Why are We Here? Halachah forbids speaking on Shabbat about one’s business affairs and certain other matters. Leaving aside the halachic technicalities regarding the precise types of conversations that fall under this prohibition, let us address the more basic question as to the reason behind this halachah . Why is it forbidden to speak about one’s commercial ventures or his professional pursuits? It is clear that the Torah does not look down upon work and business. We work six days a week in order to support ourselves and our families, and this is perfectly acceptable. So why are we to avoid talking about it on Shabbat? If we abstain from the activities forbidden by the Torah on Shabbat, why are we not permitted to speak about them? Rav Elchanan Wasserman Hy”d , the famous disciple of the Hafetz Haim who led a yeshiva in Baranovich , Lithuania and was eventually murdered by the Nazis y”sh , once traveled to America to raise funds for his yeshiva. His attendant, with a lot of hard work and effort, managed to arrange a meeting for the Rabbi with a certain wealthy and influential secular Jew who owned a large textile factory. The moment Rav Elchanan walked into the room and his eyes met the factory owner’s, they recognized each other and warmly shook hands. They had studied together in elementary school in Europe before parting ways. Quite obviously, they now lived very different lives, as Rav Elchanan was a world-renowned Torah giant, and the factory owner moved to America and abandoned religious observance. “So, what brings you here?” the businessman asked the Rabbi. “The button on my jacked became loose, and so I came to America to have it tightened.” The man looked at Rav Elchanan incredulously. “What? You traveled halfway across the world, living for two weeks on a boat, to tighten the button on your jacket?” “Yes,” Rav Elchanan replied. “I own this entire textile factory,” the man said. “I can have a new jacket made for you in an hour.” “No,” the Rabbi said, “I just need to have my button tightened.” The owner called over one of his tailors, who spent a minute tightening the Rabbi’s button. Rav Elchanan warmly thanked the man and bid him farewell. He left the room without asking for anything else. His old friend stood there gaping in astonishment. Rav Elchanan’s attendant, too, was startled by what he just witnessed. He turned to the Rabbi and said, “It was very difficult to get a meeting with this man. How did you leave without even asking for a donation?” Rav Elchanan assured him that this would not be the last time he and his old friend would meet. Indeed, just a day or two later, the factory owner showed up at the home of Rav Elchanan’s host and asked to speak with him. “I cannot believe you came all the way here from Europe to have your button fixed,” he said. “Please tell me the truth.” “A person’s soul travels a vast distance to come reside in this world,” Rav Elchanan replied. “Just as it is absurd for a person to come to America from Lithuania to fix a button, it is similarly absurd for a soul to come from the highest point in the heavens down to this world to run a factory and have money clinking in the pocket. The soul comes here for something far more important – for the Torah and mitzvot which you were taught in your youth, but have since rejected. You are just tightening a button.” It is told that Rav Elchanan’s poignant words influenced the man, who made a considerable donation to the Rabbi’s yeshiva. The message conveyed by Rav Elchanan to his old friend is discussed at length by the Ramhal (Rav Moshe Haim Luzzato), in the first chapter of Mesilat Yesharim , where he emphasizes that this world serves as merely a gateway to our final destination, the eternal world of the afterlife. If the purpose of our coming into this world was to enjoy the physical and material delights that it offers us, the Ramhal writes, then why do we need a pure, sacred soul? Our souls are holier even than the angels, and they derive no benefit or satisfaction whatsoever from worldly pleasures. The very fact that we possess a soul proves that we exist for a purpose other than mundane, physical enjoyment. The Ramhal cites in this context the analogy drawn by the Midrash Kohelet (6) to a peasant who marries a princess. No matter how much he showers her with gifts, she is never satisfied. All she has known since birth is royalty. She was raised on the finest delicacies and had all her needs cared for by a team of devoted servants. Her peasant husband can bring her oatmeal made from the finest oats seasoned with the finest flavoring, and serve it to her in bed every morning, but this would not satisfy her. Similarly, our souls are accustomed to the pristine spirituality of the heavens. How could food, drinks and material luxury satisfy it? It has come down to this world to receive the kind of nourishment it needs – Torah and mitzvot . Only these “delicacies” can bring it satisfaction. Everything else, all the vain pleasures of the world, are just “buttons,” trivial and insignificant matters. Shabbat is called מעין עולם הבא – a taste, or glimpse, of the next world. It serves as a reminder of the world from where we came and to where we are destined to go. Shabbat reminds us that the money we work so hard to earn throughout the week is just a “button.” We did not come here for that. Our soul descended from the upper worlds for something far more significant than money – for Torah, for kedushah , for spirituality, for mitzvot , for hesed . This is what the soul needs, and this is why it came here. And thus we light special candles for Shabbat to remind us of our soul – נר ה' נשמת אדם – and the special nourishment that it requires. While during the week we are compelled to pay greater attention to the body, to our material needs, on Shabbat we shift our focus onto the soul and its needs. What’s more, on Shabbat we receive a נשמה יתירה – an extra soul, and we thus have two souls to “feed.” This is why Shabbat is a time for Torah study, prayer, songs of praise to Hashem, and general spiritual focus. It is a time to regain our perspective, to remember why we are here. One might ask, if this is the case, then why is there a special mitzvah to eat lavish meals in honor of Shabbat? If Shabbat is to be a day of spirituality, then why specifically on Shabbat are we obligated to enjoy fine foods and drinks? The Hafetz Haim, in his Be’ur Halachah (242), cites the Torat Hayim as explaining that the delicacies we enjoy on Shabbat are in fact symbols of the next world. We eat meat to remind us of the meat of the שור הבר , a special type of animal, which Hashem will prepare for the righteous in the eternal world. For the same reason, we eat fish, which commemorates the meat of the Livyatan (leviathan) which the tzadikim will enjoy in the future. We drink wine for kiddush to remind us of the special wine from Gan Eden which G-d is saving for the righteous. And the two loaves of bread bring to mind the manna, with which Hashem fed Beneh Yisrael in the desert and with which He will feed the righteous in the future. We eat delicacies on Shabbat not just to indulge, but rather to give us a taste of the joy and delights awaiting us in the next world. The enjoyment of Shabbat is intended for us to consider that if our Shabbat is this enjoyable, we cannot even imagine the enjoyment we will experience in the יום שכולו שבת – the eternal Shabbat, the next world. Thus, Shabbat is a time for spiritual focus, to redirect our attention onto the soul, the essence of our being, and the essence of our purpose in this world. We now understand why it is inappropriate to speak about our businesses and professions on Shabbat. Our work is just a “button.” Compared to the needs of the soul, our professional and commercial endeavors are trivial. We spend plenty of time during the week worrying about our “buttons.” On Shabbat, when we are to focus upon the needs of our soul, and contemplate the long journey it has taken to come to this world, it is ludicrous to worry about something as trivial as money. From the perspective we are to gain on Shabbat, the מעין עולם הבא , there is no need to talk about our work. Let us utilize Shabbat for its true purpose – to reflect upon our true purpose in this world, to remind ourselves of why we are here and how we are to spend our brief sojourn on Earth.