When Rav Hamnuna Saba arose from the river [after immersing for the honor of Shabbat to receive the additional soul in purity] before the commencement of Shabbat, he would sit for a moment [in contemplation to connect his soul to above] and raise his eyes, and he was happy. He would say that he was sitting to see the joy of the supernal angels, these ascending [with the souls of the righteous] and these descending [bringing an additional soul to those below]. Man sits in the world of souls every Friday [for the air is purified to be similar to the world of souls]. Worthy is he who knows the secrets of his Master.

When Shabbat day dawns, joy ascends in all the worlds with satisfaction and gladness. Then [it is the proper time of which it is said:] "The heavens declare the glory of G‑d and the firmament proclaims His handiwork." (Psalms 19:2) Who are [referred to by] the heavens? They [Zeir Anpin] are these heavens in which the supernal Name is visible and in which the Holy Name [Havayah] is marked.

What does the word "mesaperim" mean?" If you say it is like one who is telling a story, it is not so. But rather [it is derived from the word "sapir", meaning 'sparkle'], they illuminate and sparkle in the glitter of the supernal light, and ascend in the Name that is included in the radiance of the supernal perfection.

And who is this light? Those that sparkle in the complete radiance of the supernal Book. Therefore, they ascend in a complete Name, and they illuminate with a complete light. They sparkle in a complete sparkle. They sparkle [from chesed] and illuminate [from gevura] by themselves from the light of the sparkle of the supernal Book and sparkle and illuminate to every side they are connected to, because every single ring [the 6 extremities of the Female] lights up and sparkles from that radiance and from the light, because on this day the heavens become adorned and ascend in the Holy Name, more than on the other days.

BeRahamim LeHayyim: What does the above mean to you, and why is it revealed right now?

Sipur/story and Sapir/saphire shine. Both are part and parcel of Shabbat.

Sipur: We tell the story " then heaven and earth were finished..." 3 times on Friday night. The first in the Amida Prayer, accessing our connection to the physical world through netzach, hod and yesod. The second, after this prayer we proclaim again and testify that G‑d created heaven and earth; this stimulates our emotional attributes of chesed, gevura, and tiferet. The third time is over wine at Kiddush, where we intellectually digest that G‑d completed the labor of creation in 6 days and rested on the 7th, thus related to our chochma, bina, and da'at.

Sapir: Shining candle lights on our festive table fulfill the directive of Isaiah: "If you proclaim the Shabbat 'a delight', the holy one of G‑d 'honored'." (Isaiah 58:13) The lights 'honor' the Shabbat by brightening and enhance the 'delight' of a commemorative meal.

Shine on G‑d/Hallelu -yah! Story and Sparkle together as one.

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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