Turn Friday into Erev Shabbos #228 - Do it with Simcha

[Music] Oh y [Music] is [Music] >> welcome back to Arab Shabas. Today is not in fact Friday. Today is the head of the holy air. Want [Music] to thank our generous sponsors of turn Friday dear friends Mendy and fishman in memory of Revel Jonathan Saxi Ben David we last left off in talking about the preparation we make for Shabas the excitement the joy the energy the bren that making shabas each and every week is not a burden but making shabas each and every week is a privilege and a pleasure it's an ear mikl it's a city of refuge that we can immerse ourselves into. It's a place that we can escape, that we can find safety and security, that we can protect ourselves from all of the turmoil of the week. And the earlier we prepare for Shabas, the earlier we accept and receive Shabas, both literally toeph Shabas, to accept Shabas early, but even also preparing, then the longer we're in that place of safety and harmony, the longer we're in that ear mikl that's called Shabas. So last week we quoted we quoted the holy god of of who said that if a person sets the shabas table if you put the shabas tablecloth out before midday it's a school. So I just wanted to share that this week tragically sadly we lost a beloved member of our community Dina Bozac very special person and I was looking back at texts with her through the years and many years ago I don't know how many of you have been with us that long remind me and let me know if you have but early on in our turn Friday into Shabas one of the campaigns that we ran to make of Shabas special not just have Friday was to set the table Thursday night wake up Friday morning to a set table and And I encourage people share a picture with me. If you took a if you set your table on Thursday night and you woke up Friday morning, you know, there's a difference between Friday your h home and your table looking like it does the whole week and you don't set it until of Shabas right before Shabas. You're squeezing, you're running, you're getting it in versus you wake up Friday morning, you wake up on Friday morning. If your table's set, you didn't wake up Friday morning. If your table's set, if you woke up to a set table, then you woke up to er Shabas. Not Friday morning, but er Shabas. Not everybody can. Some people use a table for multiple functions. Table's not available to set yet on Thursday night. There's no judgment and there's no pressure, but if you can. So I looked back at old text and my friend Dina, she had sent me so many pictures for many weeks in a row of her Shabas table that was set on Thursday night. What a school of the saddak of zichov says that if you set your table early if you wake up to the feeling environment of shabas kesh then it brings tremendous school of peace and harmony into your home and into your family then you bring the serenity and the peace of shabas you don't have to wait you don't have to wait for the sun to go down but you could bring that in even earlier we're learning together this beautiful safer theb of I had the privilege to spend time with recently a beautiful safer that he has on shabas and he writes the following When a person engages involves themselves in all kinds of preparations for Shabas, do it all out of joy. If you have to shop already, don't be miserable in put on a smile. And whatever you're going through in life, maybe you need to count your pennies and see what you can even afford to buy for Shabas. Maybe you're schleing. Maybe you're concerned you're eating alone. Maybe you're worried. Whatever. So many things on our mind. But the way to get out of whatever predicament, the way to get out of whatever circumstance to the sense of happiness is not an emotion. It's a decision. Decide to be happy. Decide to be happy all week long. But particularly decide to be happy on Shabas. So whatever you're going to do already, do it with a smile. Because if you do it with a sense that it's a burden, if you're miserable and if you're complaining and you're negative, if you bring it down, then what was the point of doing it? If you're doing it already, if you're trying to transform Friday into Shabas, do it with a smile. The sense of because it's known, says that in every mitzvah that we do, we elevate, we transform. The mitzvah elevates us when we do that mitzvah with a smile, with joy, with happiness, with gladness, with excitement. Because if you want to do the aoda, if you want to do a mitzvah, you could put a check next to the box. You could put a check in the box. I did the I heard the I put on the fill and I did the candles. Check check check. I did the but if you want to do it if you want to do it with a full complete sense of then it's got to be it's brought down in early sources the test to do the mitzvah to do the mitzvah with joy and happiness is greater than the essence of the mitzvah itself. The mitzvah is a means and a platform to draw out a sense of how privileged, how blessed we are to be, to be Jews, to be given the Torah, the Torah, this prescription and formula and blueprint for life. How privileged we are to have won the lottery to have the gift, the matanova, that's called Shabas. It's called Shabas. If you won the lottery and you were preparing to go collect the ticket, the winning, would you not be bim would you not be happy? So Shabas is winning the lottery. People all over the world, they're addicted to technology. People all over the world, they can't carry on a conversation without being distracted. People all over the world don't spend quality time with their family and friends. And we have the gift and the joy of Shabas. We won the lottery. Every Friday, every week, we win the lottery called Shabas. And so how do we demonstrate that we won the lottery? By accepting it and receiving it. We say if you already do the mitzvah but you do it with joy and happiness and smile and excitement then it's a thousand times. It's like you did a thousand times the mitzvah as well and this is written the p says and it was it was on the sixth day that they prepared. It doesn't say the sixth day. It says and that word tell us there's two ways to get ready for Shabas. You can get ready for Shabas like you're running and you're scrambling and you're miserable and you're worried and you're anxious and you're fighting and there's tension and there's conflict or you could get ready for Shabas with a smile. You can get ready for Shabas like you got the worst news. You can get ready for Shabas like it's a chore and a burden or you could get ready for Shabas like you won the lottery and you're going to collect it. And the that went into the potato cooker the went into baking the went into buying the ingredients. The went into setting the table. All these physical items now carry the joy and the passion and the energy and the enthusiasm that we put in them when we were preparing them. And when we use them, they bring they elevate us with a joy and a happiness. And therefore says that of yet a Jew has to be very mindful, vigilant, conscious and conscientious to be you're shopping in the supermarket. You're bringing and shuffing it into the house. You're cooking in the kitchen. You're setting the table. It's hard. Sometimes we're down. Sometimes we're distracted. Sometimes it's overwhelming. Sometimes there's so much to do. Sometimes we don't know how we're going to pay for it. But that's okay with that. and nevertheless and despite it the way we can take ourselves out of our predicament and bring ourselves up when we're feeling down is to make the choice to be not talking clinical depression or sadness not talking about extraordinary circumstances I'm talking the every day each and every week and so in memory of my friend Dina Allah shalom elevate her in a shama by setting your table early let your table be set before katos let the feeling of shab Shabas permeate the home next week set it Thursday night wake up Friday morning wake up not to Friday morning wake up to Arab shabas theem if we can put sim and joy into all our shabas preparations then we'll merit to feel only sim and joy of the course of shabas itself Heat. Heat.