Judaism is filled with people with very diverse thoughts on “religiousness.” Some people are strict, others are more lenient, and there’s a lot in between. There are many types of Jews around the world, all of whom connect to Judaism differently. And no one connection makes the “perfect” Jew.

Let’s talk about the Modern Orthodox community. As a teenager, I have firsthand experience with this, so I will speak about what I know. The connection of the Modern Orthodox person is, naturally, to live a lifestyle of Torah and mitzvot. These are people who want to learn, pray, do good deeds (מצות) and refrain from doing averot. But does this define the perfect Jew? Of course not! That is a goal a lot of people would like to achieve on their path with Judaism (or maybe not; I’ll get to it), but that is not a small step. For some, it’s not even the right one.

Building your connection with God is a process that takes time and commitment. When you think about that image of a “perfect Jew,” it mightmake you think, “I’m a horrible Jew,” and that “I’m not as good as they are.” I want to prove to everyone reading this that this is not true! By no means am I a rabbi, but I have enough experience with Torah and rabbis to know that Judaism is all about your connection with God! There are rules that we adhere to, of course, but most people can’t just jump into it. That is why it’s okay to take it slow and focus on one thing at a time.

Now, what I mean by taking it step by step is that when you daven, you should start off slow and simple. Maybe start with Modeh Ani, look at the translation, and really understand what you’re saying, which will lead you to enjoy it and feel part of it. There is a famous quote that backs this method of growth: (תהילים צב:יג) (Tehillim 92:13)

צַדִּיק כַּתָּמָ֣ר יִפְרָ֑ח כְּאֶ֖רֶז בַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן ישגה  The righteous one flourishes like the palm; as a cedar in Lebanon he grows.”This pasuk relates to the path of a righteous person; A seed needs to be attended to every day to make progress and, little by little, that seed will grow. In the same way, a person should work on themselves everyday, and little by little, like a seed, they will grow.

My experience with davening: Most of my life, I did not have the desire to say all of davening. I thought it was long and boring. Though I did not have the desire, I have an amazing father who saw my lack of interest in davening. Instead of lecturing me, he said, “Why don’t you just start with a shortened version of davening?” So there I was, starting with בירכות השחר (Birkot HaShachar) and saying the brachot, when I got distracted and looked at the other side of the page. I read  the English translation, and when I saw the words, it started to dawn on me: How many times have I actually thanked God for everything He does for me? Whenever we receive presents, we say thank you; when someone saves our life, we say thank you! Life is our gift from Hashem! That is why I would like you to at least give this a chance. Hashem has done everything for us, and the least we can do is say thank you. He gave us free choice. That is the biggest gift anyone can receive! The least we can all do is try this out.

The key to davening is to start off small, and then, when you’re comfortable, you can move on.

Maybe say brachot, then Baruch She’amar, Yishtabach, Shema, and maybe even Shemoneh Esrei and Aleinu. Everyone is different and everyone’s path is different! Not everyone can just daven; that’s why it’s okay to do other things. If you can’t daven, take one minute or less than 30 seconds a day to say thank you for all the things you are thankful for, and even to ask for things that you may want. Hashem just wants to talk to us and have a relationship with us! That’s the cool part about this: If you do your best, God will do the rest. Meaning, if you try your hardest to say those brachot every day, Hashem will reward you. And when you feel like you’re ready to move on, then you can add more.

You start with the small and add slowly—maybe every week or every other week, maybe even after months. There’s a famous quote: “One day or day one.” This is the mentality we need!

Starting is the hardest part; it really is. Once you start, it’s only uphill from there. Mistakes are part of the journey, but if you don’t try, you won’t succeed. Try learning once a week; take five minutes, find something that interests you and just learn. Watch a video about it, connect—anything counts. By the way, your connection could be through a good deed or refraining from saying or doing something bad. If that’s what you struggle with, that’s okay! No one is perfect, but we can achieve greatness if we just try. One change means the world to Hashem. Even if that’s all you do for the rest of your life, if you make it your thing to do, then you will be rewarded.

That’s the message I want to end with: try. The least we can do is just try. (And you can do anything! You don’t realize what you’re capable of doing!)

David Kranzler is a sophomore at TABC who loves sports.