All in a walk to Shul!

Last Saturday like every other Shabbat, my kids woke up and began playing and enjoying breakfast while I studied and prepared for Shabbat Services. Usually they all like to take turns at joining me or my wife for the walk to Shul, with some joining me each week to get there early to finish the setup and some coming with my wife a little later on.

What I love about these thirty minute walks are the special conversations I get to have with my children. In those short and private walks we spend quality time and talk about the week that passed, the things that are on their minds, and anything and everything else. Last Shabbos was no different, and this time my daughter Chana joined me for the walk. It was a beautiful bright day for such a walk, with the sun brightening up the plants and shrubs that were just beginning to blossom, and accompanied by the singing and chirping of birds.  

Some twenty minutes into the walk when we were on Route 20, a car suddenly pulls up in front of us and a young well dressed lady jumped out the car and approached us. I was wondering what she might want or whether she needed help with directions. Instead she asked me for a minute and proceeded to tell us that "we made her cry a few minutes earlier" when she drove by us. She told us that on many weeks she sees us walking together to Shul, and each time she sees us she observes us holding hands and talking with each other.  Each week as she sees this sight it inspires her to no end about spending time with her own loved ones and about the priorities of life. She told me how busy her family life is and what crazy schedules her and her husband both have, and how she wishes to be able to incorporate more of such moments with her own children.

She told us that she turned around especially to stop and talk to us and to tell us "that we have our priorities and values right".

We said goodbye wished each other well and parted ways, and after she left my daughter and I discussed the meaning of what she said. As I thought about it, I too was reminded of what a special opportunity Shabbat provides each week and the ability that it provides us with to reconnect with our true "self". I told my daughter "we are so lucky for Shabbos", "it forces us to stop and ignore the rush and never ending pressures of the weekdays, and step back and remember who we are, remember our role in the world, remember what G-d wants from us, and spend special quality time with our loved ones".

The more busy life gets and the older my children get, the more I love Shabbat!

Dear G-d, thank you for the gift of Shabbos!