How can I get used to quiet so Shabbos stops feeling scary?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau teaches that you have to start small. Take one hour during the week with no phone and no distractions, and just face yourself.
The reason is that all week we distract ourselves by scrolling, texting and escaping, and then on Shabbos we are suddenly alone with our own thoughts, fears and soul. Practicing during the week trains you to meet yourself before Shabbos asks you to. “Do that, and Shabbos won’t even scare you anymore. It’ll feel like coming home.”
Speaking on Shabbos Chanukah, he adds that this Shabbos trains you to sit with the light and have the light shine on you, so that Shabbos can feel like home, not fear.
Watch Rabbi Landau's teaching · Also taught in: teaching 2
Related concepts: The phone that owns you · Selfawareness
In A Soul at Peace: Afraid of the Sabbath? Come Home, My Soul
Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Shabbos becomes easier when you practice facing yourself during the week.
Fear, vulnerability, or tension
What makes Shabbos hard is the sudden meeting with your own thoughts and fears, with nowhere to escape.
Deepest human truth
“Return, my soul, to your peace.” With practice, Shabbos feels like the soul coming home.
More questions from this teaching
More answers: Shabbos · All questions · Questions about Rabbi Landau and Rivnitz