It is customary in hasidic communities, to read a passage from the Zohar before the evening prayer service on Friday night. This passage describes the events that occur in the upper worlds on Shabbat. The evil forces that cling to the Shekhina, the Divine Presence, on weekdays depart, and the Shekhina can receive the heavenly light that shines from above. This light also shines on the people praying the evening service, resulting in their being adorned with an additional soul, bringing joy and good will.

When Shabbat begins, [the Shekhina, the kabbalistic Sefira of Malkhut, majesty,] is refined and separates from the “other side” [i.e., from the forces of evil], and all judgments are removed from her, and she remains in her singularity of holy light, adorned with a number of crowns for the holy King. All the proponents of anger and the accusers flee, and there is no other dominion in all of the worlds. Her face glows with a heavenly light, and she is adorned below by the holy nation, and all are adorned with new souls [i.e., renewed souls, upon which a sublime light shines]. Then the prayers begin and we bless her in joy, with shining faces, saying: “Bless the Lord, the blessed One.” (Zohar 2:135a)

On Shabbat there is great joy in the upper worlds, and from there a special joy pours forth to each and every Jew. Nevertheless, the ability to feel this sublime joy depends on the individual’s degree of purity and refinement.

The joy and delight of Shabbat are first revealed in the upper worlds, and from there they are roused in every Jew:

For it is a day of joy, happiness, and great delight before the rock of Israel, blessed be He, and the light of the joy of Shabbat appears and illuminates the tremendous brilliance of His splendor and produces a glow in all of the holy worlds. There is nothing similar to this on any of the other days of the year, because the light that shines on it is illuminated by itself, without any stimulation from us. We, the Jewish people, who are called: “Children of the Omnipresent” (Mishna Avot 3:14), and “The allotment [ĥevel] of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9), are tied with this allotment [ĥevel, meaning allotment or portion, can also mean rope] with a cord [tikva] of scarlet thread, about which it is said: “There is hope [tikva] for your future” (Jeremiah 31:16). The soul of each and every Jew has its source above, and from this source light comes down from above to his soul below, via that cord of hope. All this is known to those who know the mystical teachings. When the immense happiness, wondrous joy, and great delight are stirred up at the source of our souls to its full extent, then within each and every individual in Israel, His holy nation, boundless happiness and joy are necessarily awakened, the joy of the soul and the body, in every Jew, in accordance with his soul’s stature and the source of his portion in the upper worlds.

The purer one is, the more joy of Shabbat he merits to receive. If a person is not purified then there is a barrier within him, between the source of his soul and the spark of the soul that is in him:

This depends on the extent of the refinement of one’s body: The more purified one is, his body does not break the bond between the spark of the soul that is within him, and the source of his soul above, and the connecting cord brings immeasurable illumination from the source of the soul above, which receives the light of the joy of worlds on Shabbat, to the spark inside the person. But when one’s body is not pure, it constitutes a division between the source of his soul above and the spark of his soul inside him, and it does not receive the illumination of the enduring spiritual joy of Shabbat.

A little of the joy of Shabbat shines even on one whose body is not pure, for two reasons: The light of Shabbat is especially exalted and powerful, and the light of Shabbat shines on the common source of the souls of Israel and therefore it shines on all the Jewish people:

Nevertheless, even with regard to the lowest of the low, it is certain that delight will be roused within him on Shabbat, because the light of Shabbat is immense and awesome beyond the light of the mitzvot, in its self-illumination. Furthermore, it is expressed in the full extent [of spiritual levels] where the source of the soul of all of Israel can be found, so [the light of Shabbat] will certainly be awakened in all of Israel.

Sadness and anger disappear on Shabbat due to the illumination of Shabbat, which fills all worlds with joy:

Through this you can understand the statement of the Zohar, which says: In the merit of that [addition to the] soul [on Shabbat], all sorrow and anger are forgotten by a person, and only joy and happiness are present both above and below. In other words, this is what takes place: All types of sorrow and strife are forgotten by a person and he is filled with joy and happiness from the enhanced soul and by that spirit. (Rabbi Ĥayyim Tyrer, Sidduro Shel Shabbat 5:3:1)

Further reading: For more on the “rope” that ties people’s souls to the Creator, see p. 320.