I went to the supermarket to buy my husband a bottle of Nescafe coffee. I went there just for the coffee. My first mistake was to take a shopping cart. After all, who needs a shopping cart for a bottle of coffee? I've bought coffee before in this supermarket and I know which aisle it is located in – aisle four. My shopping cart and I started off in aisle one. Why? I remembered that I wanted to buy mushrooms. Aisle one, two, three, four. I finally got to aisle four via the first three aisles. My shopping cart was now full. There was no Nescafe in the store. I went to the checkout aisle. I left the supermarket with eight bags of groceries, not one containing a bottle of coffee.

I can be connected to everyone, anywhere, anytimeIt wasn't so long ago that all I had was a telephone. You know, a standard telephone that didn't light up and wasn't digital. Now I have a digital landline, a cell phone, internet, and a VOIP DSL telephone that allows me to have a US number while living in Israel. I can be connected to everyone, anywhere, anytime. However, with all this communication going on all weeklong the only one whom I'm not connected to or communicating with is myself. Then Friday afternoon rolls around and I unplug my phones, shut down my computer and as I light the Shabbat candles and welcome the holy day of rest, I suddenly find myself connected. Even though I make it a point to sit down to talk with my husband each night when he comes home, our time together is brief and often interrupted. However, on Shabbat there are no interruptions; there is only us, talking and singing and enjoying. It's the only day where we can sit down with our children and observe how much they've grown and learned during the week.

"Six days you shall do your work and on the seventh day you shall rest" (Exodus 31:16). The language that the Torah uses to describe the rest or cessation that is commanded on Shabbat is "Shabbat Vayinafash," literally translated as your nefesh, your bodily soul, will cease. On Shabbat, we gain a neshema yetera, an additional soul. While so much of Shabbat is about physical pleasures such as eating, wearing fine clothing, and sleeping, the pleasure and "rest" that one derives from Shabbat is deeper than these things, for you could take part in them during the weekday and yet you wouldn't be observing Shabbat.

In the midst of all this physical enjoyment, we disconnect from the physical outer world and reconnect to our spiritual inner selves. It's the one day where you don't get distracted in your journey on this planet, and instead of walking out of the store with eight bags of unnecessary groceries, you walk out with the one item that you needed and sought. It's the day where you reconnect with your family and friends. Just as important, it's the day when you reconnect with yourself.

It's the day when you reconnect with yourselfI remember that when I was a student in university, I spent many Shabbat days alone. There was either nowhere to go or nowhere that I wanted to go for a meal. It wasn't ideal. Shabbat is a beautiful day that is best shared and not passed alone, but at the time I didn't have many options. I'll never forget how those moments alone of reflection made me incredibly in tune with myself, my goals, and my direction.

Now as a wife and mother, I bask in the beauty of quality family time that Shabbat gives us, and while I recharge physically from Shabbat to Shabbat it also remains the only time when I can unplug the phones and plug into Elana.