40 | JUNE 17 • 2021 

SPIRIT

I 

am who I am thanks 
to Shabbat. Due to this 
biblically mandated 
institution, I have peace of 
mind, a flourishing community, 
a great relationship with my 
family and a 
career where 
I traverse the 
country singing 
its praises. All this 
benefit for just 
taking a day off! 
The Torah 
emphasizes 
Shabbat more than any 
other ritual because it provides the 
most profound physical, financial 
and emotional evidence that one is 
serious about a relationship with God. 
I discovered prioritizing Shabbat is 
the benchmark, the golden ticket, the 
minimum deposit required to open a 
high-yield spiritual bank account. 
I was advised early on not to tell 
anyone when I became shomer Shabbat 
(fully Sabbath-observant) until I was 
all the way there. It took me a few 
years after I began learning about the 
intricacies of Shabbat to actually take 
it on 100%. I’m glad I did the baby step 
routine; it made every hour added to 
the sacred day a personal triumph.
Every week, our home is 
whitewashed: sheets changed, floors 
scrubbed and counters cleared. Even 
the bathrooms feature fresh flowers. 
We wear our best clothes, enjoy a 
multicourse feast in the dining room, 
sing songs both sacred and secular, 
and offer words of Torah. We also 
laugh together, play board games, card 
games and tell stories. Of course, when 
we have guests, we take the meal up a 
notch, drink l’chaims and go around the 
table so guests can introduce themselves 
and mention something special from 
the past week for which they are 

grateful. I offer a d’var Torah, usually 
explaining nuances in the weekly 
portion and how they might be relevant 
in our lives. 
Thanks to the extensive preparation 
required, Shabbat is something we 
celebrate all week. My wife, Shira, saves 
her best recipes for the festive meals and 
spends days planning the guest list and 
visiting various markets for ingredients. 
I read the weekly Torah portion with a 
plethora of commentaries to remain in 
sync with the entire Jewish world and 
garnish something novel to share at my 
Shabbat meals.
When our kids were in elementary 
school, they were primed with 
excitement to share new insights at the 
table. Now they just look at me funny 
when I request a d’var Torah. As we 
prepare, we remember these weekday 
activities are done lichvod Shabbas (to 
honor Shabbat). 
I must admit I binge on my work 
on Wednesday and Thursday nights 
knowing I have Shabbat coming to 
catch up on sleep. Before leaving for 
the synagogue Erev Shabbat, there’s a 
custom to check one’s pockets to ensure 
they are empty. I do this both physically 
and spiritually, consciously emptying 
worries from my cranial hard drive.

Becoming shomer Shabbat 
requires a temporal shift 
in the perspective of one’s 
week. This is hinted at in the 
laws regarding Havdalah, 
the ceremony with which we 
commemorate the Sabbath’s 
departure on Saturday night. 
One can say Havdalah until 
sunset on Tuesday. That’s 
because Sunday, Monday and 
Tuesday are considered to be 
in the “shadow” of the previous 
Shabbat. From Tuesday night 
on, we are in the zone of the 
upcoming Shabbat. The day of 
rest is not the “end” of the week, like 
a finish line where we break the tape 
and then collapse. Instead, it is the 
centerpiece, the pinnacle, the raison 
d’être. 
When Shabbat and a God-focused 
life is the center of our week, we float 
on an exalted raft of blessing upon the 
raging river of life. We recognize that 
the energy of the previous Shabbat 
is only three days behind us and 
another nurturing, faith-building day is 
imminent.
Just imagine: Since the time of Moses, 
the freight train of Jewish history has 
been thundering along the tracks, 
powered by the eternal combustion of 
Mount Sinai, sustained by the mitzvot 
we observe. Tragically, in our days, 
we see many of the cars have derailed. 
There’s a supernatural reason our souls 
feel good when we affiliate, when we do 
a mitzvah, when we attend a Shabbos 
meal. Perhaps it’s our ancestors rallying 
for us behind the scenes shouting, “Go, 
go, go… just do it!” 
Let’s get this train back on track. 

Sam Glaser is a performer, composer, producer 

and author in Los Angeles. His book The Joy of 

Judaism is available on Amazon.

Sam Glaser

Thank God It’s Friday

