A letter to you from me…

Every morning I wake up, and say Modeh Ani (thank you G-d that I’m alive) and wash my hands.  I then put on my kippa and tzitzit. Afterwards I pray with tefillin.  That is my general routine every morning. One day I woke up and I thought to myself, why do we put on tefillin? Why do we have to put on tefillin every day? What will happen if one day I won’t put on tefillin? Do you also feel like me?

In my class I did a survey and I asked them: when you put on your tefillin what do you feel? Do you feel any connection with God or not?

Most boys said that they really can feel the connection with God, but a few of them said that they can’t feel anything! Now I want to ask you something, if they can’t feel the connection now, then will their children also put on tefillin? I don’t know, but I do know that if you struggle with tefillin, then probably you also struggle with other commandments like Shabbat.

I have to tell you a story that I heard from my teacher. He told me about a Jew that hid his tefillin in the death camp of Auschwitz under the ground and every day he put them on. What a risk! If they would catch him, they would kill him straight away. Look at his power, he didn’t care if he would die he just wanted to do a mitzvah. 

So how can we appreciate the mitzvot more? To solve my problems I asked my rabbi, Harav Mashulem from my Yeshiva,  Chedvat HaTorah in Jerusalem. He told me that there are some commandments that we don’t know why we do them, or their reasoning. But if you only would know how many people wanted to put on tefillin but they couldn’t in the holocaust you would be in shock. That helped me to put on tefillin more with passion.

Personally, I find Shabbat quite challenging because it happens every week so I feel less connected to it. It is like if a have a new Mercedes Benz and I love it for a month and then I get used to it, and it’s not so special anymore.

But, do you know what the Gemara says about Shabbat?  It says that God told Moshe that he has a big gift called Shabbat. The point of Shabbat is to have a break from the hard week and also to give you strength for the coming week. Lots of people don’t know it, they just waste their Shabbat on stupid things, like going to bed very late and waking up after the correct times of davening. After lunch, they go to sleep, then they go to mincha and afterwards daven maariv, and after Shabbat they go to straight to their phone. That is how they spend their Shabbat. What a waste! If you have a Shabbat like this, when did you spend time with your children/parents or siblings? That is one way to have your Shabbat.

At the same time, Shabbat keeps families together. You can have a more meaningful experience by playing with your siblings or kids, resting and learning with your children/father. But how? People who don’t know the power of Shabbat spend their time without awareness. It also says that if all of the Jews will keep two consecutive Shabbats then Mashiach will come. So we see that Shabbat is very important to God and He gave it to us to keep, that is the power of Shabbat! You can make a non-rushed third meal and Havdalah that will also give you strength for the upcoming week.

I hope that you can see the difference between these two Shabbats. The first Shabbat was a waste, you did not do anything meaningful and you also were not with your family. But even if you do keep that type of Shabbat, don’t worry and despair just enjoy any change you make in the future.

Listen! I really know the feeling that you can’t feel Shabbat or you don’t know why you put on tefillin each morning, but you need to know one thing, that whatever you do, God loves you. You also need to remember that He is your Father and He knows that we are always His children and it does not matter what type and color kippa you wear or what you do. All Jews put on tefillin and keep Shabbat.

Here’s your tip: Enjoy Shabbat on your level, keep a smile, and always strive to make it more enjoyable for you and your family. Good luck!

I really hope that I have helped you by sharing my own thoughts with you; it’s important to be honest with ourselves.

Uriel Cohn