- Torah and Jewish Thought
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1559
Question
Shalom
I am 17 years old, I live in Mexico.
I’ve been putting tefillin for 4 years now, I always try to do it every day but there are days that I forget or do not have the time to pray. Then my question is.
If I don’t pray one day that makes me more of a sinner?
I have another question.
My grandparents died in 2016 by natural ways. All of my family had at least one or two dreams with them, even my aunts and my cousins and I don’t, what can I do to have a dream with them, is their a tehilim or something, what can I do?
Thanks.
Answer
Congratulations on your observance of the mitzva of tefilin for the last 4 years! You should view putting on tefilin as an honor and benefit that most nations of the world don’t have. It’s truly a privilege to be a member of the Chosen People, and you should take advantage of this good fortune every day! Even if occasionally you don’t have time to say all of the prayers, you can surely find that minute and a half, which is all that’s needed to at least don the tefilin, and say at least the first line of “Shma Yisrael”. It definitely hurts if we miss such a great opportunity, even for one day, but as with every mistake, our Father- Who created us with the capacity to forget things, is just waiting for us to apologize sincerely and make all the effort so that it doesn't happen again (e.g. set an alarm to remind you every day).
Regarding dreams, today, we have no prophecy and accordingly dreams are pretty irrelevant. They usually are just a product or outcome of what one thinks about, consciously or sub-consciously during the day, so don’t worry about what you dream or don’t dream. Concentrate on life and being the good Jew of which your grandparents would be proud!

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