A person should be very careful to be joyous and happy on Shabbat. For the advantages and [levels of] holiness of Shabbat are exceptionally great and precious. This is brought [in many places in our sacred literature], especially in Reishit Chokhmah, at the beginning of Shaar HaKedushah (“the Gate of Holiness”). See there.

It is fitting and right to study the aforementioned section of Reishit Chokhmah, and to pay close attention to everything mentioned there concerning the sanctity and advantages of the holy Shabbat. There are many valuable points about Shabbat’s holiness and advantages, as each topic and advantage mentioned there in connection with Shabbat is itself a separate point. One should understand well [the teaching] there, so that his heart will be inspired to accept Shabbat with great and powerful joy, as is fitting.

And as a result, fear of God is perfected—i.e., it includes daat. During the week, this fear can include foolishness, as in “Surely, your fear is your foolishness” (Job 4:6). And at the heart of foolishness is the servitude present during the weekdays. Due to the servitude, daat is lacking. This is as it is written about Moab (Jeremiah 48:11), “Moab has been at ease from its youth… and never gone into exile. Therefore, its flavor has remained…”—and as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught (Megillah 12b), for servitude and exile confuse the mind.

But Shabbat is freedom. And when freedom exists, and servitude and exile do not, then daat is perfected. And the delight and joy of Shabbat are the main way to freedom, as in “Then you will delight in God” (Isaiah 58:14), which is said about Shabbat. And this begets freedom, as in “For through joy you will go out” (ibid. 55:12), because through joy one goes free.

And when there is freedom, daat is perfected, and so fear of God is as it should be. This is the concept of YaRAi ShaBbaT (Tikkuney Zohar #9, p.24b), when fear of God is without the foolishness present during the week. For the foolishness is primarily on account of servitude, as mentioned above. But through this we raise the “fallen” fears, namely, the fear that we occasionally feel of an official and the like. We elevate these [fears] through daat, which is greatest on Shabbat, when joy produces freedom and daat is consequently perfected, as mentioned above.

2. This is the rule: A person has to behave very joyously on the holy Shabbat, never displaying even a hint of depression or anxiety. Rather, he should delight in God and treat himself to all kinds of Shabbat delights—food, drink, clothing… whatever he can afford. Shabbat eating is purely spiritual. It is entirely holy and rises to a place which is totally different from that of weekday eating, as explained elsewhere. (See Likutey Moharan I, 57:5 and 277:4; see also Zohar II, 218a and Mikdash Melekh there.).

3. God’s way is to always focus on the good which people do. Although there is also some not good mixed in with it, He pays no attention to this, as it is written (Numbers 23:21), “He does not look at wickedness in Yaakov.” Certainly, therefore, it is forbidden for a person to look negatively at his fellow man, to find specifically that which is not good and to search for the shortcomings in the other’s religious devotions. On the contrary, he is obligated to focus only on the good.

This is the great advantage in there being both nature and Divine providence.

When a person does good, [God] directs his [life] by Divine providence. But when he is not good, [if God] were to direct his [life] by Divine providence, not even a shred of good could come his way. Consequently, [God] leaves him to nature, so that there is a possibility that good will come his way by the dictates of nature.

For if there was nothing but Divine providence, Divine providence might itself be entirely eliminated [from that person]! This is because when God would see a person conducting himself improperly, He would become angry and remove Divine providence altogether. Now, however, He leaves him to the dictates of nature. Then, when he returns to good, He guides him with Divine providence.

The fact is we are incapable of comprehending nature and Divine providence. For, in reality, nature too is God’s providence. It is impossible for a human being to comprehend this paradox—namely, that nature is actually Divine providence.