We started our journey to frumkeit by easing in, so to speak, to Shabbos and kashurs. For kashrus, we bought only kosher meat, read labels for anything else, and only ate fish or vegetarian in restaurants. For Shabbos, we lit candles, made kiddush, and only drove to and from temple and/or synagogue. In other words, we didn't keep shabbos or kosher, but we were sincere. Proof that we were sincere? HaShem give us a gentle nudge (if you call being told "you aren't Jewish and the only way to proceed is to start keeping Shabbos, kashrus, and taharas ha'mishpacha according to orthodox practice starting today", gentle) to keep shabbos and kosher.
There was an interesting change that occurred over the first three months or so. Shabbos (before the change) during the summer had been a very, very long day; summer reruns are a bore and the cartoons are all in the morning! By the end of those first month, though, Shabbos went from long and boring to, "Whoa! How did we ever live without this!?!" There was a price, however; Fridays became a busy and sometimes stressful day -- especially Friday afternoons. Certainly the benefits outweigh the cost, but there is a cost.
It turns out that this busy and stressful Friday's goes back to sheishe y'mei b'reishis. Here (as brought by the Avudraham) is HaShem's first Friday:
There was an interesting change that occurred over the first three months or so. Shabbos (before the change) during the summer had been a very, very long day; summer reruns are a bore and the cartoons are all in the morning! By the end of those first month, though, Shabbos went from long and boring to, "Whoa! How did we ever live without this!?!" There was a price, however; Fridays became a busy and sometimes stressful day -- especially Friday afternoons. Certainly the benefits outweigh the cost, but there is a cost.
It turns out that this busy and stressful Friday's goes back to sheishe y'mei b'reishis. Here (as brought by the Avudraham) is HaShem's first Friday:
- 6:00AM
- Contemplate making man.
- 7:00AM
- Consult with the angels.
- 8:00AM
- Gather the dust.
- 9:00AM
- Knead into useable parts.
- 10:00AM
- Knit everything together. (There's lots of little bits... arteries to capillaries to veins; bronchial tubes to alvioli. I mean, He's HaShem and everything, but that's a lot of little and complicated parts!)
- 11:00AM
- Complete "golem" -- humaniod creature with no soul. (Think IRS agent.)
- Chatzos
- Toss neshama in. (The word is "zoreik" -- I don't make this stuff up!)
- 1:00PM
- Bring man to gan eden.
- 2:00PM
- Explain the rules. NB: Don't eat from that one tree!
- 3:00PM
- Man eats from the tree. (And he wasn't even a teenager yet!)
- 4:00PM
- Judge man.
- 5:00PM
- HaShem acquitted the man.
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