Tehillim 90 – the AriZal and Shabbat Dishes

Tehillim 90 – the AriZal and Shabbat Dishes

Tehillim 90:4 – “Ki elef shanim be'einecha k'yom etmol…” – (for a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday). There is a law, based on the teachings of the AriZal, may his merit protect us, that before Shabbat one should taste the Shabbat dishes, as it is written: “Those who taste them will merit life.” The future Redemption—the Geulah—is also called Shabbat: “a day that is entirely Shabbat and rest for eternal life.” Since one day of the Creator is a thousand years, as King David said: “For a thousand years in Your eyes are like one day,” (Tehillim 90:4), the seventh millennium—the time of the Final Redemption—is, so to speak, the “Shabbat” of the Holy One, blessed be He. Accordingly, today, when we are in the sixth millennium, we are on Friday—the eve of Shabbat. Beginning in the year 5501, the eve of Shabbat began (Friday morning), and beginning in 5751, it was already Friday afternoon. Therefore, the time has already come to “taste” the Shabbat dishes—the dishes of the Redemption. What are these dishes? When the Final Redemption arrives, the brightest light will shine, and all people will grasp the secrets of the Torah. Maimonides explains at the end of his book “HaYad HaChazakah”: “At that time... the entire world will have no occupation other than knowing the Creator. Therefore, the Jewish people will be great sages and will know matters that are currently hidden, and they will attain knowledge of their Creator to the extent of human capacity.” When the AriZal spoke of the need to partake of prepared Shabbat dishes, on a deeper level he meant the need, in the final generations, to grasp the secrets of the Torah—to study Kabbalah and Chassidut. (The Lubavitcher Rebbe on “Bereishit”)