L'Kavod Shabbos | Rabbi Yoel Steinmetz

[music] >> The following story was sent over by Rav Reuven Elbaz. It was about a Yid in Eretz Yisrael who wasn't so connected to Shabbos. He was a religious, but he grew up in a family that understood the idea of Yiddishkeit. He decided one time to go to a rabbi's shiur, and he heard in that shiur, in that class, that there's an inyan, there's an idea, that one [music] should say l'kavod Shabbos Kodesh, that I'm doing something in the honor of Shabbos, and every time you buy [music] something for Shabbos Kodesh. He took the lesson to heart and was excited to implement it. And he went to the local store and started buying the items he needed for [music] Shabbos. Right when he was about to pay, he screamed out l'kavod Shabbos Kodesh. It was so loud, it rattled the people around him. Everything stopped. [music] It was awkward. And embarrassed, he quickly paid and ran out of the store. He told his wife what happened, but they [music] quickly dismissed the issue as an embarrassing issue that hopefully will be swept under the rug and forgotten as the life goes on. But that wasn't to be. That Sunday, he went to another rabbi's shiur. And the rabbi started [music] speaking about the idea of derech eretz kadmah l'Torah, that a person has to have proper conduct, and that's sometimes even more important [music] than the Torah itself. And he says he was by a store this past Erev Shabbos, and he heard [music] someone screaming out l'kavod Shabbos Kodesh. And it was so inappropriate, so strange. You have to be normal, you have to be regular. And as this Yid heard what the rabbi was saying, he was so embarrassed yet again and ran back to his wife saying, "I was only trying to do the right [music] thing. And what's going on? I'm being so embarrassed wherever I go." His wife, she tried to calm him down. >> [music] >> And he said, "You know what? Let's take a walk." They went, started to take a walk, and they passed by a fish store. The tantalizing smells attracted them. [music] They said, "You know what? Let's go in for a nice fish lunch." They went inside, and all he had was 20 shekel. He told the man, "I only have 20 shekel. Give [music] me whatever you could for that price." He came out with this huge tray of the finest fish. [music] And again, he felt he's going to be embarrassed. I told you, "All I have is 20 shekel." So, he said, "I have an incredible amount of gratitude towards you, and I'll tell you after you enjoy your lunch." They started to enjoy this incredible [music] feast that they were now presented with. And the owner of the fish store sat down next to them, and he says, "I want to tell you something. Last Erev Shabbos, I was in a store, >> [music] >> and I had a bet with my wife. I was faltering in my Shabbos observance. I didn't [music] know whether I should continue on my ways, somewhat enjoying my life but feeling quite [music] empty, or take my wife's push and say to myself, "I can keep Shabbos." And I told Hakadosh Baruchu, >> [music] >> "Give me a sign. Give me a sign that my Shabbos is worthful to you." And that day, on Erev Shabbos Kodesh, I was in the [music] store, and suddenly I heard a scream, "Lechvod Shabbos Kodesh!" That scream came from you. [music] And because of that, that sign from Hashem, I decided to start keeping Shabbos once again. That's my gratitude towards you, [music] and that's why I'm serving you this beautiful meal. Rashi tells us that an Neshama Yeseira [music] comes down on Shabbos, and it makes us bigger. It gives us a rav chus. That's why why we're able to eat more on [music] Shabbos. Because of this Neshama Yeseira, we have more room in a physical sense, but that's only mirroring what we have in a spiritual [music] sense. We're able to push ourselves, sometimes somewhat uncomfortably, that even though regularly we don't daven in a in a niggun, or we don't scream our davening, or we don't daven even out loud at all, on Shabbos we're able to say, "Lechvod Shabbos Kodesh! I'm going to daven loud. I'm going to daven with a brand. I'm going to daven with a neimus, with a song." Our Neshama Yeseira is in us, and who knows who we're going [music] to affect, maybe even ourselves. Good Shabbos. Lechvod Shabbos >> [music] >> Kodesh. Noyam, noyam Shabbos Kodesh. Noyam, noyam Shabbos >> [music] >> Kodesh. Ayayay, Lechvod I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I