His Way is the Best Way 

“I can do this forever without taking any days off.”  

I have heard Rabbi Mizrachi say something like this on his lectures. The man travels the earth to give live lectures to Jews with questions. Each lecture can be two-three hours long. He does it several times a day.  

How can a man sustain such a rigorous schedule and claim he can do it forever? 

Moshe never took a break. All the great Sages never took a break. How did they do it? 

God Knows How to Rest 

The Lubavitcher Rebbe summed it up perfectly: You can spend your entire life trying out different people’s version of “the truth,” but when you find it, how much time will you have to live it? You can also start with the Truth and live that life right away.  

If you asked most people to plan their ideal vacation, they would call a travel agent to set the itinerary. They would go to an exotic place, probably by cruise liner, eat five-star food, be served hand and foot, and experience unforgettable things while staying at a luxury hotel between stops.  

A vacation like that will certainly revive your spirits. You will have something to talk about for ages. But it’s not complete rest.  

You must follow the schedule. You are still connected to machines. You can spend all day in a tropical paradise, feeling refreshed and renewed, only to lose it all by checking the news on your mobile phone while at the bar drinking a Mai Tai. Just one headline can ruin everything.  

There is also “being on.” A vacation usually entails meeting new people. That is fun, but it is also work. 

There is no guarantee that this vacation, even the best one of your life, will carry you until the next vacation, which could be six to twelve months away.  

Shabbat Shalom  

God knows how to turn everything off.  

Shabbat takes us away from the machines.  

Shabbat is not just a vacation from work. It is a vacation from finances because you cannot use money. It is a vacation from politics and jealousy because you cannot use smartphones, social media, or computers.  

It is a vacation from stress because you cannot use a car or any public transportation.  

It is a vacation from anger because you are not reading a newspaper, financial journal, or anything that is not spiritually related. Reading the news on Shabbat is like smoking a cigarette on top of a mountain. You are at a place of health and peace. Why would you do anything to destroy that? 

There is no itinerary because you have been observing Shabbat all your life. If you are new to Shabbat, great! Over the years, Shabbat will become such a part of you that there will be no such thing as a schedule. You will know what comes when.   

You know where the Shul (synagogue) is. You know when prayers start.  

You do not have to be “on.” Everyone there is your brother and sister. No one is an outsider.   

The rest of the day is spent with friends and family. You have the chance to speak to your children without any worry about being “pulled away.” They can spend time with mommy and daddy without worrying about the phone ringing. Shabbat is not only an elixir of life for you, but also the gift of joy to everyone you can share it with.  

You can take a walk and let everything around you sink in. All the chaos of the week finds its place in your mind and when you wake up the next day, things seem a bit clearer.  

You have intimacy with God. You can pray without worrying. We are dragged out of mankind to enjoy a Divine pit stop in the rat race of life. We can take a minute to ask ourselves big questions: Why am I here? What is my greater purpose? How can I make everyone around me happier?  

Shabbat is much more than a vacation, and you do not have to wait six months or six years. Every week Hashem gives you this priceless gift.  

Then, after you are revived and refreshed, God opens your spiritual account and deposits a big check. For stepping into paradise, God gives you an additional reward. You get rewarded for resting every week.  

At work, you are paid a base salary, which includes a set number of vacation days – pay for vacation days is not in addition to your base salary. In contrast, taking G-d’s day of Shabbat adds to your earnings. 

It is the way God made the world. It is the greatest example of how His way is the best way. 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Marketing, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.