This is the lesson of the Noam Elimelech (parashath Lech Lecha) teaches us about Avraham Avinu arriving in אלון מורה. (Alon Moreh - literally a combination of teaching/teacher and tree)
He brings this teaching to explain the Tana of the Talmud when talking about the distances one can walk on Shabbath. The one who says, "I will dwell under the tree," has said nothing. But, the one who says "I will dwell at it's root," he has two thousand.. (אמות-cubits) What this really means is, as long as the person doesn't connect his performance of the mitzvoth back to the root and is satisfied with (only) the branches hasn't accomplished anything. Instead, when he connects his observance back to it's root in the "upper" Tree, then he receives two alephs (the word meaning two thousand also can be read as 'two alephs') a symbol of his accomplishments, unifying the שם אדנות with the שם אקיק.
I wonder if there is a deeper level here. Shabbath is the מקור הברכה mekor haberacha. (source of all blessing) The question is: Are we learning about this from a quote in the Talmud pertaining to Shabbath just by chance, or is it to illustrate that all the mitzvoth of the Torah link back to Shabbath. We know (from elsewhere in the Talmud) that if one properly observes Shabbath then all of one's transgressions are forgiven. So, there's the obvious link to all the negative mitzvoth of the Torah. The question is what is the connection of the positive mitzwoth to Shabbath?
I remember learning (I think it must have been in the Notzer Hesed, but Thank God there are so many varied sources of my learning of late that it could be almost anywhere) not long ago (two months, tops) that the way to be שומר שבת through the duration of the week is through the performance of mitzvoth. Because, the essence of the mitzvah remains with us until Shabbath when it is raised up along with us and the whole world.
So, we see that there is definitely a place to say that this particular quote from the Talmud regarding mitzwoth pertaining to Shabbath was brought (in addition to various other reasons beyond my ken) in order to illuminate the connection between ALL of the mitzwoth and Shabbath.
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