697. And You Shall Honor It, Not Doing Your Ways

“And you shall honor it, not doing your ways.” “Honor it,” so your Shabbat [Sabbath] attire will not be as your everyday attire, “and even as Rabbi Yochanan called his garments ‘My honorers,’” and RASHI interpreted “My honorers,” since they honor he who wears them (Shabbat 113a).

In ethics, clothing is regarded as a Kli [vessel] that dresses the light. That is, the place of the clothing of pleasure is called “clothing,” by which one obtains pleasure, since pleasure is a spiritual light that cannot be obtained without clothing. Sometimes the pleasure is clothed in corporeal attire, and sometimes the pleasure is clothed in spiritual attire, meaning in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments].

Hence, on Shabbat, because of the glory of Shabbat, meaning to be rewarded with the light of Shabbat, we must prepare attire by which the light of Shabbat can be worn.