The Way Past the Spiritual Plateau

Some observant Jews describe the same experience. There was a period when observance was vivid. And then, some years later, the vividness thinned. The practice continued. The observance continued. But the aliveness was harder to find.

This is the plateau.

Observance is meant to be service. That is what avodas Hashem literally means. Service is connection to Hashem, and connection to Hashem is what the whole thing was for. This is what the Ramchal establishes at the opening of Mesillas Yesharim.

There is a lot to connect to. Shabbos, learning, community, mitzvos. When you first come into it or come back to it, it is vivid because you are connecting to something new. Over time the newness fades.

And when service is not at the center, what remains is the practices without the connection they were meant to make. Shabbos still gives you family and food. Learning still teaches you Torah. Community still holds you. But the connection to Hashem, which the rest were meant to be part of, is quieter than it should be.

The way past the plateau is to put service back at the center.

That does not require a bigger commitment. It requires an intention. Before the mitzvah, you name what you are about to do: I am about to serve Hashem now. The mitzvah is the same mitzvah. The words are the same words. What has changed is that you are doing it as service.

You sit down at the Shabbos table thinking: this meal is my avodah tonight. The kiddush is standing before Hashem. The food is what He gave you, used to honor the day. The people at the table are the family you are keeping Shabbos with, for His sake. Nothing about the meal has changed. What has changed is that you are serving. The same shift applies to any mitzvah.

The plateau is not failure. It is what observance feels like when service is not at the center. When it is, mitzvos land where they were meant to land.