The Shabbat Psalm and Moses Rabbeinu

The Shabbat Psalm and Moses Rabbeinu

Tehillim 92:1  - “Mizmor shir leyom haShabbat” - (A song accompanied by music for the Sabbath day). Shabbat is a special gift bestowed upon Moses Rabbeinu. The Arizal (may his merit protect us) finds a hint to this in the first verse of the Shabbat Psalm, which begins with the words: מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר, לְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת  - (Mizmor shir leyom haShabbat). The initial letters of the words in this verse spell the word - ל-משה – “for Moses”. Through Moses, says the Ari HaKadosh, the holy light of Shabbat descends to the Jewish people. Therefore, in the Shacharit prayer on Shabbat, we say: “Moses rejoices in his gift”. Chazal say that Moses Rabbeinu himself introduced the observance of Shabbat in Egypt, when he asked Pharaoh to grant the Jews the seventh day as a day of rest. (Tur, siman 281) Moses Rabbeinu was the seventh generation from Abraham: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses. (From M. Glazerson’s book “The Hidden Light of Shabbat”)