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The pasuk in this week's parsha talks about b'har. The Torah in this week's parsha talks about the concept of an interest-free loan. That really is aseir to give money to somebody, to lend money to somebody Than to charge them interest. We don't charge interest. So there's a loophole. The loophole. It's not really a loophole, maybe 'too strong a word' is too strong, but there's a way to get around it. How do we get around it? It's called a hetter iska. So I just want to talk to you about the halacha for a second, and then we'll dive deep into what the concept behind the halacha is. The hetter iska is basically when you sign a document Iska. It's when you sign a document. You and I are entering into a business deal together. So Ruven's not lending money to Shimon. They're entering into a business deal together. You Shimon are going to take this money.
And I'm going to profit off of the business that you're going to pay me back. So it's not a loan. So since it's not a loan, I can profit off of that money. What's the basic difference? The basic difference is this: if I lend somebody money, I'll explain it again. You get it. If I lend somebody money, where is the money? If Ruvein lends money to Shimon, then Shimon has the money. And Ruvein doesn't have the money. Ruvein can't profit off of the money that he doesn't have, because now whose money is it? It's Shimon's money. But if I sign a hetar iska, the way it works is as follows: Ruvein—it's Ruvein's money, and Ruvein has the money. It's just that Shimon is using the money for our business. And he's, let's say, buying a house or doing whatever he wants with it, and so he's paying me not interest but dividends from the company.
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So I Ruvein, I'm not lending Shimon money. We're in a business together, and I Ruvein am making money off of my money's business. That's the halacha. You need to clarify. Can you just say it's a gift? So that's something else. If I gift somebody money, there's no problem with that. That's called ribbis. So you can't do that. You can't, you can't. Right. You say the change is a gift. So you can't, you can't do that. That's ribbis. You can't say the change is a gift. Not really. You can't say to somebody, "I'm not really lending this to you. It's a gift." But when you give it back, give me more. You can't do that. But what you can do is this thing called the hetter iska. So the question is as follows. Any time there's a halacha. You have to understand what the inner nature of the halacha is.
If you can understand the inner nature of the halacha, then the halacha makes sense. In other words, does the Torah really care about how we do business? The answer is yes. Of course, the Torah cares how we do business, but there has to be something that reflects itself about our relationship with Hashem. So I want to share with you a var. It's not my var. This is a var from the Labavitcher Rebbe And the Rebbe answers with a brilliant answer. It's a really fundamental concept in Yiddishkeit. The Rebbe teaches us an idea that comes from this concept that we don't lend people money and get back ribbis, but we enter into business with people and we make a dividend. What's the difference between these two things, and how does it affect us? So there's a machlokas in the medrash. There are different medrashim that point in two different ways.
We know that Hashem does mitzvos. We know that the Chazal tell us that Hashem does the mitzvos. The question is, what is the relationship between us doing a mitzvah and Hashem doing a mitzvah? There are two ways of looking at it. The first way of looking at it, and girls, I'm going to refer to this as the first way. So if you don't understand what I'm saying when I say the first way, it's because you didn't hear what I'm saying right now. The first way of looking at it is we do mitzvos because Hashem does mitzvos. You understand? So we wouldn't do a mitzvah unless Hashem does a mitzvah. Since Hashem does the mitzvah, we do the mitzvah. For example, let's say spiritually speaking, whatever this means, Hashem puts on tefillin. So men put on tefillin. Spiritually speaking, again, whatever it means spiritually speaking, Hashem gives tzedakah, so we give tzedakah.
But who moved first? Hashem moved first, and we're only acting because Hashem is acting. That's the first way of looking at it. From now on, I am going to refer to it as the first way. Hashem moved first. The second way of looking at it is the opposite: that really we observe the mitzvot And because we observe the mitzvot, Hashem observes the mitzvot. You understand? So we put on tefillin, so Hashem puts on tefillin. We give tzedakah, so Hashem gives tzedakah. This is a machlokus in the medrash. Two ways of seeing it. We know that Hashem does mitzvot. We just don't know who comes first. Does Hashem do the mitzvah and then we observe them because He does, or do we do the mitzvahs and Hashem observes the mitzvahs because we do? So far so good. Everyone has this. The second way is that we do a mitzvah.
And because we do the mitzvah, Hashem is stirred, so to speak, to do the mitzvah Himself. He's responding to our mitzvah. What comes first? We don't know yet, but we'll see. Let's examine each one of these approaches. The first approach says that Hashem does a mitzvah and we do a mitzvah because Hashem does a mitzvah. So that answers a very important question: Can we enter into a relationship with Hashem? You might say yes, but that's not so obvious. If you actually stop and think about it. It's not so obvious because the question is Can a finite physical human being enter into a relationship with an infinite God? Those seem to be two completely different things. Just like I can't enter into a relationship with a door because I'm a human being and that's a door and we are not the same species. So too, maybe you would say we cannot enter into a relationship with Hashem.
Hashem is infinite. He is real reality, and we are this finite thing that can't even be called existence relative to Him. That's an important point, girls. Do you realize that from Hashem's perspective, we don't exist because the difference between us and Hashem is infinite. We can't even be called existence relative to His existence. So how do we create a relationship with Hashem if we're only finite human beings? So the first approach in the Medrash answers this question, and the answer is like this: We can only connect to Hashem because He creates the connection. In other words, it's like a very seminary thing. Can you be in a relationship with Hashem? What's the obvious answer? Yes. But when you actually stop and think about it, what's the answer? The real answer? No. I cannot create a relationship with Hashem because I'm only finite. But Hashem is infinite. What does infinite mean? Capable of doing anything.
So who creates the relationship with whom? Do we create the relationship with Hashem, or does Hashem create the relationship with us? Hashem creates a relationship with us because He's infinite. And as a result of the relationship that He creates, what do we get to do? Participate in a relationship with Him. I just want to stop for a second because this is such an important idea. I want to make sure everyone understands it. We have a question: Do we do mitzvot first, or does Hashem do mitzvot first? Remember, in the first approach, who does a mitzvah first? Hashem. Hashem does the mitzvah first. If Hashem does a mitzvah first, what is that Hashem saying? It's Hashem saying, "I know you can't create a relationship with me because you're a finite human being" But I am infinite, and therefore I can do anything. So, by doing a mitzvah first, what is Hashem saying? I'm giving you the opportunity now to create But to participate in a relationship with me.
So Hashem does a mitzvah, and then whose mitzvos do we do? We do Hashem's mitzvos. You understand? The first approach in the Medrash is answering a fundamental question. Can you repeat the first approach? I'm going to repeat it again. But girls, try to lock it. The first approach is Hashem does a mitzvah, and we observe whose mitzvos? Hashem's mitzvos. What is that saying to us? What philosophical lesson is that teaching us? Who creates the relationship? Hashem creates the relationship with us. Can we create a relationship with Hashem? We can participate in a relationship with Hashem. But I can only participate in a relationship with Hashem insofar as He creates the opportunity for me to do so. How does Hashem create the opportunity? By giving us a mitzvah. Now let's take this out of the realm of Hashem just for a second, and let's see if we could go deep in this.
Sorry, we can only participate in a relationship with one. We can participate in a relationship with Hashem because He created the opportunity to do so. I'll give you a model of this. You're dating a guy. Can he create a relationship with you? You might think at first glance the answer is yes And it's partially true. But he needs you in order to create the relationship. I'll explain what I mean. When you say to a guy What I love is when I get a message in the middle of the day, just checking in to see how I'm doing. What are you doing when you tell him that? You're creating the mitzvah, so to speak. You're saying this is what it looks like for me to come to you. And then what happens in turn? Once I come to you, you can participate in the relationship that I created.
What is it? When he says to you It's important to me when I'm married to somebody that they're appreciative of all the hard work that I do. So when you express your appreciation, who created the relationship? In that case, he created the relationship. And you can what? Participate in the relationship. So do you see how it works in a human relationship? Each side needs to do what? Create the relationship And then participate in the relationship. Does that make sense? Are we both constantly creating it? Yes. And in every single what? In every single relationship, I have to constantly let the other person know, right? Not hopefully you don't have to remind them the same thing over and over again. But in every relationship, when I tell someone what it looks like to participate in a relationship with me. That's me creating the opportunity for a relationship. When they actually do it, what's them? What's that? Them? What's that's them participating? So a wife wakes up one Sunday morning and she says to her husband I'm exhausted. Do you think you could do the shopping for today's barbecue that we're making?
So what's she doing? She's creating the relationship. When he goes shopping, that's participating in the relationship. He does the same thing to her. He says, "Really important to me. I want to go spend some time with the boys today. Do you think that we could hang out a little bit earlier?" So that we can, so I could be with them later. When she says yes, that's him creating the relationship, her participating. That's only in a human relationship. Because in a human relationship we're the same. Since we're the same, I create the relationship, you create the relationship, I participate in the relationship, you participate in the relationship. But I can't go to Hashem and say, here, let me create a relationship with you. Hashem doesn't. What does that mean? He's. It's like me going to the door and saying, "I want to create a relationship." It's two different species. So in order for us to participate in a relationship with Hashem, Hashem has to create the relationship. He says here, "This is a mitzvah."
When we do the mitzvah, what are we doing? Participating in the relationship with Hashem. Up until now, that was the easy part. Now let's get to the harder part. The harder part goes like this. Can we participate in a relationship with God if God is perfect and He doesn't need us? He makes us able to. Slow. These are all things you're throwing out, but let's take a second to think about it. I'll give you an example of this. Imagine the following case. I'm being a little dramatic here. Imagine the following case. Let's say. Who's somebody I could pick on? Me. I pick on you enough. You have a father? Good. Listen. Me. Sometimes, sometimes not. It's a risk. You have a father. Let's say, let's say Let's say your father comes to you and he says to you, "What's your first name?" Kayla. Where are you from? Grenade.
So your father comes. There's a part of me that wants to do the Persian Great Neck accent. I'm not going to do it. Not doing it. I'm not because I don't want to get in trouble. It's not that good. I didn't spend enough time around that community to do it well. So it would only be insulting. Your father comes to you and he says, Kayla I want you to bring me a coffee every single day at four o'clock sharp. Not four o one. Not three fifty nine. You say because you're a good Persian daughter. What do you do? You say, of course. And then your father says to you, I want the water The coffee needs to be heated to this exact temperature, which means you're going to need to make the coffee at 3:58. So that by the time you get upstairs to bring me my coffee in my office every single day, it's four o'clock sharp. He says I want two sugars. I want this brand. And you are a real halachic daughter.
So on your first day, day one, you have all the things prepared: the coffee that he likes, the flavor that he likes, the sugar, the water is exactly boiled to the right temperature. You pour it. You knock on the door at four o'clock. You walk in. There's your father, big smile on his face. Thank you so much. So far so good. Day one, day two, day three, day four, every day at four o'clock. Do you come at four oh one? No. You come at 3:59. You don't come early. You don't come late. Four o'clock. Perfect temperature. Two sugars. Exact flavor. Whole nine yards. Imagine you do this for 30 years. 30 years. Dutiful daughter. She never leaves her parents. She raises her own children in Great Neck. They raise their children in Great Neck. They're all oral surgeons. The whole nine yards. It's not nice. It's true. Down to the point. Mamish to the point.
We daven by Rabbi Polakov, or wherever we go, or we don't daven, wherever we go. One day you have a sibling. You have any siblings? I have three brothers. You have three brothers. Perfect. Older, younger. Older. Older. Perfect. The brother that's right above you. One day It's 3:59 And you realize, oh my God, I'm late to make the coffee. Thirty years, you've never been late. 3: 59 She starts making the coffee. Which means that till she gets upstairs It's 4:01, which would have been great Except she also forgot one of the sugars. So she runs back downstairs to get the sugar. By the time she gets up, it's 4:05. Very bad. Your father is very upset. He just got back from oral surgery and he's really needs that coffee. And you walk into the room, and you don't even knock because you're in such a rush because you're so late. And you see your brother, and he's standing there with a tea, and he's serving your father a tea. Oh no! One second, and in that moment you realize that 30 years of bringing your father the coffee You walked in, knocked on the door, put the coffee down on his desk, and walked out backwards. You are out of the room by 4:01 every day.
In fact, you never even realized. That anybody was coming in after that And it occurred to you in that moment, because you're very smart, Kayla. It occurred to you in that moment that not once in 30 years did your father ever drink the coffee in front of you. And you start to ask yourself, 'Wait a second' Did my father actually ever drink the coffee? And you realize in that moment that the reason your brother is bringing that tea is because your father never actually wanted the coffee. Your father really wanted the tea. Being a strong Persian woman, you turn to your father and say to your dad, "Dad" Did you ever drink the coffee? Your father goes, "No, I don't even like coffee." And you say to your father Why did you make me bring the coffee at exactly this temperature, exactly this flavor, at exactly this many sugars, at exactly four o'clock?
"And your father says, 'I wanted to give you the opportunity to serve me.'" Is that a good answer? That's a terrible answer. Sure, it's a terrible answer. But think about how many times we heard that growing up about Hashem. Hashem doesn't need your mitzvos. He's just giving you the opportunity to serve Him. Doesn't sound so good now, does it? Really, does Hashem need you to daven? What's the answer to that question? No. So then, why am I davening? He's giving you the opportunity to serve Him. That's terrible. How could somebody work in a relationship if the other person doesn't need me? You understand? In other words, we said a minute ago, who creates the relationship? Us or Hashem? Hashem creates relationship. Can a finite human being create a relationship with Hashem? No. But Hashem, by doing a mitzvah, says here you can participate in the mitzvah. So I would assume that what the mitzvah has to have some meaning, because if the mitzvah doesn't have any meaning, why would we do it? How is that participating in a relationship? If it's only for us and it's not for him.
That's not a good relationship. The Friederiker Rebbe The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe's father-in-law, used the following mussar to explain this. He said there was once a nobleman who was touring his estate, like a paritz. He was touring his estate and he saw a peasant, and the peasant was pitching hay. They take the pitchfork and they go like this. And it's a very beautiful motion. He saw him doing it over and over again. And he enjoyed it. He stopped and watched. And then he called the next day the parrots, the nobleman. He called this peasant And he said to him, "I want you to come work for me. I want you to get out of the fields." The peasant was so excited, get out of the fields. That's like what we all want. Nobody wants to work in the fields. He goes, 'What can I do for you?' He goes, 'I want you to come to my house every single day, and I just want to watch you.'
Just take the pitchfork and go like this all day long. I just want you to do it. So at first this peasant is so excited. He says, 'Gevaldik, I get to go in. It's hard to pitch hay all day. It's heavy.' So he's so excited. I finally get to go in. No longer will I have to worry about the cold or the heat or the weight. It's going to be great. So he comes into his new job. He takes the pitchfork. Look what he does. He goes like this. There's no hay there. He swings it over his shoulder and he does it. And every day he comes in for a week and he's just doing the same motion over and over again. Finally, after a week, he comes into the parts and he goes respectfully. I quit. The parts goes. Why? Why are you quitting? He goes. Because I'm not doing anything. What do you mean? You're not doing anything? I get to watch you doing it.
So he goes. I know, but the reason why I was able all those years to go out in the cold, to go out in the heat To lift those heavy bales of hay It is because the work was meaningful. If the work is not meaningful, can we do the work? So you know what we have to say. This is a wild thing. We never grew up knowing this, but it's a big thing. If we're going to participate in a relationship with Hashem That means it needs to have meaning to Hashem. You hear that? So Hashem We said the mitzvah is to create the relationship first. But when we participate in the relationship Which is the second way of looking at it It has to be meaningful to him. If it's not meaningful to him, then I'm just bringing my dad a coffee and he never drinks it. So what does Hashem do? God says, "I'm going to tell you a secret."
It's meaningful to me. God creates a reality in which the mitzvah is meaningful to him. How meaningful is that? It's infinitely and cosmically meaningful. This is very important. When you bring your father a coffee and your mashal kela, how meaningful is it? It's only as meaningful as it is to your father. So it's meaningful to you because it's meaningful to him. How meaningful is it to him? It's meaningful. He gets a coffee, but it's not like you. You're not the greatest thing since sliced bread because you made your dad a coffee. But if Hashem says, I create a reality in which your mitzvah is meaningful to me. How meaningful is your mitzvah? It's infinitely meaningful. So you see, both approaches in the medrash are really true. Who creates the mitzvah first? What do we say? The first approach says Hashem. Why? Because when can we create a relationship with Hashem?
We can only participate in one. You know what the second approach in the medrash says? You do the mitzvah, and who does it impact? And then Hashem does the mitzvah. Because your mitzvot matter to Him. How much do they matter? Infinitely. So two things are true at once in Judaism. This is a foundational idea. If you know this idea, you know something amazing about all of Judaism. Number one, we cannot create a relationship with Hashem. We can only participate in it. Number two, when we participate in it, it's infinitely meaningful. So if I do a mitzvah, it's infinitely meaningful. So far so good. You guys got this idea? Watch this. This is the home run. This is where we kick it. You asked me earlier how does this tie into het ereska. Go back to the beginning of the shir for a second. If I loan you money, if Ruvain loans Shimon money.
Where's the money? Shimon's money. Say it again. Make sure you girls are with me. If Ruvein loans Shimon money, where's the money? Shimon has the money. Am I in a relationship with Shimon now? No. It's Shimon's money. And he can give me back that money, but he can't pay me interest loan. What do we say if there's a hetar iska? Where's the money? Where's the money in a hetar iska? If Reuven gives the money to Shimon, whose money is it still? It's Reuven's money, and they're in a business venture together. And if they're in a business venture together, then what happens? Reuven can get the dividends of the business venture. It's an exact parallel to what we were just talking about. If you lend somebody money and charge them interest That's like listen carefully. That's like Hashem gives you a mitzvah But it's outside of Hashem's territory now. I'm going to say it again.
If you lend somebody money, remember, the money is where? To them. With them. And I am not in a relationship with them. I can just get my money back. I can't charge interest. So If the mitzvot belong to Hashem And we're only doing it because He does it. Then our relationship with Hashem is like a lender and a borrower, and that is not a good relationship. Again, say it again. I know it's a little complicated. If the mitzvos belong to Hashem, and we're doing the mitzvos only because He does it And not because it's meaningful to Him. But He created the relationship, and we're participating in it, but we don't really think it's meaningful to Him. Then we're like a lender and a borrower. And a borrower cannot, a lender cannot charge interest from the borrower. Hashem's involvement in the mitzvah in that case stops after He gives us the mitzvah. You understand?
He had a mitzvah, and then He gives it to us, and we do a mitzvah. But is there a relationship between the lender and the borrower? No. The lender is the lender, the borrower is the borrower. So Hashem does the mitzvah and then gives it to us. And when we do the mitzvah, are we in a relationship with him? But let's look at a hetter iska. In a hetter iska, what do we say? Ruvain lends money to Shimon, and Shimon invests that money. Then, what does Shimon do with the money he makes? Not only does he give money back to Ruvain, he gives more because they're in a business deal together. Hetter iska reflects our true relationship with Hashem. Hashem has the money that makes him what? He's the investor. He's the investor. So imagine, remember, we said me and the door can't have a relationship with each other. So Hashem has, in this case, the money.
I can't get that money from Hashem. Hashem has to do what? He has to give me that money. But then when he gives me that money, does that mean our relationship is over? Because what are we in? We're in a business together. And I'm holding whose mitzvah? I'm holding whose money? It's Hashem's money, and we're in a business deal together when I do this mitzvah because He gave me the mitzvah, and now when I do the mitzvah, what happens? I'm investing the mitzvah, so who gets the dividends? Who's moved from that mitzvah? Not only me. But also Hashem. We get the dividends too. Of course, because we're participating in the relationship. But the relationship is not only meaningful to us. Who else is it meaningful to? It's meaningful to Him. You know why I wanted to give you the shirt tonight? I wanted to give you the shirt tonight to show you something. Aside from the actual content of the shir, I want to show you that every single halacha that exists in all of Torah is really what? Is it just a random halacha about teaching us how society should run?
And that's by the way most people would teach you about an interest-free loan. Most people, the way that they would say it, would be like this: The Torah says that we should give each other, we should help each other. So if Reuven has money, he should lend it to Shimon, and he shouldn't charge Shimon interest. This way, Shimon will be able to succeed, and he'll pay back Reuven. Doesn't that sound nice? What a nice share Or if you want to get around it and you want to have a loophole, what can they do? They could sign this het er iska. They could sign this document, and then Reuven could lend the money to Shimon, and Shimon will pay him back extra. But it's really not a loan. It's really a business deal. And that would be the whole shear. Because they would tell you how a just society works. Is that true? Is it true that that's how a just society works? Yes.
But if you only learned that You would think that the Torah is really just like a book about how society should run. And you would say, if you were making the argument to somebody, and you were saying the reason why you should learn Torah is because this is how the world should operate. The Torah is the blueprint for how the world should operate. But now that you know this idea, you see that it's not limited to how a society should operate. Every single halacha has a body and a soul. The body of the halacha is what we just described. You're not allowed to charge interest. You can only have a hetter iska. But what's the soul of the halacha? There's something deeper than just do this and don't do that. Every single halacha teaches us about our relationship with Hashem. So here you have a very simple halacha about charging interest. But what's it really about?
It's not really about charging interest. What's it really about? It's really about how we build a relationship with Hashem. Our relationship with Hashem cannot be thought of as a lender and a borrower, where Hashem lends us the mitzvah and we're just borrowing it. His involvement is over. It's left His territory, so to speak. That's not how you build a relationship with Hashem. The way you build a relationship with Hashem is like a joint business venture. It's His mitzvah, and we're holding on to it and getting involved in it. Who is it meaningful to? Not only to me. It's also meaningful to him. So in this case, Kayla You would spend 30 years making your father the perfect coffee. But the geshmack of making the coffee is not about the coffee. What's the geshmack? Your father's face when you walked in. I get to have a delicious coffee. The coffee is meaningful to me. That's the geshmack of the coffee.
I'll give you an example of this. I'll take some questions afterwards. You spend the summer. You work in a camp. Anyone here ever worked in a camp? You spend the summer. You work in a camp. If you work in a day camp, I think maybe sleepaway camps too. But if you work in a day camp, there's something called tips. Suggested tips. And every year, that 16-year-old counselor at the end of the summer, what does she do on the day for tips? The camper comes over and gives you the tip, and you put it away. Later in the day, or maybe right away, you sneak off somewhere and want to check. You want to check what tip you got. What's the tip that I got? Girls What's an average tip today for a JC? What are we talking about? Five dollars, ten dollars, twenty bucks. We're not talking about a massive amount of money.
So you'll say So you'll say, what was that? Depends on the week. Everyone has their own cheshbonus. How much money are we talking about? We're talking about very little money. And even if you wanted to say that very little money. But when you put the whole bunk together, I had thirty kids in my bunk. Each one made ten bucks. I got an extra three hundred dollars. Girls, three hundred dollars is a lot of money. It's not a lot of money. It's a little bit of money. You get older, you realize three hundred dollars is not a lot of money. So why is it that the tip is so important? I'll tell you why. Because the tip means I made an impact in your life. And it becomes not that the tip is meaningful, but it's the message of the tip. Which is why, if you have a camper and they were the hardest camper of the summer And then when they're the hardest camper of the summer, if they're the ones that don't give you a tip Or they're the ones that give you less of a tip, or even if they give you average, you might turn to your co-counselor.
That mother should have tipped me a thousand dollars a day with her child. Why? Because of what I did for that kid. Do you know how many times we wanted to wring that kid's neck? Do you know how many times that kid was fighting with another kid? Do you know how many times that kid snuck away from the bunk and you didn't give me an extra tip? But sometimes you have a mother who can't afford to give a tip, and she really wants to give a tip, but she just can't. She could barely pay for her tuition as it is. So instead, what she does is she writes you a really well thought out, even a long letter. To say I'm so sorry. I wish I could give you a tip. I just don't have the money, but I want you to know my daughter came home every single day from camp raving about you. In some ways, that letter is worth more than all the other tips.
Because we don't really care about the money. We care about a job well done. We care about the fact that we made an impact. When Hashem comes to us and He says, "When I created the world in seven days, and on the seventh day I rested. I stood back and I admired my work." And I want you to come participate in that special day with me. Sit back every seven days and admire creation with me. I'm not inviting Gentiles into this space. The Gemara says a goy who keeps Shabbos is chayav misa. They're not invited to participate in this aspect of our relationship. Whose Shabbos is it? It's Hashem's Shabbos. And when we're there with Him, it matters to who? It matters to us and it matters to Him. How do we teach Shabbos today? We go Shabbos is a great day. Why? Because you don't have to be on your phone. Goyim also know how to turn off a phone. Goyim could also say one day a week I'm turning off my phone. You go Shabbos is so good because it's family time. Goyim also know how to have family time.
You're missing the essence of Shabbos. You're missing the soul of Shabbos. What's the soul of Shabbos? The soul of Shabbos is not about phones. The soul of Shabbos is not about family time. The soul of Shabbos is it's God's Shabbos. He created the opportunity to be in a relationship with Him, and when we participate, of course it's meaningful to us. But more importantly, who is it meaningful to? It's meaningful to Him. It's a job well done. It's Hashem saying, "I keep Shabbos because You do." It's a super important lesson. Our relationship with Hashem is created by Him, but don't think that it's only meaningful to you. If you have a teacher that says God doesn't need it, maybe that's true. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't want it. How much does Hashem want our relationship? Infinitely. And when we do a mitzvah, it's meaningful to Him.
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