Having the End in Mind Rabbenu Bahya, one of the great Torah commentators who lived approximately 800 years ago, cites in his Torah commentary (Vayikra 12:2) the proverb, תחילת המחשבה סוף המעשה – “The beginning of thought is the end of the action.” This means that when a process is completed, the end result is far more valuable than all the actions taken to prepare for it, as it was planned well before all the preparatory measures. Rabbenu Bahya gives the example of a person who wants to learn Torah, but he needs a bet midrash in which to study. He plans a building, lays the foundation, builds the structure, places a roof, makes the final touches, and then begins learning. The very first stage of the process is the מחשבה , the plan in the person’s mind of the end goal. The final stage – sitting and learning in the new bet midrash – was, in a sense, the very first stage, as this was the person’s goal from the outset. The same is true of the world’s creation. The end goal of the process of creation was that there would be human beings serving G-d in the world. This was the goal from the outset, but the creation of man was the last stage. First, G-d created the universe and everything in the world so it would be inhabitable by human beings. An example might be a couple planning a wedding, who begin with the vision of standing together under the hupa and celebrating together with their family and friends. All the preparations that are made lead towards this end goal, which was their plan at the very beginning. סוף המעשה – the final stage, the culmination, is תחילת המחשבה – the very first thoughts which the person had, which triggered the entire process which led to the realization of his plan. Right at the outset of Shabbat, we sing the famous לכה דודי prayer, which was written by the great Kabbalist Rav Shlomo Alkabetz, and in which we proclaim, סוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה – the end result of the world’s creation was in G-d’s mind, as it were, from the very beginning. Shabbat is the culmination of the process of creation, the end goal which Hashem had in mind when He first began creating our universe. Shabbat is the final day of the week because it is the end goal, the purpose of the preceding six days. There is a famous book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective people written by Stephen Covey. The second habit that the author discusses in the book is “begin with the end in mind.” In order to get anywhere, a person needs to know where he is going. Whenever we engage in any activity, we need to have a clear idea of what our end goal is, the result that we seek to achieve through the things we’re involved in. The joke is told of a fellow who gets into a cab at the airport, hands the driver some money, and says, “I’m giving you a tip up front. Get me there fast.” “Where are you going?” the driver asks. “I don’t know,” the frantic passenger says. “Just get me there fast!” Quite obviously, this trip will not be all that successful. As the famous saying goes, “People don’t plan to fail. But they fail to plan.” In order to be successful, we need to have a plan from the outset of what we seek to achieve. In our spiritual lives, this idea is powerfully expressed by our weekly cycle. When we begin the week Sunday morning, we right away declare, היום יום ראשון בשבת – “Today is the first day until Shabbat.” And then on Monday morning we say, היום יום שני בשבת – “Today is the second day until Shabbat.” And so on. Right as we start the week, and then every day henceforth, we clearly declare that our end goal, the purpose of everything we do during the week, is to reach Shabbat. Just as at the time of creation Shabbat was במחשבה תחילה , the initial goal that was in mind from the outset, similarly, each and every week we work throughout the six days in order to arrive at Shabbat, which is our end goal. Why is this significant? What do we learn from this perspective on Shabbat, that it constitutes the culmination and the end goal of the six preceding days? Shabbat is מעין עולם הבא – a microcosm of the world to come. The weekly cycle represents life generally: just as we work during the six days of the week to reach Shabbat, so do we spend our lives in this world preparing for the eternal life in the next world. By viewing Shabbat as the culmination and end goal of the week, we remind ourselves that our entire lives are but a preparation for the next world. This concept is famously developed in the very first passage in the classic work Mesilat Yesharim : יסוד היסודות ושורש העבודה התמימה היא שיתברר ויתאמת אצל האדם מה חובתו בעולמו, ולמה צריך שישים מבטו ומגמתו בכל אשר הוא עמל כל ימי חייו. והנה, מה שהורונו חכמינו ז"ל הוא שהאדם לא נברא אלא להתענג על ה' וליהנות מזיו שכינתו, שזהו התענוג האמיתי והעידון הגדול מכל העידונים שיכולים להמצא. The most basic foundation and the root of the sincere service [of Hashem] is that a person clearly and firmly recognizes what his obligation is in the world, and towards what he should look and strive when exerting all the effort he exerts throughout his life. Now what our Sages z”l taught us is that a person was created solely to delight in Hashem and enjoy the radiance of His presence, which is the truest delight and the pleasure which is greater than all pleasures which can exist. The purpose of all of life is to experience the ultimate תענוג (“delight”), which is the delight of the next world. And thus on Shabbat, which represents the experience of the next world, we have the mitzvah of עונג שבת , to enjoy delights and pleasures. We are to work during the week to prepare for the great עונג of Shabbat to remind us that we are to spend our lives preparing for the great delights of the next world, that this is the end goal and ultimate purpose of life. Preparing for Shabbat, then, involves far more than the practical need to have things ready for Shabbat, and even more than giving honor to Shabbat. It affects our entire outlook on life, reminding us that our lives are to be spent in preparation for the next world. And just as the bulk of our preparation for Shabbat is done on Friday, similarly, we prepare for the seventh month – Tishri – primarily during the sixth month, Elul. And thus we are now preparing both for the final Shabbat of the year, and for the beginning of the new year. Let us use this time to reflect upon the יסוד היסודות , the most fundamental principle of religious life – that we are here in this world to prepare for the יום שכולו שבת , for our eternal life in the next world.