Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the Jewish calendar from a broad philosophical perspective. We are currently in the 6th millennium:
In relation to the discussion on the calculation of years, the Gemara states that one of the Sages of the school of Eliyahu taught: The world is destined to exist for six thousand years. For two thousand years the world was waste, as the Torah had not yet been given. The next set of two thousand years are the time period of the Torah. The last set of two thousand years are the period designated for the days of the Messiah, but due to our many sins there are those years that have been taken from them, i.e., such and such years have already passed and have been taken from the two thousand years that are designated for the Messiah, and the Messiah has not yet arrived.
So we have a giant “week” consisting of three sets of two millennia each, a total of 6 millennia, or six days. Presumably, the final 7th millennium is like Shabbos is to the weekday—a cessation of physicality and production, and an entry into a different divine state. The Shalah (Torah Ohr, Aseres Hadibros, Shabbos) expands on this idea. In our current reality, just as there were three sets of millennia, there also were three stages of creativity, activity, and growth, followed by a Shabbos-like entry into an elevated divine state.
First, we have the Shabbos subsequent to the creation of the world. This is self-explanatory, as a cessation of God’s creation and now the beginning of the stage of the physical world’s existence. Then we have the second Shabbos period of the world, which is subsequent to receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. Once again, a new elevated form of existence begins after the Jews receive the Torah. The final stage will come in the post-Messianic era, when the full purpose of the world is achieved, and man enters into an eternal spiritual state of attachment to God in the World to Come.
These three stages and Shabbosos are also represented in the section of Torah that we declare during Kiddush Friday night (Bereishis 2:2–3), where the phrase “seventh day” is mentioned three times:
“On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy—having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done.”
These three stages also correspond to three stages of the human soul: Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama. The Nefesh represents our spiritual nature, which begins even in the first stage of creation after Shabbos Bereishis. However, after receiving the Torah, our Ruach is actualized, and an ability for prophetic conception of God begins. Finally, with the era of peace and wisdom that will follow during the Messianic era, the Neshama can reach full expression through an ultimate attachment to God.
The Shalah says that as we recite Kiddush Friday night, we should meditate on this process. With each utterance of “seventh,” we draw down divine inspiration and entry into its corresponding state of existence. The final joy—when we hit escape velocity and enter the World to Come—is symbolically represented by drinking the cup of wine and experiencing its joyful and intoxicating effects.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com