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The Kabbalist seeks to prolong the Sabbath-cosmos both before and aft, welcoming the Sabbath-Bride while it is still Friday (from the vantage point of “profane-solar-time”) and not letting Her go until well into Saturday night. Following the Rabbinic tradition “of adding to the sacred by taking from the profane”, Sacred Time is stretched. As seventh day draws to a close, it is to be lingered over and savored, for the Sabbath is truly a beloved guest. Meir ibn Gabbai spoke of the bittersweet mood of Saturday night:
We prolong the Sabbath by extending it into Saturday night, thereby showing that we do not like to see the departure of the holy guest; indeed, its parting evokes a feeling of deep regret. So we detain it and, in our great affection, escort it with song and choruses of praise, as in the teaching, “We will send you off with joyous song.” (TY 58a)
The liturgy of Moza'ei Shabbat (Sabbath's departure), marks the slow tuneful “escorting of the Queen and Bride.” But as occurs so frequently in the Kabbalah, it dramatizes other scenarios as well. Drawing on a variety of sometimes complementary, sometimes clashing mythic subtexts, a dense weave of meaning is fashioned in the closing rites. For Saturday night is a period of multiform transformation: of time, of divinity, of the upper worlds, of the devotee. Sabbath gives way to ḥol, divine integration is lessened, the devotee gives back his Sabbath-soul and once again (according to several suggestive myths) leaves Eden. Saturday night is a time marked by “the Changing of the Cosmic Guard,” to use the ‘Or Zaru˓a's apt phrase. In many accounts, direct Providential authority is transferred from Shekhinah to the benevolent angelic realm below. More ominously, harsh Din, Siṭra’ ‘Aḥra’, re-emerges after its suppression on Shabbat.
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