Parshas Yisro - Remembering Shabbos by making havdalah

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (20:7)

זָכוֹר אֶת יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ

Remember the day of the Shabbos to sanctify it.

The Rambam explains (ספר המצות, מצות עשה קנ"ה)

והמצוה הקנ"ה היא שצונו לקדש את השבת ולאמר דברים בכניסתו וביציאתו, נזכור בם גודל היום הזה ומעלתו והבדלו משאר הימים הקודמים ממנו והבאים אחריו. והוא אמרו יתעלה זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. כלומר זכרהו זכר קדושה והגדלה. וזו היא מצות קדוש. ולשון מכילתא זכור את יום השבת לקדשו קדשהו בברכה. ובביאור אמרו (פסחים ק"ו א') זכרהו על היין. ואמרו גם כן קדשהו בכניסתו וקדשהו ביציאתו. כלומר ההבדלה שהיא גם כן חלק מזכירת שבת מתוקנת ומצווה.

The 155^th mitzva is that He commanded us to sanctify Shabbos and to say words when it comes in and when it goes out. And we will remember in these words the greatness of this day and its excellence and its separation from the other days which precede it and which come after it. And this is what Hashem said, “זכור את יום השבת לקדשו”. Which means to say, remember it a remembrance of holiness and greatness. And this is the mitzva of kiddush. And the way that the mechilta expresses this mitzva is, “Remember the day of the Shabbos to sanctify it; sanctify it with a beracha.” And in explanation they said, “Remember it over wine.” And they said also, “Sanctify it when it comes in and sanctify it when it goes out.” As if to say, the separation is also a part of the completion of our remembrance of Shabbos.

The Rambam explains the nusach of Kiddush and Havdalah in הלכות שבת (כ"ט, ב' - ג') as follows

וזה הוא נוסח קידוש היום.  ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם, אשר קידשנו במצוותיו ורצה בנו, ושבת קודשו באהבה וברצון הנחילנו,זיכרון למעשה בראשית, תחילה למקראי קודש, זכר ליציאת מצריים.  כי בנו בחרת ואותנו קידשת מכל העמים, ושבת קודשך באהבה וברצון הנחלתנו. ברוך אתה ה', מקדש השבת.

This is the nusach of the sanctification of the day: Blessed are you Hashem, our g-d, king of the universe, who sanctified us with his mitzvos and who was pleased with us, and his holy shabbos with love and with good will he bequeathed to us, as a remembrance of creation, the first day of the holy convocations, a remembrance to yetzias mitzrayim. Because in us you chose and us you sanctified from all the peoples, and your holy shabbos with love and good will you bequeathed to us. Blessed are Hashem, who sanctifies the shabbos.

וזה הוא נוסח ההבדלה. ברוך אתה ה' אלוקינו מלך העולם, המבדיל בין קודש לחול, ובין אור לחושך, ובין ישראל לגויים, ובין יום השביעי לששת ימי המעשה. ברוך אתה ה', המבדיל בין קודש לחול.

This is the nusach of Havdalah: Blessed are you Hashem, our g-d, king of the universe, who separates between the holy and the mundane, and between light and darkness, and between the benei yisrael and the nations of the world, and between the seventh day and the six days of activity. Blessed are you Hashem, who separates between the holy and the mundane.

Why does the nusach of kiddush only mention the specialnesses of shabbos and of the benei yisrael who observe shabbos, whereas the nusach of havdalah mentions general ideas of separation, such as the separation between the holy and the mundane?

The Duvno Maggid explains with the following mashal:

The king was very proud of his royal painter, who was able to create paintings that looked almost lifelike in their perfection, so he called all his ministers to admire the works of art. On the first day, the painter showed the ministers a painting of the countryside, which looked so lifelike you could almost step into it.

“But,” said one of the ministers, “In the real countryside, the trees blow in the breeze, and in this picture the trees are stationary?”

So the king told the painter to make a better painting for the next day.

The next day the painter showed the ministers a painting of a city scene, which looked so lifelike you could almost hear the horses’ hooves clattering over the cobble stones.

“But,” objected the same minister, “In the real city, the carriages are pulled along the streets by the horses, and in this picture the carriages don’t move?”

So the king told the painter to make a better painting for the next day.

The next day the painter showed the ministers a painting of the queen sitting on her throne, which looked so lifelike that you were almost dazzled by the diamonds in her crown.

“But,” objected the same minister, “The real queen has wrinkles in her forehead, and in this picture the queen’s forehead is perfectly smooth?”

At this, the king motioned to his guards, who removed the minister and cast him into gaol.

Similarly here, explains the Duvno Maggid, Hashem gave us the ability to be discerning and to circumscribe and to define the areas of endeavour in which we will strive and succeed. However, this ability to discern and to differentiate, can be used for the good, to identify that which can lead to the observance of Torah and mitzvos, but it can also be used for the bad, to exclude ourselves from thinking about Hashem’s plan for creation and only think about how we can benefit from the world.

It is only possible to know if a person has chosen to use their powers of discernment for the good or for the bad, after seeing the outcome of this person’s exercising their ability to discern. Therefore, only after we have kept Shabbos, and we have shown that we have chosen to use our ability to discern to create an environment which is exclusively dedicated to the observance of Torah and mitzvos, can we thank Hashem in havdalah for the general ability to discern that He has given us, which we have used to make positive differentiations through which we identify and safeguard the beauty and light of that which is holy, of the benei yisrael and of the day of shabbos.