Each of us has a “barrel” that weighs heavily on his heart and that doesn’t allow him to be joyful. If we want to get rid of it, we need to arouse joy from a place where it does not depend on anything, but exudes from our very being. Through this joy, we will be able to remove the “barrel” and bring in the Geula.
REWARD OR PART OF THE JOB?
Is simcha a reward for our avodas Hashem or is it part of the assignment we got?
I once learned with someone, a beginner who had started committing to mitzvos like t’fillin and Shabbos. At the same time though, he was involved with all sorts of spiritual workshops that are not from a holy source. Whenever we spoke about his adding to his davening and not sufficing with reciting the Shma, he would say, “But I don’t feel anything when I put on t’fillin!”
He explained to me, “At the workshops I attend, I feel something special, a spiritual atmosphere. That doesn’t happen when I put on t’fillin.” I told him that in Judaism it works the other way around – we did not come here to receive; we came here to give.
WE DIDN’T COME TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK
There are people who want to be happy. They do mitzvos as they are supposed to do and wait for Hashem to appreciate their service and grant them the expected reward, happiness. Likewise, there are people who go and daven every morning and wonder – when will Hashem excite me and let me feel some G-dliness?
In both cases, the anticipation comes from an incorrect grasp of reality and from an incorrect understanding of the relationship between us and Hashem. We are not guests at G-d’s hotel. We are not here to enjoy all the services that He offers and to do His will in exchange. We did not pay to enter the amusement park and we are not waiting to enjoy the various “rides” – to be happy, to feel holiness, to attain serenity, to have shalom bayis, to reap the benefits of chinuch of the children, etc.
We descended to the world for a goal and mission that we need to carry out. Our neshama was in the upper world and chose to come down and enter a body to do the tasks Hashem assigned it. Yes, we are promised a reward for doing it, but when we understand the greatness of the privilege of carrying out the assignment, that itself is the greatest possible reward.
Furthermore, when we understand that our neshama is part of G-d, part of the Creator, and we are not just His workers but His children, who is thinking about a reward?! A son does not help his father for the reward he will get but because he loves him. He loves him because he feels connected to him. If the father would give his son a reward, the son would be insulted. Because by paying him for the work he does he shows that the relationship between them is one of “give and take” and nothing more.
THE ADVANTAGES OF BEING A HAPPY PERSON
Our main job is to bring the world to Yemos HaMoshiach, to the final state in which the world ceases to conceal G-d and starts to reveal Him. That is the state in which G-dliness is seen openly. In every person, we will actually see the G-dliness within him shine. We accomplish this through a list of instructions we received, i.e. the mitzvos. The moment we focus on the task, we start to forget about ourselves, what we have and what we lack. Only when a person stops focusing on himself can joy start to penetrate his inner being. Now we can begin harnessing the simcha in our work too.
Joy definitely adds a lot of flavor and enthusiasm to a Jew’s life; it is not enough to simply do mitzvos. Part of the job is to fulfill mitzvos with joy. Everything that is done with simcha and enthusiasm is done in a much better way. The simcha is contagious, infecting everyone around us. Everyone loves to be in the company of happy people and when someone walks in with a smile, people smile back.
When we are happy, we move faster, lighter, ready to carry out any job without being fazed by obstacles that might crop up.
JOY SHATTERS BARRIERS
There is another component to simcha, from which we can understand just how pertinent simcha is to the Geula, and to what extent the Geula depends on our simcha.
Simcha poretz geder, it breaks down barriers. Each of us has his personal limits, emotional blockages, psychological obstacles that prevent our neshama from expressing itself in the world. For one it’s hard to give tz’daka, for another davening properly is hard, for another it’s learning Torah lishma, for another it’s Ahavas Yisroel, and so on.
How do we break through our inner roadblocks? How do we overcome the obstacles?
Through simcha! When a person is happy, he can break through all limitations and knock down all the barriers. We can see this when even a tightwad is willing to freely give tz’daka on the day he marries off his child. Even those who don’t get along on a day to day basis hug and dance with one another on Simchas Torah.
But even within limitations there are levels, and not all types of simcha break down all the barriers. The greater the simcha, the greater the limits it can break through.
When a person rejoices with what he has, with his personal successes in life and the self-actualization he has achieved, this is a limited simcha since there is a limit to how successful a person can be; ultimately it’s a material success. Since the simcha is limited, the boundaries broken through by this simcha are also limited, and he only rises up a little above his present state.
When the simcha comes from spiritual things and a person rejoices over spiritual success and Torah achievements, it is a loftier type of simcha for it is connected to spiritual things. But this simcha is still dependent on something, and therefore it is also limited and it can only break through some limitations.
But when a person rises to the state of essential joy, the joy over the very fact of being a Jew, joy over being on the threshold of Geula and hinei zeh Moshiach ba, this is a simcha above limitations. Consequently, it breaks through all boundaries and reaches to the essence of the person’s neshama and the very essence of Hashem. This is a simcha which reveals the essence and brings the Geula.
A simcha like this has an effect not only on us and not only on those around us, but on all Jews in the world even if they are unaware of it. An example of this is our simcha over the Geula of the Rebbe Rayatz on the Chag Ha’Geula of 12-13 Tammuz. When we rejoice on the Chag Ha’Geula, we break additional boundaries in the world and add to the Geula itself. When we rejoice on this day over the very fact that we have a Rebbe and this Rebbe went from darkness to light, we break boundaries, reveal the essence, and add to the Geula of the Rebbe Rayatz.
Since the Geula of the Rebbe Rayatz is the Geula of all the Jewish people, for by his leaving jail we were all redeemed, when we rejoice on the Chag Ha’Geula, we add to the Geula of every Jew everywhere, even those who don’t know about the Chag Ha’Geula. Not only that, but we also receive additional powers to overcome our obstacles, to break through our personal barriers.
THE STORY OF SIMCHA
The story is told of the two holy brothers, R’ Elimelech of Lizhensk and R’ Zushe of Anipoli, who were both arrested and put in a small cell. Not only was it small and crowded, but in the center was a bucket which is where the prisoners relieved themselves.
R’ Elimelech saw this and was sad since it was prohibited to even think Torah thoughts. He looked over at his brother and saw that R’ Zushe was happy. He asked him wonderingly, “What are you happy about? We are in this crowded cell, we are the only Jews here, and we can’t even think Torah thoughts because of that bucket!”
R’ Zushe replied, “It’s true that I am usually happy because I connect to Hashem through learning Torah, but now I am also connected to Hashem. It’s just that now I am connected by not learning Torah [by following the halacha which says he cannot learn under these circumstances].”
Hearing this, R’ Elimelech also rejoiced and the two of them began to dance. When the warden came to check what the commotion was about, all the prisoners pointed at the bucket and said it was because of the bucket. The warden immediately had it removed and R’ Zushe and R’ Elimelech were able to learn Torah.
Each of us has a “bucket” that weighs heavily on his heart and that does not allow him to be joyful. If we want to get rid of it, we need to arouse joy within ourselves from a place where it does not depend on anything, but exudes from our very being. And through this simcha, we will be able to get rid of the bucket and bring in the Geula, as the Rebbe always says, “M’toch simcha v’tuv leivav.”