Why I Keep Shabbat

Parshat Emor begins with a warning to the kohanim to avoid tumah, impurity, “Emor el hakohanim, say to the kohanim…" Rashi comments that the kohanim were charged, "Lehazir gedolim al ha'ketanim, make sure that the adults admonish the children and warn them how to behave."

My father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlit"a quotes Sefer Be'eres Mayim explaining that the word lehazir, to warn, is derived from the word zohar, defined as to radiate. Perhaps, the most effective way to encourage children to behave appropriately is not through strictness and discipline, rather to shower them with the love of Torah and mitzvot, leading by example.

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l views this as a major lesson in chinuch, education saying that one cannot inculcate children or students with fidelity to the Torah and its values by merely telling them what is permitted and forbidden. A child must see the vitality and beauty of Yiddishkeit, Judaism, and mitzvot. The Dubno Maggid teaches that adults serve as role models for their kids. How children behave in their own lives often reflects how their parents lead their lifestyles. It is a tremendous and crucial concept for parents to find the strength and follow the righteous path if only for the sake of their children.

Near Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l’s home lived two families that kept Shabbat with tremendous self-sacrifice. The men of these families were fired every Monday morning because they refused to go to work on the holy Shabbat. Back in that era most businesses and factories operated on Shabbat, and anyone who failed to turn up for work on Saturday was fired without question. Then, it was extremely difficult to secure new employment.) These families were starving. One of those families raised children who grew up and kept mitzvot, while the children of the other family tragically all abandoned Judaism. The father whose children catastrophically left the path of Torah, poured out his heart to Rav Moshe, “How did this happen? I kept Shabbat with tremendous sacrifice, just like my neighbor. Why did all his children turn out observant, while mine did not?”

Rav Moshe responded, “Your neighbor came home happy every Friday. Even though it was incredibly challenging for this man’s family, his children felt a tremendous thrill - they fully recognized the enormous privilege that it is to keep Shabbat. You, on the other hand, went home broken. You said, ‘Who knows what will happen to us? I will lose my job again because of Shabbat!’ Your children thought that Shabbat was the cause of your problems and they wondered, ‘Who needs Shabbat? Our poor father was raised to keep Shabbat, but us, why should we suffer as much as he does?’ That is why your children stopped keeping mitzvot, preferring the so-called ‘easy life.’"

We must have a love and special joy for Yiddishkeit! Instill this line of thinking into your children at a young age. Always be Jewish 'n Joyful, follow and embrace Hashem’s Torah and mitzvot!

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