What can a parent do when a child stops keeping Shabbos?

Rabbi Landau answers by looking at the child’s week. When a father came to him in tears because his son had dropped Shabbos, Rabbi Landau asked only one question: “How does his week look?” The answer was no yeshiva and no job.

That, Rabbi Landau told him, was the problem. Shabbos is the summit of six days of movement, responsibility and purpose. When the week is empty, Shabbos feels empty, and it feels like a restriction instead of a revelation.

So the father gave his son a job, a rhythm and a direction. Two weeks later the son was keeping Shabbos again, “not because of rules, because of meaning.” Fix the six days, he says, and the seventh will fix itself.

Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level

Surface claim

When someone drops Shabbos, look first at what fills his week.

Underlying need or longing

A young person needs movement, responsibility and purpose during the week for Shabbos to mean something.

Deepest human truth

Meaning, not rules, brought the son back. Fix the six days and the seventh fixes itself.

More questions from this teaching

• Why does Shabbos feel empty when the rest of the week has no purpose?