Prepare For Glory!

Read these words very carefully. They are so deep, that you just might miss it...

I often lie awake at night thinking about how it's not so much the Shabbos of my childhood that I miss; in America, Jews are also shomer Shabbos. There are Jews who keep Shabbos. But my heart aches for the erev Shabbos that I recall as a child. - Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

Shabbos is so beautiful, but sometimes we don't prepare properly for it. An important aspect is the eager anticipation with which we make ourselves ready for this holy day. In truth, the way we prepare for Shabbos determines to a degree what sort of Shabbos we will have...

Our erev Shabbos begins Thursday night; we start peeling vegetables for the soup and the kugel, and we listen to a shiur together. We start straightening up around the house...

First thing Friday morning, the cholent goes up, so it will be ready by the early afternoon for some sampling later on, in keeping with the verse "Those who savor it will merit life." All the shopping, cleaning, and setting of the table is done to the background of nigunei Shabbos; when buying flowers for my wife, I say l'Kavod Shabbos kodesh!

A certain silence descends on the house about an hour or so before candle lighting. There is a tangible force in the air as our weekly worries start to slip away, making room for the Queen. I try to take another crack at Derech HaMelech, Reb Kalonymos Kalman's sefer of derashot (sermons) from before the war. It's extremely difficult to understand, with very advanced concepts in Kabbalah and Chassidus...

I look forward to donning my special Shabbos clothes every week. My bekishe, my shoes (nothing special about the shoes, per se, but I do not wear shoes during the week. For Shabbos' honor, I am willing to dress uncomfortably, because that is what I feel is appropriate), the watch my wife bought for me when we got engaged, and all the other special accoutrements that accompanies the Shabbos dress...

I think I have an inkling about what the Rav was talking about. I hope we can all merit to have a wonderful erev Shabbos!