Daily Chidush: How do we connect to HaShem on Shabbat?

0:00oneg Shabbat, truly feel the pleasant, amazing experience of Shabbat where you can connect to Hashem, learn His Torah, connect with the family, eat, drink, relax, and have a vacation once a week. Hashem wants to give you a vacation, and some people just don't want to do it. What do they do? Instead of talking about Torah, instead of discussing our sages, instead of speaking about Hashem and how amazing He has been to us throughout all of our lives, what do we do? We talk about business. the pleasant, amazing experience of Shabbat where you can connect to Hashem, learn His Torah, connect with the family, eat, drink, relax, and have a vacation once a week. Hashem wants to give you a vacation, and some people just don't want to take it. What do they do? Instead of talking about Torah, instead of discussing our sages, instead of reflecting on Hashem and how amazing He has been to us throughout all of our lives, what do we do? We talk about business.

1:08and actually conduct business. No, they talk. That's how you do business deals. You talk to one guy, the other guy talks to the other guy, and in the end, you sign a contract. But the actual business for the vast majority of the world, 99% of business, is actually talking. So when you talk about business, oh, listen, I had this diamond, oh, I had this car, oh, I had this one, I'm trying to sell it, I'm not sure. What are you doing? Chas v'shalom, you're violating Shabbat. So why does someone have such difficulty doing this, separating themselves from the mundane, separating themselves from the rest of the week? It's because they have a lack of emunah. They think that if they don't have this conversation about business, it's never going to take place. If they're not going to talk to this guy in the Beit Knesset that they want to do a deal with on Shabbat, when am I going to see him? If they don't talk to the family about all the things that they're doing, they're not going to understand me. In essence, what they're trying to say is maybe they need to help Hashem. And as we all know, the Hashem that's in the Torah doesn't need any help. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in between. He does not need our help. This reminds me of a story I heard, which we actually recounted in a drasha this week.

2:21I heard it from Rabbi Fein, and we said it in the derasha we gave this week in Hebrew on Thursday. B'ezrat Hashem, we'll post it after Shabbat. A guy is walking in town carrying this very, very heavy sack. Oh, it's heavy. Everyone sees how heavy it is, it's hot, it's humid, and it's difficult. He's carrying it one step at a time, and all of a sudden, he sees his friend driving along with his donkey and carriage. His friend says, "Then what are you doing? Why are you carrying this heavy sack?" The man replies, "I have to go to the next town." His friend offers, "Listen, it looks too heavy. Why don't you jump on my carriage? I'm going there anyway, and I'll take you there." He responds, "Really? Are you sure?" His friend reassures, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, no problem. Don't worry about it. Just come with me." He jumps on the carriage, and they start riding along. driving along with his donkey and carriage. And he says, then what are you doing? What are you carrying this heavy sack for? He goes, I got to go to the next town. He goes, listen, it looks too heavy. Why don't you jump on my carriage? I'm going there anyway. I'll take you there. He goes, really? You sure? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem. Don't worry about it. Just come, come with me. He jumps on the carriage, and they start riding along. A few minutes later, the guy that's riding the carriage turns around. He sees his friend sitting down, but the sack is still on his head. He's still carrying the sack. He goes, "What are you doing? I told you to relax, put the sack down." And the guy says, "No, no, no, I don't want to trouble you too much. You're already doing me such a favor. I figured I don't want to put so much on you, so I'm carrying the sack for you."

3:35This little fool didn’t understand that whether he’s carrying the sack or he’s not carrying the sack, it’s still on the carriage; it’s still the same thing. That’s the mashal, the parable. What’s the lesson here? If we really look at the world today, if we look at ourselves, we look in the mirror, we look at all the beautiful things that Hashem gave us, whether it's our beautiful eyes that are the best cameras that could ever exist, or the amazing body that works in such a perfect way where every single thing that we need stays in our body and everything we don't need leaves the body, or it's our job and how Hashem sends us money exactly when we need it, not necessarily when we want, but when we need it, or it's our family that loves us, we realize that in reality, Hashem is carrying us. You couldn't conduct business without Hashem. You couldn't conduct a conversation without Hashem. You couldn't breathe, you couldn't talk, you couldn't see, you couldn't do anything without Hashem thinking about you specifically. or everything else in the world, we realize that, in reality, Hashem is carrying us. You couldn't conduct business without Hashem. You couldn't conduct a conversation without Hashem. You couldn't breathe, you couldn't talk, you couldn't see, you couldn't do anything without Hashem thinking about you specifically.

4:38So now, when Hashem is telling you, it's time for you to think about Me. It's time for you to only think about Me, Me and your family. But I want you to connect with Me and disconnect from all the things that I do for you the rest of the week. And what do we say? "No, no, Hashem, You already do so much for me, do I need to carry the sack for You?" Obviously, we realize what fools we are when we do that. So, my friends, my brothers, my sisters... table with his boots, dirt, and everything else. And his son, who's a little smarter than him, says, "Hey Abba, Dad, why are you climbing on the table like that? Why don't you put a newspaper on the table?" He says, "No, no, don't worry, son. I can reach the lamp without the newspaper." table with his boots and dirt and everything else. And his son that's a little smarter than him says, "Hey Abba, Dad, why are you climbing on the table like that? Why don't you put a newspaper on the table?" He says, "No, no, don't worry, son. I can reach the lamp without the newspaper."

5:51So you see, again, sometimes you offer somebody help and they don't even realize what you mean. So you have to explain it to them. The newspaper is not because it's going to lift you higher. The newspaper is so everything stays clean. Shabbat is to lift us higher. And not speaking about mundane matters on Shabbat is to ensure we're keeping Shabbat clean, beautiful, and holy. May Hashem continue to bless all of you. Have an amazing Shabbat Shalom, and Be'ezrat Hashem, we will learn more next week. Kol Tov!