Coming Early and Staying Late Parashat Behaalotecha features something very unusual, which we do not find anywhere else in the Torah. A pair of verses in the middle of the parashah (10:35-36) is surrounded on both sides by two symbols – upside-down nun ’s, that look like parentheses and thus serve to set these verses apart from the rest of the text. Rashi explains, based on the Gemara, that these two verses are set apart because this is not where they truly belong. Their natural location in the Torah is somewhere else, but they were placed here כדי להפסיק בין פורענות לפורענות – in order to make a separation between the Torah’s accounts of calamities. In order that we do not read an uninterrupted series of unfortunate events, the Torah made an “interruption” by placing these two pesukim in between. As the Ramban notes, Rashi’s comments seem very difficult to understand. It is true that this pair of pesukim if followed by the accounts of two terrible disasters – the sin of the מתאוננים , when Beneh Yisrael complained as they traveled, and then קברות התאוה , when they demanded meat. However, there does not seem to be any calamity told before these two verses. How can they serve to separate stories of misfortune, when nothing unfortunate is told before these two verses? The Ramban explains that there is, in fact, a calamity told before these pesukim . The preceding verse (10:33) reads: ויסעו מהר ה' – the people journeyed from Mount Sinai . The Midrash interprets these words to mean that Beneh Yisrael left Mount Sinai כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר – “like a child running away from school.” They left gleefully, relieved that they would not be receiving any more mitzvot , just like children running rowdily out of class and out the building when the bell rings after a long day in school, overjoyed that they are now free from the responsibilities of school. This was indeed a tragedy, the Ramban explains, because if not for this sense of relief and “escape,” Beneh Yisrael would have entered the Land of Israel immediately, rather than wander through the wilderness for forty years. The sins that followed, such as the sin of the spies, on account of which Beneh Yisrael were condemned to spend forty years in the desert, would not have occurred if they had left Mount Sinai with the proper attitude and mindset. It turns out that the very first sin Beneh Yisrael committed after embarking from Mount Sinai was a lack of appreciation for what Mount Sinai was all about, for the great privilege of receiving, studying and observing the Torah. They viewed it as a series of restrictions and obligations that made life difficult, and so they rejoiced when it was “over,” when they knew that no more commands would be given. Sadly, this was true on the opposite end, as well. We read in Sefer Shemot (15:22) that Moshe brought Beneh Yisrael away from the shores of the Yam Suf after the miracle of the sea to continue their journey to Sinai: ויסע משה את ישראל מים סוף . Rashi explains that the Egyptian horsemen had adorned their chariots with extravagant gold and silver ornaments, and all these washed ashore after the Egyptian army drowned in the sea. Beneh Yisrael were preoccupied with the frantic search for riches, and showed no interest in advancing towards Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. Here, too, they failed to properly appreciate the great privilege that Torah affords us, and to recognize the fact that Torah and mitzvot are far more precious than any amount of even the most valuable jewels. As the Ma’aseh Hashem comments, the child who runs away from school at the end of the day does not run to school in the morning. And so just as Beneh Yisrael ran from Mount Sinai, they needed to be dragged to Mount Sinai when it was time to go there. The Mo’ed Le’chol Hai applies this concept to Yom Kippur, specifically, to the arvit service that is recited immediately upon the conclusion of Yom Kippur. If a person runs through this arvit , mumbling the words without concentration or feeling, then he acts like a child running from school, and demonstrates that he does not properly appreciate what Yom Kippur is all about. If he runs from Yom Kippur, then he must not recognize its inestimable value. The same is true of Shabbat. We should not treat Shabbat as a burden we begrudgingly bear, a necessity of life that we have no choice but to put up with. Shabbat must be approached as our most precious commodity, as a source of unparalleled joy and of boundless blessings. If this is our perspective, then we will neither enter Shabbat begrudgingly nor run away from it joyfully. Rather, we will begin Shabbat as early as we can on Friday and end it as late as we can on Motza’eh Shabbat . The extra ten minutes of Shabbat before or after are significant in expressing our feelings towards Shabbat, as they proclaim that we cherish every moment of this spiritual oasis in time, and we rush with eager anticipation to greet it. Rav Leib Bakst zt”l , an esteemed Rosh Yeshiva in Detroit , was once introduced to speak by being described as a person with great mesirut nefesh (devotion and sacrifice) for Torah. Rav Bakst objected. He said that if somebody is brought to an ice cream store that offers ice cream in one hundred different flavors, and he is told he can help himself to as much ice cream as he wishes, it does not take any mesirut nefesh for him to eat ice cream. Similarly, Rav Bakst said, if somebody truly appreciates the value and greatness of Torah, then it does not require any self-sacrifice whatsoever to devote himself to studying it. Shabbat is a source of physical and spiritual enjoyment, and so we should be eagerly rushing to begin Shabbat and not so quick to end it. The way we begin and end Shabbat demonstrates whether we view Shabbat as our most valuable treasure, or if we prefer material assets, like Beneh Yisrael at the shores of the Yam Suf . This time of year is especially suited for reflecting on our attitude to matters of spirituality such as Torah and Shabbat. We recently observed Shavuot, celebrating the great gift of the Torah. And our children recently finished the school year and began their summer vacations, offering us a clear picture of כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר , of what “escaping” from Torah might look like. Many of us spend the summer in a looser, more relaxed setting than during the rest of the year. This is an appropriate time to ask ourselves whether we, like schoolchildren, look forward to “escaping” from “Mount Sinai,” from our regular, rigorous schedule of tefillot and Torah study, if perhaps we do not value Torah and mitzvot to the extent that we should. The Hovot Ha’levavot comments that whenever we have any sort of experience we should try to extract something from the experience that can enhance our service of Hashem. The advent of summer vacation, and the glee on the faces of our children, can teach us about the need to view Torah learning and our religious duties with the proper perspective, as something precious which we should love and cherish, and not, Heaven forbid, as something we would like to run away from. And this is a message which we can apply to Shabbat. If a person is the first one to the bet midrash and the last one to leave, we know how much he treasures and values Torah learning. Likewise, if we begin Shabbat early and end it late, then we show how much we treasure and value the spiritual benefits of Shabbat. We can tell which wedding guests are truly happy to celebrate with the couple and their families by noting the time they arrive and the time they leave. Those closest to the bride or groom will arrive on time, or perhaps even early, and remain through the very end. Those who are not very interested in the celebration park by the closest fire hydrant, run in to wish the hosts mazal tov , and then run back out to their car. If we want to show what Shabbat means to us, how important we think it is and how much it offers us, then we come early and stay late. The extra ten minutes before and after speak volumes about how we view the 25 or so hours in between. Let us, then, show our enthusiasm and love for Shabbat by rushing to greet it on Friday afternoon and extending it a bit later on Motza’eh Shabbat , thereby expressing just how much the Shabbat experienc e means to us.