Shabbos During the Six Days of the Week

There is a contradiction in Shulchan Aruch. In one place the Shulchan Aruch writes that if one accepts Shabbos early, all of the halachos of Shabbos kick in, and one must refrain, during that time of Tosefes Shabbos, from all forbidden activities, both biblical and rabbinic. In another place, however, the Shulchan Aruch writes that if a person accepts Shabbos early, they are only required to refrain from doing all of the melachos that are forbidden on a biblical level, but there are certain activities that are rabbinic stringencies that a person does not need to avoid during that time. (The specifics of these halachos in the Shulchan Aruch is beyond the scope of this message). 

So in one place we are told there are no leniences during Tosefes Shabbos, and in another place we’re told there is some leniency, so which one is it? The Baal Hatanya writes in Shulchan Aruch Harav, that it depends how a person accepted the Shabbos early. If a person accepted what is called “Tosefes Shabbos,” an extension of Shabbos, that comes with certain leniency because that is not Shabbos itself but rather it is merely an extension of Shabbos which is called “Tosefes Shabbos”. However, if a person accepts on themselves “ikar Shabbos,” which means they specifically accept upon themselves the essence of Shabbos, the same Shabbos that takes place from sundown on Friday until Motzoei Shabbos, then they are required to observe Shabbos in the same exact manner as regular Shabbos with no leniencies allowed. 

This seems to be conceptually problematic, however. We can understand the concept of Tosefes Shabbos, of adding extra to Shabbos, by choosing to accept its holiness and laws earlier than Shabbos itself. I understand that we can extend it, but how can we change it? Hashem decides what the essence of Shabbos is, and when Shabbos is, so how could a person change what “ikar Shabbos” is? How can you change something that’s clearly defined in the Torah? 

The answer is that this opinion of the Bal Hatanya is teaching us a much deeper truth. We tend to think of Shabbos as one day of the week, in addition to the other 6 days of the week. One has to realize though, that behind the scenes of Sunday is Shabbos. Behind the scenes of Monday is Shabbos. Underneath the soil of Tuesday is Shabbos. When you dig deep enough, below the surface of any day of the week you will find Shabbos. Therefore, when a person gets close enough to Shabbos proper, one can actually discover the Shabbos that exists within Friday itself. Instead of just accepting on oneself an extension of Shabbos (Tosefes Shabbos), one can uncover the Shabbos that always exists within Friday itself (ikar Shabbos). It’s too hard to find the Shabbos in Thursday and earlier because it’s too far from the actual seventh day of the week, but when we get to Friday afternoon we are close enough to Shabbos, we become sensitive enough, to actually be able to find the Shabbos that exists before the seventh day of the week, the “ikar Shabbos” which can be found on Friday afternoon. This is the deeper understanding of how the Baal Hatanya resolves the contradiction in the Shulchan Aruch. 

That’s the secret of Shabbos. Shabbos exists in all times, in all places and within all hearts. We should be zoche to experience that in a real way with the coming of Moshiach, b’vias go’el tzedek brachamim bimheira b’yameinu amen.