Who distinguishes between the sacred and the ordinary: “Between light and darkness,” should appear before, “Between sacred and ordinary,” in the Havdalah blessing. For in the six days of creation is the basis of Havdalah, the distinction *“*Between light and darkness,” comes first. Thus, it is written on the first day, “God distinguished between the light and the darkness.” (Gen:1:5) The distinction between the sacred and the ordinary did not occur until Sunday, after Sabbath. Further, it doesn't make sense to say, “Between Israel and the nations,” first and then, “Between the seventh day and the other six days of creation” since God distinguishes between the six days of creation before God separated Israel from the nations. What is more, it has already been said, God distinguishes “Between holy and ordinary!” Now we will answer these questions based on the simple meaning of the text (peshat).¹⁰ The sages in Midrash Shachar Tov,¹¹ Psalm 92, state that the first Sabbath after creation was as bright as the day until it became dark at the end of the Sabbath. Now, “between light and darkness,” is not addressing the six days of creation before the first human being was created but rather it is addressing the time from the creation of the first human being on earth. There was no darkness on the sixth day until the end of Shabbat (Motzi Shabbat). Therefore, human beings could not recite a blessing distinguishing between darkness and light until the conclusion of the first Sabbath. On the Saturday night, there were two havdalot (distinctions); one was between the holy and the ordinary, and one was between light and darkness. The sages placed, “Between holy and ordinary,” first, since it is for this reason that we recite the Havdalah blessing. Also in this way we would know that in the first Sabbath after creation there was only light and at sundown Saturday night (darkness and ordinary nature of the new week) occurred at once. Between Israel and the nations, refers to the generation of Babel since all the righteous souls came from the same storehouse until them but once God separated the seventh day from the other days of creation, God did so for the sake of the “additional soul” (Neshama Yetera) which would be given to Israel on the Sabbath. For our forefathers who observed the Torah and the Sabbath, a pure soul would come to them each week. That is why, “Between Israel and the nations' comes first. Between the seventh day (and the six days of creation) afterwards which has to do with the additional soul which came to each Jew on the Sabbath. From the time Abraham, our father, was circumcised they (Abraham Isaac and Jacob…..) had the status of an Israelite, as Rambam and others wrote. Before this the generation of the separation is alluded to by the expression “Between Israel and the nations,” as has been said.

footnotes: ¹⁰ There were four levels of interpretation of scripture and the Jewish tradition often referred to as Pardes: Peshat, Remez, Drash and Sod. Peshat is one of four classical methods of Jewish biblical exegesis used by rabbis and Jewish bible scholars in reading the Hebrew Bible... It is the first of the four exegetical methods known together as PaRDeS. While Peshat is commonly defined as referring to the surface or literal (direct) meaning of a text, numerous scholars and rabbis have debated this for centuries, giving Peshat many uses and definitions. (Wikipedia, Peshat) ¹¹ Another name for Midrash Tehillim

You have distinguished between the holiness of the Sabbath and the holiness of the Festival, and You have sanctified the seventh day above the six working days: Why is this expression repeated?¹² and Yom HaShevi’i In his commentary on the Haggadah, HaRav David Abudraham writes: Rabbi Ephraim asks why was it customary for the people to say, “You sanctified and distinguished the seventh day from the six day of creation” after having said, “You distinguished between the holiness of the Sabbath and the holiness of the Festival?” This is neither a concluding expression nor an introductory expression for the blessing. Rabbeinu Tam answers, “It is because of what is stated in the final chapter of Pesachim, “One should not decrease the number of distinctions in havdalah to less than three, and one should not increase them to more than seven.”¹³ The sages wished to mention seven distinctions. They added to them a festival that falls after the Sabbath. These are the three main havdalot: “Between holy and ordinary,” “Between light and darkness,” and, “Between Israel and the nations.” Between the seventh day and the six days of creation is not counted among the distinctions but is mentioned as an aside. The others are: “Between the holiness of the Sabbath and the holiness of the festivals;” refers to preparing food. “You sanctified and distinguished the seventh day from the six days of creation” refers to the last day of Sukkot (Shemini Atzeret) which is separated from the six days of Hol HaMoed.” But Rabbeinu Tam’s explanation, that “The seven day…” refers to the Shemini Atzeret (the last day of Sukkot) does not make sense. It is far-fetched since the language more appropriately applies to the Sabbath. Furthermore, work is forbidden on the intermediate days of a festival unless it causes a significant financial loss. Therefore, it is incorrect to use the expression “Six days of work.” to describe Hol HaMoed. Also, if it applies to Passover, then Hol HaMoed is only five days long! The author of Eliyahu Rabba¹⁴ (Section 473) questioned this explanation. If applied to the last day of Shemini Atzeret, then technically it is the eighth day (and not the seventh) of Sukkot. One must find an answer for all these difficulties through a homiletical (drash) explanation: We say, “You distinguished between the holiness of the Sabbath and the holiness of the festivals'' because on the Sabbath we have neshama yeteirah, an additional soul, which doesn’t exist on festivals. On the festivals one ia illuminatated (he’ara b’alma), as the sages say, “You have sanctified/distinguished the seventh day from the other six days of labor.” On the Sabbath there is an additional soul but at the end of the Sabbath (on Motzi Shabbat), the additional soul leaves while the human soul (Naran)¹⁵ is an abbreviation for Nefesh, Ruach, Neshamah, the three parts of the human soul mentioned in the Zohar and later kabbalistic literature. is illuminated on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday by the past Sabbath, and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday by the coming Sabbath. If so, there is holiness also on the six days of the week as is said in Tikkunim,¹⁶. page 46a, in the Constantinople Edition:¹⁷ Someone who is a Torah Scholar on weekdays becomes a pillar to God¹⁸. I am not certain what this stands for but the idea is that the scholar is blessed with wisdom, reaches an even higher level of holiness on the Sabbath. on the Sabbath. When the blessing states, “You sanctified Your people Israel with holiness,” it means that they are not lacking in holiness even on weekdays and how much more so on festivals in which illumination and holiness enlighten the individual. This becomes the basis for the blessing: “Who distinguishes between holiness and holiness;” that is, from the holiness of the Sabbath and the holiness of a festival. Some time later I saw this explanation in a Tosafot, the Ra’sh, and the Mordechai. I was fortunate that a manuscript by Rabbeinu Tam called Sefer HaYashar came to me¹⁹ was one of the great bibliophiles of the late Middle Ages. This is an example of his constant search for books and manuscripts in libraries and collections throughout the world. One of his most famous works is Shem HaGedolim which is a bibliography of many of the works up until his time. and I saw the words of Rabbeinu Tam for myself and what was written in this small pamphlet, (Eliyahu Rabbah) section 473.

footnotes: ¹² Kedushat Shabbat ¹³ See BT Pesachim 104a ¹⁴ Elijah Spira (1660–1712) ("Shapira" or "Shapiro"), was the son of Benjamin Wolf Spira. He was rabbi at Tiktin, and afterward preacher and director of a large Talmudic academy in his hometown of Prague. He died in Prague April 14, 1712. (wikipedia) ¹⁵ Naran ¹⁶ A reference to Tikkunei HaZohar ¹⁷ In Hebrew Chida refers to Constantinople as Kushta ¹⁸ This is written as an abbreviation: Ayin Hay ¹⁹ Chida