Question of the Week
Why do we look at our fingernails after making the blessing on fire at Havdalah?
Answer
This is our weekly check-in. We are examining the most important aspect of our life. Our manicure.
It goes back to the first humans, Adam and Eve. Created by the hand of G-d, their physical bodies shone with a holy luminosity. Not only were their souls pure, even their bodies were sparkling and bright.
But then they ate the forbidden fruit. They misused their holy body for an unholy purpose. Their skin lost its lustre, and they were left naked and vulnerable. No longer did the body shine. Their holy souls now occupied not-so-holy bodies.
From that moment on, the struggle between body and soul, materialism and spirituality, coarseness and refinement began. We have lofty desires in our souls, and quite base desires in our bodies.
Every human being every day must make a choice. Do I live a life of self-indulgence and hedonism, or selflessness and idealism? Am I in this world to feed my own desires, or care for others? Do I devote myself to empty and meaningless pursuits, or altruistic and lasting causes?
When we strive to live with meaning, we regain some of the shine that Adam and Eve lost, we bring some sparkle back to the world. Because although our bodies don't glow anymore, a small souvenir remains to this very day of the original pure skin: the nails on our fingers and toes. Their smoothness and gloss is an echo of the luminescent skin of Adam and Eve in their pure state, a reminder of the spiritual heights we can attain.
This explains the Havdalah ritual. As we farewell the Shabbos and embark on a new week, we light a flame, an embodiment of our mission to illuminate the world with the light of holiness. Then we glance at our hands, noting the difference between our glossy and shining fingernails, and the rough and dull surface of our skin. It reminds us why we are here: to manicure ourselves and the world, until one day we will all shine, like Adam and Eve did in the beginning.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Sources:
Tikkunei Zohar 10b-11a