to God is in the Ten Commandments, but constant ritualised reading has dulled the meaning for us. Let us read that commandment again:

The same message was delivered when the Israelites were given the Manna. They were told that it would miraculously be made available to them every morning; but they were not to expect it on Shabbat:

84:
Thus it is that as we conclude the benediction concerning K^edushat ha-Yom we ask God to accept the way we observe the rest of His Sabbath day:

85:
Perhaps we should note here a curiosity. For reasons that cannot be satisfactorily explained, some prayerbooks change the Hebrew wording in a minor way, towards the end of this benediction. The change is not easily rendered in English. According to this system the Hebrew word which means "it" in the phrase "may all Israel … rest on it" is rendered on Friday night by the word bah, on Shabbat morning by the word bo and on Shabbat afternoon by the word bam. The change from bah to bo can be understood: in the former case the Hebrew word qualifies Shabbat (feminine); in the latter case it qualifies day (masculine). The use of bam (plural) in the afternoon service necessitates changing 'Sabbath' to 'sabbaths'. Both Siddur Sim Shalom and Siddur Va'ani Tefillati have dispensed with this ridiculous tampering with a perfectly acceptable text and use bah throughout.

86:
Some have asked for the continuation of my Shiv'ata. You will find the stanza that parallels the fourth benediction here. (Hebrew speakers, please note that the third word is to be pronounced kal (not kol, which would mean 'all'.) The language is rather recondite so I offer here a prose translation.

In the next shiur, God willing, we shall move on to the fifth benediction of the Amidah for Shabbat morning.

To be continued.

The festival of Sukkot begins on Wednesday evening. The Bet Midrash Virtuali is now going for its traditional break for the festival and the next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on Monday 8th October. I take this opportunity of wishing everybody a Ĥag Samé'aĥ.

For those interested: a Dvar Torah for Sukkot (in Hebrew) has been added to the Dvar Torah Archive and, hopefully, one for Shabbat Bereshit will be added immediately after YomTov.)