Shabbat: Merging Physicality and Spirituality

“Shabbat… is the holiest and most spiritual day of the week…[yet] it is a physically pleasurable day… Why are physical enjoyments appropriate for such a spiritual day?… wouldn’t indulging in the physical side of the world detract from our appreciation of holiness?…

Shabbat… is a time when the physical and spiritual worlds become aligned. On Shabbat the world is not only in harmony with itself; it is in harmony with God as well.

As a result, Shabbat is a time of both spiritual and physical enjoyment… During the week the spiritual and physical sides of creation may well conflict: The more physically indulgent a person is, the less spiritual he is going to be. But on Shabbat they complement. Physical and spiritual all merge into one magnificent whole, serving as a reflection of the one all-encompassing God who created them.”