Welcome to Embrace Shabbat. In his sefer Kol Ram , Rav Moshe Feinstein raises a question about the korbanot of the holidays and Shabbat discussed in Parshat Pinchas. The Torah teaches that שני כבשים , two sheep, must be brought on Shabbat. The Gemara in Masechet Yoma draws a connection between Shabbat and Yom Kippur: just as the goats on Yom Kippur must be identical in size, age, and expense, so too the two sheep of Shabbat must be identical in all aspects, as well. Rav Moshe Feinstein explains the message between these two identical sheep. Two aspects of Shabbat are highlighted in the Torah- זכור and שמור . The commandment of זכור refers to the positive commandments of Shabbat, such as making Kiddush and highlighting the fact that Hashem created the world and rested on the seventh day. שמור , on the other hand, refers to the negative commandments of Shabbat, including the 39 melachot and their many subcategories. These two commandments, זכור and שמור , correspond to the two identical sheep; both must be commemorated “identically.” For every ounce of effort that a person invests not to transgress a negative commandment of Shabbat, they must invest in a counterforce of positivity. When one focuses on the negative alone, they cause others to leave with a distaste toward Shabbat. Many Jews arrived in America in the early 1900s and were mosser nefesh to observe Shabbat. Yet, many of their children went off the derech and no longer kept Shabbat. How could this be? Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that these people came home after they lost their job and they said “It’s hard to be a Jew” You cannot give just the negative. You have to give the positive. Rav Elimelech Biderman relates that there were once two 6-year old boys that were playing, pretending to be fathers learning with a Gemara. Shuckling over the pages, one of the boys yelled out to the other “ אסור אסור אסור ,” and the other one parroted back “ אסור אסור אסור .” – “It is prohibited , “It is prohibited , “It is prohibited .This was their understanding of Gemara. The great Mashgiach, Rav Dov Yaffe, overheard this exchange between the two young boys. Before returning home for Kiddush, he rushed to the boys’ parents to let them know about the serious ramifications that could result from such a negative perception of Torah learning. A person’s impression of our religion, and specifically Shabbat, must always be positive. Have a Shabbat Shalom.