“Bubby” I said presenting my grandmother with a piece of blue fabric “I need to sew. We cut fabric for a skirt in class. Could I use your machine?”

My grandmother agreed. I sat proudly at the humming machine and merrily moved it back and forth across the unfortunate piece of fabric. When I held it up I saw it was more like a trembling deflated balloon than a piece of clothing. The hem was crooked and the zipper would not open. But what could I do? I sat with my grandparents and enjoyed a cup of cold milk and a slice of lemon pie. I left the skirt with my grandmother just so that she could fix the zipper.

My grandmother brought me the skirt the next day. The hem was straight as a ruler the zipper opened easily and she had fashioned a stylish belt from the leftover material. I ran to show everyone the beautiful skirt that I had made “by myself.”

Chazal teach us that when Hashem told Moshe to make the Mishkan he said “Master of the Universe am I a G-d that I can do such a thing?” (ibid.)

We are tiny insignificant creatures full of confusion and flaws. How can we fulfill the mitzvos without damaging their spiritual essence? Even the slightest deviation after all could destroy entire worlds.

Hashem said to him: you do what you are able to do and I will finish the job.

The same is true of our own mitzvos. How could such small creatures as we perform mitzvos like Hashem? The answer is that we do our part and Hashem finishes the job.

A woman lights small candles in honor of Shabbos and says a brachah to Hashem Who “sanctified us with His commandments.” This small candle we kindle is Hashem’s candle. (ibid.)

“Do you hear?” the candles whisper. “Do you hear what you just said?”

True sometimes your Shabbos table doesn’t bear any resemblance to the vision you cherish: two kids wage war another child refuses to eat anything a teenager is sprawled out on the couch and you and your husband are too weary to intervene.

True sometimes you want to upgrade your tefillah — you even begin brachos out loud. But somewhere around Kriyas Shema you find yourself deep in thought about what color curtains will match the new paint job in the kids’ room and hey how did I get to Shemoneh Esrei?

True you promise that breakfast will be an island of loving calm before the day begins that you’ll make French toast and cocoa and be loving and calm. But then the baby pulls the eggs off the countertop and while you’re cleaning up your son misses the school bus and you’re going to be late for work ... and all your good resolutions dissipate in the face of another failure.

It’s because of all these things that you say “Who has sanctified us with His commandments.” Yes the mitzvos of Hashem not your mitzvos. The mitzvos that sometimes come out imperfect and without the proper intent from which you sometimes get distracted and in which you sometimes make actual mistakes — but the good intent is still there a sincere powerful spiritual effort.

This is true not only of the mitzvos but even when we say Tehillim and our hearts are as hard as stones and our eyes dry as wood. We have to do whatever we can to invest the feeling we can to light a small spark — and Hashem will do the rest.

My beloved grandmother is no longer here to fix the garments I try to sew. But HaKadosh Baruch Hu in His great kindness and mercy sees my powerful desire and straightens out the crooked edges of my mitzvos completing them so they shine in Heaven like the stars up in the sky. 