Shabbos is a day of oneg. What is oneg? A bad translation of “oneg Shabbos” would be the “pleasure” or “delight of Shabbos.” When we throw around the term “oneg Shabbos”, we generally are referencing the physical pleasures of Shabbos – like a good cholent or a refreshing nap. While these are an important part of oneg Shabbos, this characterization of oneg falls short of describing the depth of the pleasure of Hashem’s gift to the Jewish people, Shabbos Kodesh. The reason that no English word can properly encapsulate the word “oneg”, is that the pleasure of oneg is not a physical pleasure.
Oneg is soul-pleasure. It is the pure delight of a neshamah basking in the light of its Source. It is an otherworldly experience, a taste of the World to Come. It is the feeling of closeness of our neshamah to Hashem, a feeling of absolute serenity – everything is perfect. I am exactly where I need to be, and everything around me is exactly the way it should be.
This deep neshamah-pleasure of oneg does not automatically appear as the sun sets on Friday. Even those who feel a deep connection to Torah learning or other holidays, may sometimes struggle to experience true oneg on Shabbos. Since oneg is a soul pleasure, we need to use our soul to understand the ‘science’ of it, and then we can learn how to properly prepare ourselves to be recipients of it.
Why is Shabbos the day for this special oneg? What triggers it? The tzaddikim teach us that Shabbos is the day that Hashem’s light is revealed in this world with absolute clarity. Six days a week Hashem’s light is somewhat concealed. We look around and see a world that seems to be run by the forces of nature and the laws of cause and effect. We see our work as the source of our livelihood, doctors as the source of healing, armies as the source of victory, and mother nature as the cause of storms and weather patterns. Sometimes our talents bring us success, and sometimes our flaws bring us failure. This is the perspective we have when we experience Hashem as being concealed, a G-dless view of the realities of life.
As we accept the holiness of Shabbos, this curtain of concealment is thrown off. The clouds clear and reveal Hashem’s light. ‘Seeing’ or better yet, ‘experiencing’ Hashem’s light is when we understand and feel that Hashem is the life-force of every single thing that happens in our world, and that there is nothing outside of Hashem. The world has no independent existence, and everything that we see, and events and interactions that we have, are all orchestrated by Him alone. Hashem is the source of our livelihood and orchestrates what we see as ‘success’ and what we see as ‘failure;’ what we see as luck or coincidence. He is the army, the doctor, Mother Nature, and everything else.
On Shabbos we take our hands off the wheel and realize that we were never driving in the first place.
Oneg Shabbos brings us tranquility (menuchah). Knowing that everything is being guided by Hashem, brings serenity and blessing and a sense of peace. We can be relaxed, happy, and confident because we know we are in Hashem’s loving hands, and He will give us exactly what we really need and lead us to exactly where we need to go. Oneg Shabbos brings us peace (shalom), as we realize that there is no need to be scared, jealous, or angry at any other person. May Hashem give us the ability to experience the true oneg of Shabbos together with the realization that it was always all about Him.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 14.
