Accepting Shabbat Early-Rabbi David Sutton    The hours before Shabbat, as we all know, are a very busy time. It might be tempting to use every last minute to get things done, and involve oneself in Shabbat preparations until the very end. In truth, however, it is proper to begin Shabbat some ten minutes before its formal onset. Why?   The Rambam (Hilchot Shabbat 30:2) describes how one should conduct himself on Friday afternoon just before the onset of Shabbat:   יושב בכובד ראש מייחל להקבלת פני השבת כמו שהוא יוצא לקראת המלך "One sits with reverence anticipating the arrival of Shabbat, like one goes to greet the king."   The Rambam writes that before Shabbat begins, one should sit and eagerly await its arrival. A friend of mine told me he once had the privilege of spending Shabbat with Rabbi Yehuda Ades of Yeshivat Kol Yaakov, and was with him in his office on Friday afternoon just before Shabbat. He was surprised to find the great Rabbi just sitting and not doing anything, rather than using these moments for Torah study. My friend was very excited over the opportunity to be alone with Rabbi Ades, and asked if they could learn together. Rabbi Ades, however, refused, and showed him these comments of the Rambam, requiring one to sit and wait for Shabbat to begin. If a person is learning or involved in some other activity, then he is not waiting for Shabbat.   The way to wait for Shabbat is the way children often wait outside when guests are supposed to arrive. They are too excited and anxious to get involved in anything else, so they just stand outside and wait. Similarly, when Shabbat is about to begin, we are to sit and wait for it.   What is the meaning of this "waiting"? Why are we supposed to just "sit around" waiting for Shabbat? Rav Yitzchak Hutner zt"l of Yeshivat Chaim Berlin explained that there is a concept of ציפית לישועה, which means that we are to anticipate and long for the arrival of Mashiah. One of the questions we will be asked after 120 years, when we depart from this world, is whether we eagerly anticipated the final redemption. We must not only believe in redemption, but long for it.     Shabbat is called מעין עולם הבא , a microcosm of the next world, or a "miniature Olam Ha'ba," if you will, and thus just as we must anxiously await the arrival of Mashiah, we must similarly wait for the arrival of Shabbat with eager anticipation. We are supposed to have the feeling of, "I cannot wait for Shabbat," just as throughout the centuries of exile the Jews could not wait for Mashiah to come and extricate them from their suffering. We are to feel as though the burdens of the mundane workweek, all the worldly matters we need to deal with throughout the week, pull us down, away from our true goals, and we thus look forward to Shabbat, which frees us from these burdens and allows us to be who we want to be. Just as people leaving on vacation excitedly come to the gate 2-3 hours early and just hang around, thrilled to get away from their normal routine and responsibilities, we, too, should arrive early at our weekly "vacation" from the mundane responsibilities of the workweek. We should not be like those who rush to the gate at the last minute just before takeoff. We should be there ready and waiting, showing how special Shabbat is to us.   Let us have these ideas in mind, and make an extra effort to be ready for Shabbat even before its formal onset, whether it's the woman sitting on the coach relaxing a few minutes before candle lighting, or the man arriving in shul early on Friday afternoon, truly sensing how this is the greatest time of the week, and excited to welcome the kedusha of Shabbat. In this merit, and in the merit of our anxiously awaiting our final redemption, we should be granted the zechut of welcoming the יום שכולו שבת, the final redemption, Amen.