Story Tour

The highest level of faith is one that is free of the prevailing thoughts and beliefs of society. 

Faith binds one to tradition. A tradition that satisfies the soul, and allows one an inner peace. A troubled soul will only be content only after an extensive investigation. A person hopes that they will be able to justify and corroborate the authenticity of man made traditions. 

Sadly, too many see the world through the eyes of science and technology and become masters of words. They delight in debate. 

The one who sees the world on the spiritual level cannot be swayed by the debates because their wisdom is based upon faith. 

THE SHABBOS CANDLES 

A young girl went to religious school for the first time.  Her grandparents wanted her to learn about the beauty of being Jewish.  Well, from the first day the young girl liked Religious school.  Each day she would learn something new and was very excited. 

One day she came home from school wanting to share what she had learned about Shabbat.  She ran in the door, “Mommy, mommy guess what I learned in school today?” the young girl began:

“We learned that G-d made the world in six days and he rested on the seventh day.  Ya know what mommy?  We should rest on Shabbos (the Sabbath Day) too.”

The mother patiently listened to her daughter and then said, “What you’ve learned is very nice, but we don’t do things that way.” 

Another day the young girl came home and excitedly told her mother, “Mommy, today I learned that on Erev Shabbos (Friday) the whole family eats dinner together, Shabbos candles are lit and Kiddush is said because Shabbos is such a special day.  An ya know what else?  The whole family talks and sings together.” The mother listened to her daughter and explained, “we are very busy during the weekend and don’t have time for those type of things.” 

A week later the young girl burst into the house on Sunday afternoon after Religious school and told her father, “Daddy, today I learned the Beracha (blessing) to say over the Shabbos candles, I’m going to light candles on Shabbos the way bubbie and zadie do on Shabbos.” The father answered, “You will do no such thing. All that is old fashioned and has no place here. I do not want you lighting any candles.” 

Now the young girl was sure that if her parents could see the beauty of the Shabbos candles they would understand what she felt.  So all week she thought, and she thought, and she thought some more until she decided what to do. 

Friday afternoon she rushed home from school, cleaned the house and swept the floors (as best as a little girl could). She set the table with a clean white tablecloth, napkins and dishes. Then she went to set up the candles for Shabbos.  She knew where her mother kept them, they were up on the third self of the kitchen cabinet.  So she climbed up onto the countertop and opened the cabinet and took down two Shabbos candles, they were in their own glass holders. (Note:  The candles in the glass containers were Yahrzeit Candles – Memorial Candles). She placed them on the table on a sheet of silver foil. Everything was ready for her parents. She knew they would be surprised and would finally understand what she was trying to tell them. 

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, and she remembered that her teacher at Religious School told her that the candles had to be lit before sundown. It was getting late and the little girl was waiting for her mother, but soon it would be too late. The little girl prepared to light the Shabbos candles. She covered her eyes and began, “Baruch ata Adoshem elo…” When she heard her mother scream, “What are you doing?” the young girl turned and saw both her parents standing in the diningroom staring at her.  She smiled and said, “I lit these candles for you because I love you.” 

From that day on both her mother and father helped her with Religious School, they kept Shabbos and Yom Tov.

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True faith is deep within one’s inner self and once found will allow one to see the world on many levels. 

There is “fun” in the confines of belief. The wonder, beauty and adventure are there for the experience. All one has to do is look at the world around them through the eyes of their faith.

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Tags: Faith, Rabbi's thoughts and teaching, Shabbos, Stories // 2 Comments »