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Writer's pictureAustin James

Starting Small

 Have you ever wondered about learning new things and making good choices? Let's talk about it with some fun stories and examples!


Imagine you're a baby learning to walk. You can't run a race before you learn to stand up, right? It's the same with learning about G-d and His rules. We start slow, like taking baby steps. If we try to do everything all at once, we might get overwhelmed and fall, just like a baby trying to run before they can walk.


For example, if you want to learn about the Sabbath, start with something small, like remembering to get your bedroom clean before Sabbath starts. Make a small list of new things you're going to try to remember or do each week. Then, as you get better, you can learn more and do more. It's like learning to ride a bike. First, you use training wheels, and then, when you're ready, you ride without them!


The laws of Torah is like a fence protecting us from the evil things outside and encouraging us to stay inside to do what's good. Think of a garden with a fence around it. The fence helps keep the garden safe. In life, we also need to create 'fences' or boundaries for ourselves. These boundaries help us make good choices and avoid things we shouldn't do. As we learn more Torah, we build up more of our fence. But if we try to build the entire fence all at once, it will be built sloppy and fall over. We need to make sure the fence posts we put into the ground are sturdy enough to add another one.


Similar to swimming, if you didn't know how to swim - it would be awful if someone tossed you into the middle of the ocean! You'd need someone to save you from drowning and you would probably be scared of the ocean! But if you take small steps into the water, learn how to kick your legs, move your arms, and then learn how to hold your breath - then you'll love going to the ocean! You can dive deep and see all the cool fish, plants, and things you can't experience from the land.


Just like practicing an instrument, practicing the Torah gets easier the more you do it. The more you practice, the better you get, and the more fun you have! Your journey in Torah is like climbing a staircase and the end of the staircase is heaven! Don't focus on how high you are on the stairway; instead, you should focus on which direction you're moving. If you're moving up, even if it's just a small step, you're doing great!


Remember, it's okay to make mistakes. The most important thing is to keep trying and moving in the right direction. Even the most righteous people in the Bible fell sometimes and messed up. But they got back up which teaches us that we should all keep trying to do better every day. Let's take those small steps, set good boundaries, remember G-d is watching, and keep moving up our stairway, one step at a time!

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