The Prophet Yeshayahu(58, 13) says: "and call the Sabbath a delight", and the Gemara explains in greater detail what this delight entails. Rabbi Yochanan, in the name of Rabbi Yossi said: All thos who delight in the Shabbos, receive an unbounded inheritance, as it says: (Yeshaya 58,14) " Then shalt thou delight thyself in the L-RD, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the L-RD hath spoken it". Said Rav Nachman the son of Yitzchock: he is spared the servitude of Golus (Shabbos 118). As with every mitzvah, the mitzvah of delighting in the Shabbos brings the promised reward in the World to Come, and in this world as well.
According to the Rashba, the mitzvah of delighting in the Shabbos is d'Oraysa, even before the Prophet Yeshayahu established this, while the Ramban, Rambam and sefer HaChinuch hold that this is a Rabbinical injunction (mitzvah). In any case, it is a mitzvah to make the Shabbos a joy and delight, and Maran so ruled in the Shulchan Oruch, Orach Chaim 242.
The obligation to delight in the Shabbos is subjective, depending on the capabilities of each individual:
A. A rich man: A rich man is obligated to make an effort to purchase fine items in honor of Shabbos. He is not allowed to settle for a small item but must enjoy Shabbos to its fullest with the best of everything. According to the Zohar, the minimum requirement is two cooked dishes.
B. One with limited resources should try and budget his weekday spending in order to purchase items in honor of the Shabbos.
C. One with very limited income who never asked for assistance from others but has no money to buy fish and meat, not for Shabbos and not for weekdays, and would have to resort to begging for alms in order to buy them, must follow the what the Gemoro says in Pesochim 112: Make your Shabbos as a weekday and don't require help from others. The Mishnah at the end of Tractate Peah, the Rambam in the Laws of Tzedoko, and Maran in his Shulchan Oruch Yoreh Deah chapter 245 elaborated on the prohibition to become reliant on public support. One must to his utmost that he should become a public burden.
D. Only a pauper who is supported by the public may use tzedoko monies to enhance and honor the Shabbos. |
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