Shabbat Shalom, my peeps.

POSTED: 03-04-2016 IN: Your Weekly Weapon With David Farbman

As I have written here before, thanks to my wife Nadine, my family is committed to observing Shabbat every Friday, beginning at sunset.   In the Jewish religion, Shabbat is the most important holiday to observe. Over the past year, I’ve half-assed it. I might have hidden in the bathroom a time or two (or more), and often enough that I got called out big time by my wife. So this past Friday, I went “ALL IN.” I committed with a post on Facebook announcing my absence for 24 hours, so you know I was serious. (Because nobody would ever BS on Facebook), and I went phone-free. Here is a run-down of my detox:

6 pm: Arrive home. Leave phone locked in the car, figured it was better not even to bring it in the house.

6:10 pm: Maybe I should get the phone…what if there’s an emergency? You know, when it comes to saving a life, you can break the rules of Shabbat…

6:15pm: Mmmm…sushi. Candles and prayers and blessing the children. I look at the beautiful faces around my table, and I am in love.

7 pm: Phone? What phone?

8 pm: Maybe I should get the phone. But Hunter wants to talk about his week, and I want to know all about it.

9 pm: Bedtime for the boys. Damn, they are cute.

9:15 pm: Wine and conversation with my wife. Best part of my day. Without the distraction of my phone or the sounds of a movie filling the space between us, it’s like I can see her more clearly.

11 pm: I’m in bed. It’s 11 pm. Who am I?

11:05 pm: My phone is outside. It’s cold outside. I wish I had my phone. Does the Force work? If I focus hard enough, I can bring it to me…

11:10 pm: ZZzzzzzzzz…….

5:30 am: I’m up. Everyone is sleeping. I sit in my kitchen and feel the silence of my sleeping house. We’re all under this roof, safe and warm. I am blessed.

6 am: Hunter’s feet on the stairs, can’t wait to hug his warm, sleepy self and make a plan for the day.

7 am: Three boys, one dad. I’m outnumbered. It’s awesome.

11 am: Inside Temple Beth El for a Bar Mitzvah for Grant Blau, a super cool kid. I sit, phoneless, and I find myself focused in on the service, and it all clicked at that moment. I’m on vacation. This was the sign I’d been looking for all along.

My phone doesn’t own me, and I felt so free, so unburdened from the emails and texts that feel urgent but aren’t. Nothing is more important than the four people I love the most. Shabbat is the best 24-hour vacation, refresher, mind re-set I could ask for…and I can’t believe I resisted it. Shabbat Shalom, my peeps. Talk to me after sundown tomorrow.

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