ShallKnot

Duties of the Heart, Chovos HaLevavos on Consistent Prayer

When placing Seforim on top of each other or deciding which of two Seforim should be on top when packing a bag, how does one determine the proper order?

We asked this important question to the AiRabbi App: What does it mean to be Haredim? The answer may surprise you!

Keeping Shabbat ,Advice for a Beginner When you first start keeping Shabbat, most of your friends, siblings, and family will tell you either that you're crazy, or they think it's just a phase you're going through. Sometimes they're messengers of the Satan who try to discourage you, telling you it's too much, take it slow, one mitzvah every ten years. Don't listen to them. The key is this: you don't need to make big announcements. Keep things contained, not necessarily secret, but private. If you're living with parents who don't keep anything, you should not force them to keep Shabbat, but they should respect you enough that they don't disturb your Shabbat. They shouldn't turn on a television with full volume or do things openly in front of you that violate what you're trying to accomplish. For Shabbat itself, if you can't stay at home because the environment is too difficult, find somewhere else to go. Use Shabbat.com, an application where different people host others for Shabbat. It's much better than being alone or being with people who don't keep Shabbat. Once the important people in your life start seeing that Hashem is important to you, if they love you, it will start becoming important to them too. Maybe not to the extent that they'll change their life automatically, but at least they'll start respecting you and your desire. Now, when you're just beginning, don't try to do everything at once. First and foremost, stop sinning. Stop the big violations of Shabbat. Don't drive. Don't use your phone. Don't watch TV. Stop smoking cigarettes on Shabbat. That's the beginning. Stop the big sins first. After you've stopped sinning, then we have something to build on. The mitzvot of Shabbat, all the details, we'll talk about later. But first, just don't violate it. And yes, it's difficult in the beginning because you don't know yet how beautiful it is. When I first started keeping Shabbat, my rabbi told me and I thought he just gave me the plague. I work all week, Shabbat's my time to do this and that, I gave every excuse in the world. But after I listened to myself talk for fifteen or twenty minutes coming up with every excuse, I didn't even wait for him to respond. I just said, by the way, I'm full of it. I'm full of excuses. I'll find a way to keep Shabbat. And you know what? You'll find a way too. Be strategic about this. Don't announce your plans to the world. Keep your mitzvot low-key. The Satan comes to interfere when you publicize things. Have a game plan, just like somebody going to war. Know what time you'll pray, when you'll be home for Kiddush, when you'll learn, when you'll rest. Prepare the whole week for Shabbat. Stop working at least two hours before Shabbat comes in. Already be prepared, don't show up last minute. And remember, you're not alone. Torah is the solution for everything. If you're not learning Torah most of your day, you're not going to succeed against the secular environment around you. It's more likely that they're going to make you secular than you're going to make them do teshuva. So learn, prepare yourself, and know that once you start doing it and you push yourself, you'll start enjoying it. Turn the whole world off. No phone, no computer, no car. Just be with your family, be with your friends, or be with yourself and HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Shabbat becomes a very enjoyable day when you do it right.