Rivnitz Donate

What does it mean that Shabbos is a taste of the World to Come?

By Rabbi Shalom Landau.

Rabbi Landau explains that the sages call Shabbos “me’ein Olam Haba,” a foretaste of the world to come, and he defines that world as “existence without the anxiety of existence.”

For one day, he says, “you are not a person trying to survive the week, you are a soul tasting eternity.” That is different from a day off, which only pauses the noise of what’s unfinished and what’s coming. “Shabbos lifts you above it.”

And this taste of eternity is not rare. It is available every Shabbos, arriving every Friday night.

Watch Rabbi Landau's teaching

Related concepts: Receiving Shabbos · Spirituality

In A Soul at Peace: A Taste of the World to Come

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

Surface claim

Shabbos is “me’ein Olam Haba,” a foretaste of the world to come.

Deepest human truth

The world to come is existence without the anxiety of existence, and every Shabbos a person can taste it as a soul rather than a survivor.

More questions from this teaching

More answers: Shabbos · All questions · Questions about Rabbi Landau and Rivnitz

Follow us on Facebook