סימן קכ"ה

"And Moshe said: eat it today" — and so on. Siman One Hundred and Twenty-Fiveסימן קכה "And Moshe said: eat it today" — and so on. In my humble opinion the meaning is: for the greater part of a person's eating in the optional weekday meals is either: because he is already hungry and eats to fill his soul — or: he is not yet so hungry and could still manage without eating — only he knows that he will be hungry afterwards — and then the time will not allow him to eat. And therefore he eats now so as not to be hungry afterwards. But on Shabbas — which is eating for the sake of the commandment in honor of Shabbas — as it is written: "eat it today" — one must then intend in one's eating only for the sake of the commandment. Namely: to fulfill the commandment of the Shabbas meal. For the eating of Shabbas is very precious and holy — entirely G-dly — entirely sacred — and rises to an entirely different place than the eating of the weekday — as elaborated in Likutay Tinyana, Siman 17. [And see Zohar Vayakhel, p. 218 — and in Matnas Kehunah there.] And therefore: if one eats in the ordinary manner as one eats on weekdays — one finds that one eats on Shabbas night because one is hungry from Erev Shabbas. And likewise one eats at the third meal because of not wanting to be hungry after Shabbas. It follows that the weekdays have a share in these meals. And therefore the Scripture was precise with the word "today" for each and every meal — meaning: to remember and intend at each and every meal that one is not eating in the ordinary way as one eats on weekdays. Rather: one eats for the honor of Shabbas and its holiness. And then one's eating is very precious — and the weekdays have no hold in this at all. And one must specifically eat and drink much with delicacies. [And see in Mishnas Chassidim — where it is elaborated explicitly: that even though one eats more on Shabbas than needed — it does not go to the external forces as on weekdays — but is entirely absorbed into the limbs.] And what the Sages said: that it is forbidden to fix a meal on Erev Shabbas that one is not accustomed to on weekdays — and it is the way of the men of good deeds to fast every Erev Shabbas so as to eat with appetite — as elaborated in Shulchan Aruch, Siman 249. See there. Through this one gives no hold to the weekdays in the Shabbas eating. Rather on the contrary: through this one even further subdues the matter of the weekday eating. For one diminishes one's eating on the weekday in order to eat more with appetite on Shabbas for the honor of Shabbas and its holiness specifically as above. And it is possible: that on the contrary through this it is revealed even more: that one eats only for the sake of the commandment of the Shabbas meal — and not in the ordinary way because one is hungry from the day before — from Erev Shabbas. For if so: one could have satisfied one's hunger on that day itself. And one instead made oneself hungry and diminished one's eating on Erev Shabbas — in order to eat on Shabbas with appetite — for the sake of the commandment of the Shabbas meal specifically as above. And this is what Rabbainu had reservations about [pekpek] — namely: about the language of the discourse not being sufficiently clear. For it appears from it at first glance that one must limit one's eating on Shabbas — and be precise not to eat but a little at each and every meal for that meal alone. And in truth this was not his intention. Rather: the above manner. And perhaps there is yet another intention in this discourse — and who can know his intention? In my humble opinion the meaning is: for the greater part of a person's eating in the optional weekday meals is either: because he is already hungry and eats to fill his soul — or: he is not yet so hungry and could still manage without eating — only he knows that he will be hungry afterwards — and then the time will not allow him to eat. And therefore he eats now so as not to be hungry afterwards. But on Shabbas — which is eating for the sake of the commandment in honor of Shabbas — as it is written: [Exodus 16] "eat it today" — one must then intend in one's eating only for the sake of the commandment. Namely: to fulfill the commandment of the Shabbas meal. For the eating of Shabbas is very precious and holy — entirely G-dly — entirely sacred — and rises to an entirely different place than the eating of the weekday — as elaborated in Likutay Tinyana, Siman 17. [And see Zohar Vayakhel, p. 218 — and in Matnas Kehunah there.] And therefore: if one eats in the ordinary manner as one eats on weekdays — one finds that one eats on Shabbas night because one is hungry from Erev Shabbas. And likewise one eats at the third meal because of not wanting to be hungry after Shabbas. It follows that the weekdays have a share in these meals. And therefore the Scripture was precise with the word "today" for each and every meal — meaning: to remember and intend at each and every meal that one is not eating in the ordinary way as one eats on weekdays. Rather: one eats for the honor of Shabbas and its holiness. And then one's eating is very precious — and the weekdays have no hold in this at all. And one must specifically eat and drink much with delicacies. [And see in Mishnas Chassidim — where it is elaborated explicitly: that even though one eats more on Shabbas than needed — it does not go to the external forces as on weekdays — but is entirely absorbed into the limbs.] And what the Sages said: that it is forbidden to fix a meal on Erev Shabbas that one is not accustomed to on weekdays — and it is the way of the men of good deeds to fast every Erev Shabbas so as to eat with appetite — as elaborated in Shulchan Aruch, Siman 249. See there. Through this one gives no hold to the weekdays in the Shabbas eating. Rather on the contrary: through this one even further subdues the matter of the weekday eating. For one diminishes one's eating on the weekday in order to eat more with appetite on Shabbas for the honor of Shabbas and its holiness specifically as above. And it is possible: that on the contrary through this it is revealed even more: that one eats only for the sake of the commandment of the Shabbas meal — and not in the ordinary way because one is hungry from the day before — from Erev Shabbas. For if so: one could have satisfied one's hunger on that day itself. And one instead made oneself hungry and diminished one's eating on Erev Shabbas — in order to eat on Shabbas with appetite — for the sake of the commandment of the Shabbas meal specifically as above. And this is what Rabbainu had reservations about [pekpek] — namely: about the language of the discourse not being sufficiently clear. For it appears from it at first glance that one must limit one's eating on Shabbas — and be precise not to eat but a little at each and every meal for that meal alone. And in truth this was not his intention. Rather: the above manner. And perhaps there is yet another intention in this discourse — and who can know his intention? [Note: Section 2 of the source text ends here and continues into the header of Siman 132. No additional content is given for Section 2 of Siman 125 beyond the header marker.]

📋 Translator's Summary — Siman 125