Shopping in honor of Shabbos

[א] (הלכה 956)

The Gemara in Maseches Beitzah¹ says: 'It was taught: They said about Shammai the Elder that all his days he would eat in honor of Shabbos. If he found a fine animal, he would say: This is for Shabbos. If he found another one finer than it, he would set aside the second and eat the first.'

And in Maseches Shabbos² it is related: 'For Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: Once I was a guest at the home of a householder in Ludkia, and they brought before him a table of gold carried by sixteen men, with sixteen silver chains fixed in it, and bowls and cups and pitchers and flasks fixed in it, and upon it were all kinds of food and all kinds of delicacies and fragrances. And when they would set it down they would say, "The earth is the L-rd's, and the fullness thereof," etc.; and when they would remove it they would say, "The heavens are the heavens of the L-rd, but the earth He has given to the children of men." I said to him: My son, by what merit did you attain this? He said to me: I was a butcher, and from every animal that was fine I said: This one shall be for Shabbos. I said to him: [Fortunate are you that you have merited this], and blessed is the Omnipresent who has granted you this merit.'

And it is written in the writings of the Arizal³: 'We have already explained the matter of what the verse said, "And it shall come to pass on the sixth day that they shall prepare that which they bring in," for the sixth day prepares for the day of Shabbos as above. And behold, there are several kinds of preparations on erev Shabbos for the sake of Shabbos: whether in thought, or in speech, or in deed .. And as for deed, know that a person must take care to purchase all the needs of Shabbos on the sixth day for the reason mentioned, and not on the fifth day⁴, as we find of the Sages of Israel, that Rava would salt a shibuta fish, Rav Nachman would carry on his shoulder and bring in, etc.⁵ And with everything that he purchases he should mention and say, "In honor of the Shabbos"⁶. And this is the matter of deed.'

And the Machatzis HaShekel⁷ wrote: 'That through speech the holiness of Shabbos takes effect upon that thing, for speech in a person is not an empty matter.'

In the Seder HaYom⁸ he elaborated at length on the importance of purchasing specifically on erev Shabbos: 'But it seems to me that since the verse was particular that the preparation be on the sixth day, it appears that the essence of the mitzvah and the effort must be on the sixth day, and one who prepares from the fifth day has not fulfilled the mitzvah of preparation properly .. And the reason that every food item must be made at its proper time is so that it will be flavorful to eat and not be repugnant in the eyes of the one eating; and for this very reason the honor of Yom Tov was set aside and food preparation was permitted on it, so that one may eat with joy and with the flavor of something sweet to his palate. And on Shabbos, when one cannot do so because of its stringency, at the very least one should prepare all its matters as close to it as possible, and this is its honor .. And one should not say: On the sixth day there is great toil to seek out the items because of the many seekers, while on the fifth day I obtain everything in order and purchase as I wish and there is none to protest against me — this is not a valid claim, for everything is according to the abundance of the deed, and according to the effort is the reward, and according to the toil; and since we see that the honor of Shabbos is to take all the things on the sixth day so that they will be flavorful and properly prepared, and the honor of the Shabbos that comes toward us is recognizable, why should we desist on account of the lightness of our toil and our burden? And by what then will it be known that we are pursuing the mitzvos and performing them as ordained, if not by being meticulous in all the matters needed for the fulfillment of the mitzvos, come what may, and not being concerned about the toil of the body and its burden in a place where we see that we are doing the desire and will of our Creator, may He be blessed, properly .. unless the item that he needs is not to be found on the sixth day and he finds it on the fifth day, then he should certainly take it from the fifth day; and not only when it is certainly not to be found, but even if it is a doubt whether it will be found or not be found, and on the fifth day it will certainly be found, he should set aside the doubt in favor of the certainty, for the honor of Shabbos is to provide it a fine portion, and even from Sunday, as we find with Shammai the Elder, "from the first for your Shabbos." And so it is fitting for every G-d-fearing person to do, when he sees during the week a thing that is fine and fitting and is a thing he needs for Shabbos, and there is a doubt whether it will be found for the honor of Shabbos or not, let him purchase it and keep it for Shabbos, for the Shabbos is worthy of all this honor and of striving for its honor throughout all six days of the week in this manner; and it is able to have mercy upon him to provide him his sustenance in abundance, for just as he opens his hands for the honor of Shabbos, so will they be opened to him from Heaven to give him sufficient for his need ..'.

The Rama miFano⁹ brought the words of the Arizal: 'It is good for a person that all the needs of Shabbos he should purchase on the sixth day and not on the fifth day, if he is confident that there will be no lack. And with everything that he purchases he should say, "In honor of Shabbos."'

The Shelah¹⁰ brought the words of the Rama and wrote: 'And it appears that this applies specifically to matters of foods, which are more pleasant and flavorful to eat if one purchases them on erev Shabbos, like the matter of food preparation being permitted on Yom Tov. But matters that are good and prepared and fine when one purchases them before erev Shabbos just as on erev Shabbos, then on the contrary, the zealous are early. And he should say, "In honor of Shabbos I am purchasing."'

However, the Magen Avraham¹¹ brought the words of the Arizal and noted: 'And see siman 572 se'if 1, which implies that one should purchase on the fifth day, see the Seder HaYom.'

And the Machatzis HaShekel explained: 'And see siman 572, etc. For it is written there that one does not decree a public fast such that the first day of the fast falls on the fifth day, for when they see that the public will purchase on the fifth day for the needs of two large seudos — one for the needs of the night, since they fasted all day, and one for the seudah of Shabbos — they will think that famine is coming to the world and the price will rise, since the decree of the fast has not yet been publicized. And from this it is proven that their custom was to purchase for the needs of Shabbos on the fifth day.'

The Tosefes Shabbos¹² wrote to explain: However, in siman 575 it implies that one should purchase on the fifth day, see there. However, there it deals with things that require much preparation, as he himself wrote there in siman 575 se'if katan 4, see there¹³.

The Pri Megadim¹⁴ brought the words of the Tosefes Shabbos and wrote: 'And if so, a thing that requires much preparation, such as meat to salt and the like, should be purchased on the fifth day. And whatever does not require so much preparation should be purchased on the sixth day.'

And so wrote the Alter Rebbe¹⁵: 'It is good to say over every thing that he purchases, "This is in honor of Shabbos," and likewise with everything that he does it is good to think that he is doing it in honor of Shabbos. It is better to purchase on erev Shabbos than to purchase on the fifth day. In what case is this said? With beverages and kinds of delicacies and the like, of things that do not require preparation to prepare them so that they will be fit for one's enjoyment; but foods that still require preparation, it is better to purchase on the fifth day, so that he will have ample leisure to toil over their preparation and to occupy himself with the other needs of Shabbos.'

And the Chida¹⁶ wrote: 'And if it is a thing that perhaps will not be found on the sixth day and the thing is for the need of oneg Shabbos, it is better to purchase it on the fifth day than to nullify the mitzvah, like the meat in the holy city of Jerusalem, ת"ו, and the like'¹⁷.

> If so, things that do not require preparation are fittingly purchased on the sixth day, but things that require preparation are worth purchasing on the fifth day so that there will be enough time to prepare them for Shabbos; and likewise things that there is a concern will not be found on the sixth day, should be purchased before then.

¹ טז, א, וראה שו"ע אדמו"ר הזקן או"ח בסי' רמג ס"י ↩

² קיט, א ↩

³ שער הכוונות ענין ליל ו' ↩

⁴ כתב בהגהות מוהרי"ש נתנזון סי' רנ כתב: *'אבל בב"מ (נב, ב) עד ערבי שבתות דסלקין לשוקא ופירש רש"י לקנות לצרכי שבת, מבואר כמ"ש בכתבים*, ודוק' ↩

⁵ קדושין מא, א ↩

⁶ בשיירי מנחה - מנחת פתים (או"ח סי' רנ) העיר: 'ועיין בירושלמי מעשרות פ"ד ה"ב בהא דקאמר שם כלכלת שבת לא מיזדבנא, דמשמע קצת דדבר שיחדו לשבת לא ימכרנו יעו"ש' ↩

⁷ או"ח סי' רנ ↩

⁸ הנהגת והכנת יום הששי לכבוד השבת ↩

⁹ כנפי יונה ח"ד סי' ז ↩

¹⁰ מסכת שבת פרק נר מצוה ↩

¹¹ או"ח סי' רנ ס"ק א ↩

¹² או"ח שם ס"ק א ↩

¹³ וז"ל המג"א שם: ''ש"מ דס"ל דחנות של משתה אסור לפתוח רק מטין דהא יכולין לקנותו בערב שבת, משא"כ מאכל שצריך הכנה' ↩

¹⁴ או"ח שם א"א ס"ק א ↩

¹⁵ שו"ע או"ח סי' רנ סעיפים ו - ז ↩

¹⁶ ברכ"י או"ח סי' רנ ס"ק ב ↩

¹⁷ המשנ"ב (סי' רנ ס"ק ב) כתב: *'ומסתברא דבימים הקצרים כל מה שיכול להקדים ההכנה ביום ה' עדיף'* ↩

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