"And G‑d finished with the seventh day" (Gen. 2:2) refers to the Oral Torah [which is malchut, the 7th sefira of the 7 lower sefirot; for the world was first built with chesed,the first sefira, as it says, "a world will it be built with chesed" (Ps. 89:3)], for by means of [malchut] the world was finished and completed, as as it is the existence of all.

"His work that He did" (Ibid.) and not "all His work", for the Written Torah brought out and completed all with the strength of the writing which comes from chochma [and thus it can be said "from all His work", as in the next verse, but the Oral Torah was incomplete, for in each generation there are new laws and insights.]

...

"And He rested on the seventh day" refers to the foundation of the world. [Bina, called Elokim, rested in the yesod of Zeir Anpin, as yesod is the 7th sefira from bina.] In the book of Rabbi Yeba Saba, it is written: ["and He rested on the 7th day"] refers to [bina also called] Jubilee. Hence, it is written: "from all of His work," because all [the workings of creation] originate from this [bina] And we [Rabbi Shimon] say [but Rabbi Shimon says] that ["and He rested on the 7th day"] alludes to yesod [not to the Jubilee/bina] because [malchut] rests in it [yesod] more than all else.

"And G‑d blessed the seventh day" refers to the High Priest [chesed, the 7th sefira from malchut and including all the 7 lower sefirot] who blesses all [the lower beings]and takes the first share [of bounty from bina], as we have learned (Yoma 14a) the Priest takes the first share and hence, he can bless [the lower 7 sefirot] and is called the seventh [counting from malchut to above]

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include this? What do they want us to learn?

All 7's are special. Just think how special the past 7th month (counting from Nissan) was. Don't read "7" – 'sheva', rather "full"- 'Sova'. In this verse which is probably the most familiar to those of us who hear kiddush weekly, we learn that 7 can be viewed in different ways. So too with us: how we relate to the "7"s in our life depends on the individual. Some keep the 7th day in their mind all the time. Others wait until the 6th Day.

When we learn that" more than Israel has kept the Shabbat....the Shabbat has kept Israel"it could make us wonder if this is just a platitude, or an essential premise on worldview. Perhaps contemplate this as we say Kiddush G‑d willing tonight.

What did the above mean to YOU?! Why were you reading it NOW?!

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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