– Likraas Shabbos lechu v’neilchah. Let us go and greet Shabbos.
The call to “go out” and greet Shabbos is an enjoinment to participate actively in bringing Shabbos consciousness into our lives. Kiddush Hashem, Sanctifying Hashem’s Name, is not exclusively reserved for giving up one’s life to glorify Hashem’s Name. Kiddush HaChaim, sanctifying life, living on a higher spiritual, moral and ethical plane, also sanctifies Hashem’s Name. Hashem gave us the gift of Shabbos, a day devoted to holiness through action, a day in which Hashem grants the unparalleled opportunity to experience kedushah, spending our time devoted to Him. It is a time to enjoy our family on a spiritual level – singing together, talking in learning together, even eating together.
A Shabbos seudah with family and friends is far more than a social gathering; it is a sacred gathering infused with kedushah, in which the bonds of the relationships are elevated through the divrei Torah and zemiros, unlike mundane social gatherings. Every Shabbos table, when graced with spiritual intention, transforms the Shabbos table to a Mizbayach – and the home into a Mikdash me’at, miniature sanctuary.
