Should I spend the week waiting for Shabbos, or live as if Shabbos is already here?

Rabbi Landau answers with two great sages who loved Shabbos in completely different ways, Shammai and Hillel. Each one teaches a different way to live the six days of the week.

Shammai “lived his whole week preparing for Shabbos.” When he saw good food he would say, save it for Shabbos; when he saw the wine, “this one's for Shabbos.” For Shammai, “every day pointed forward to the seventh day of the week.”

Hillel, Rabbi Landau explains, “lived with Shabbos already in him.” His way was “Baruch Hashem yom yom,” blessed is Hashem day by day. “Every day was blessed, every day was holy for him. Tuesday didn't feel any less than Shabbos.”

“Shammai teaches us anticipation. Live your week with eyes on Shabbos. Hillel teaches us presence. Live your week as if Shabbos never left.” Then he turns the question to each of us: are you “always waiting for the weekend, or living as if the weekend never ends?”

Also answered in this teaching

Did Hillel's way mean he took Shabbos less seriously?

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that Hillel did not cancel the Sabbath, heaven forbid. “He discovered that the Sabbath is already here.”

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

Shammai lived toward Shabbos all week; Hillel lived with Shabbos already in him. One teaches anticipation, the other presence.

Fear, vulnerability, or tension

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau notes a pain in living only as “getting ready”: the weekdays can start to feel like nothing more than a hallway to Shabbos.

Underlying need or longing

A person wants his ordinary days to count too. Hillel's “Baruch Hashem yom yom” says every single day carries its own blessing.

Deepest human truth

In A Soul at Peace, Rabbi Landau writes that Hillel's inner work is discovering that “the hallway itself is full of light.” Holiness is not only waiting for us at the end of the week; it can already be here.