Genesis:2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and He made it holy; because on it He rested from all the work that He had created to do.

Mechilta Parshat Yitro: “God blessed it and made it holy”: How did He bless it and make it holy? He blessed it with mannah and made it holy with mannah. (Editor’s note: mannah is the ‘bread’ that fell from the sky.)

Torah Temimah Colloquial Translation:
The topic of God’s blessing the day with mannah and making the day holy with mannah is easy to explain. It is because the mannah fell every day of the week except Shabbat. This is the holiness of the Shabbat. On Friday, though, twice as much mannah fell, so that the Jews would have food on the Sabbath. This is the blessing of the Shabbat. (Editor’s note: the term “Blessing” implies an abundance while the term “Holiness” implies a holding back, or a restriction.)

Note also that Shabbat is called “Joy” and it is necessary to be joyful on the Shabbat. This is learned from a verse in Proverbs 10:22: The blessing of the Lord will bring riches, and toil will add nothing to it. The word for ‘toil’ –  עצב – also means sadness. Since the Shabbat is a blessing, one should be only Joyful during the Shabbat.

From the need to be Joyful on Shabbat, we derive the obligation to eat meat on the Shabbat. This is in accordance with the Gemora Pesachim (109a) which states as follows “There is no Joy without eating meat”. 52

52 – Commentary on the Torah Temimah from the “Meshivas Nefesh” – This is an error. The actual wording of the Gemora Pesachim is: “In the time that the Holy Temple was standing there was no Joy without eating meat.” This was due to the sacrifices that were offered there and our participation in that. However, in our day “there is no Joy without wine” is the applicable rule.

Editor’s Note: I take great pleasure from the fact that I have a copy of a commentary on the Torah Temimah. Even though I love the Torah Temimah, his word is not the final word. In learning, there is no final word.  

(Thank you to my wife for pointing out this comment of the Meshivas Nefesh.)