784. The Meaning of Shabbat

Shabbat [Sabbath] is called Shin-Bat (The Zohar, VaYakhel), where Bat [daughter/girl] means female, which is the quality of reception. When the upper pleasure is revealed and we receive it, this is called “female” and “daughter.”

This is why The Zohar says that when the three fathers unite in the daughter, it is Shabbat. The three fathers are interpreted in the Sulam [Ladder commentary on The Zohar] as three lines by which the light of Hochma, called Shabbat, is revealed. This is why it is called Shin-Bat, and it is also called “the pupil of the eye,” for the revelation of Hochma is called “eye,” since vision is revealed in the eye.

There is hearing and there is seeing. To hear, one must believe that what the other is saying is true. But with seeing, there is no need to believe anyone because he sees for himself. Hence, when the light of pleasures appears on Shabbat, it is called “seeing” and the “pupil of the eye,” meaning that which the eye sees, and the reception in the eye, is called “daughter.”