Want to Start Keeping Shabbat? This Is the Perfect Week to Begin

For many people who want to start keeping Shabbat, the biggest obstacle isn’t a lack of desire. It’s the feeling that Shabbat is simply too big.

Twenty-five hours. So many halachot. So many things to learn. It can feel as though you need to be ready to do everything at once. And then comes the thought that stops many people before they even begin: “If I can’t do everything, what’s the point of starting?”

But that may be the biggest mistake of all. If you never begin, you can never move forward. And those who start with one small step often discover that the journey is far more manageable than they imagined.

Why Keep Shabbat in the First Place?

Before thinking about how to begin, it’s worth remembering why you might want to keep Shabbat at all.

Shabbat wasn’t given merely as a list of restrictions, but as a gift: 25 hours when the world stops making demands on you. No emails, no constant urgency, no feeling that you’re falling behind.

Instead, there is a table where everyone can sit together, conversations that continue without someone constantly checking the time, and space to simply be present, something that has become increasingly rare in modern life.

Anyone who has experienced a Shabbat like that can understand why it becomes so precious.

And nothing meaningful begins all at once. No one becomes a doctor on the day they enroll in school. No one runs a marathon the first morning after buying running shoes. But they all have one thing in common: they started.

The first step isn’t what completes the journey. It’s what opens it.

The Rambam, in Hilchot De’ot (Chapter 1), teaches about the “middle path,” a measured approach that a person can sustain over time. Real, lasting growth happens step by step.

This coming Shabbat, September 5, is the final Shabbat of the year. Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian, of blessed memory, one of the great teachers of mussar, taught a beautiful idea about the final week of the year: It is a time with a special power for repair. Each day of this final week can help repair the corresponding days of the year that has passed, offering a final opportunity to close the circle before beginning again.

The final Shabbat of the year, he taught, has the power to repair the Shabbatot of the entire year.

There is something deeply encouraging in this for anyone who has been thinking about starting. You aren’t beginning “in the middle of nowhere.” You’re beginning at a particularly meaningful time.

So, Where Do You Start?

Start with one action.

Not an entire list. Not everything at once. Choose one thing you can take on this coming Shabbat, and build from there.

1. Light the Shabbat Candles

It’s a simple act that brings a moment of pause, light, and meaning into the home. A few minutes before Shabbat begins, the candles are lit, and suddenly you can feel that something has changed. Shabbat is here.

For many people, this small moment can become the beginning of something much bigger.

[Click here for Shabbat candle-lighting times.]

2. Make Kiddush on Friday Night

A cup of wine, a few words, and the entire meal takes on a different meaning. Even if you need to read every word slowly from a siddur, you’ve started. The next week, it may already feel a little more familiar.

[Click here for the text of Kiddush.]

3. Have One Meal Together Without Phones

It sounds like a small change until you actually try it.

Spend one meal with everyone sitting in the same room, talking and eating without screens. You may be surprised by how quickly it becomes something everyone looks forward to, and how naturally it makes you want to bring a little more Shabbat into your home.

4. Put Your Phone Away for the First Hour of Shabbat

Try putting your phone aside for the first hour of Shabbat. If that feels manageable, gradually extend the time. Perhaps two hours the following week, and then until after Kiddush.

One step can make the next step feel possible.

Our sages teach in Pirkei Avot (4:2): “One mitzvah leads to another mitzvah.” A mitzvah performed sincerely can naturally lead to another. You don’t need to plan the entire journey before you begin. You simply need to take the first step.

You Don’t Have to Start With Everything

Many people who fully keep Shabbat today did not go from zero to one hundred overnight. Their journey began with one change, followed by another.

So choose one step. Try it this Shabbat, and then try it again the following week.

The journey doesn’t have to begin when you feel completely ready. It can begin this Friday as the sun sets.

The first step doesn’t need to be big. It just needs to happen.

Shabbat isn’t waiting for you to be perfect. It is waiting for you to make a little room for it.