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It is a mitzva to make Shabbat delightful by eating good food and resting, as well as to honor the day by wearing festive, clean clothes, for Shabbat and festivals are described as “sacred occasions,” and this is how we express their holiness. Many people think holiness can only be expressed in spiritual activities like Torah study and prayer, while physical activities like eating, sleeping, beautifying and caring for the body impede spiritual progress. As a result, they think that one who wishes to sanctify oneself must afflict his body to be free of the evil inclination. Shabbat comes to correct this error and bring peace, teaching us that when the physical is linked with the spiritual, they become partners in the mitzva and the holiness it expresses.
The Sages state that those who enjoy Shabbat are saved from trouble, merit wealth, and have their heart’s desires fulfilled. This is because life and blessing depend upon the connection between body and soul. A living person is someone whose soul inhabits his or her body; in death they are separated. In the same way, when the material world is linked to the world of spirit and faith, it is invigorated and blessed completely. When it is detached from the world of spirit and values, its life is diminished, and it atrophies. The uniqueness of Shabbat is the extra sanctity expressed in both body and soul, and Shabbat unites the two. Instead of the body blocking the manifestation of divine light and blessing, bodily pleasures become a means of expressing the soul and the sacredness of Shabbat. The limitations and impediments of the material world are overcome, life intensifies, and blessing flows to the world.
Enjoying Shabbat with good meals would seem to be an easy mitzva to observe. Why then do the Sages emphasize its reward? Because the mitzva is to enjoy Shabbat in a way that integrates the opposing values. If Torah study and prayers are properly combined with pleasurable family meals and naps, the meals will increase the desire to study Torah and observe mitzvot, while the Torah study and prayers will deepen the enjoyment of the meals and sleep. This is what Shabbat is all about: manifesting sanctity in all aspects of existence, in such a way that the different aspects do not hamper one another, but rather harmonize and reinforce one another (section 6 above).
