You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them. I am the Lord. (Vayikra 18:5)
The Miracles of Simcha
The Klauzenberger Rebbe, zt"l, once told me a story about the Noam Elimelech, the Reb Elimelech from Lizensk, z"tl:
As part of the avodas Hashem of the Noam Elimelech, he would inflict upon himself the pain of bitter cold by laying in the snow and covering every inch of his body. One time, while in the snow, he rolled onto a nail that cut a large gash into his back. The blood started flowing immediately. By the time the Rebbe got home, he was soaked in blood and in tremendous agony. He asked his Rebbetzin to take a look at the wound. When she inspected the wound, Rebbetzin lightly said, "Just take some straw and plug it up. Everything is fine."
The Rebbe, taken back, began to laugh. Immediately, the wound miraculously healed.
Afterward, when explaining this incident, the Rebbe said that according to the laws of nature and all logic, the healing was an impossibility. The wound was there! However, because of the Rebbetzin's faith that everything was going to be fine, we were able to find simcha, joy, even in that pain. That simcha eradicated whatever judgement there was in the Heavens that made me deserve that agony, that wound. Once that din was gone, the wound was able to heal miraculously.
The Seforim explain, that when a yid is happy, if he is finding joy in his life and avodas Hashem, he will be safe from din and afflictions in his life. The tzadikim similarly explain the pasuk in Yeshayahu (55:12) that says, "For with joy shall you go forth, and with peace shall you be brought..." Through simcha and joy, the difficulties, the suffering, in your life will "go forth" and peace will remain.
The dancing of Chasidim
On motzei Yom Kippur, after the fast, the Baal Shem Tov went to see if it was possible to say kiddush levanah, bless the new moon. However, there was an overcast, and the clouds obscured the moon. The Baal Shem Tov returned to his room and began to become extremely agitated. He saw, with his prophetic heavenly vision, that if they were unable to bless the new moon on that night specifically, it was going to be an extremely challenging year for the Jewish people.
The Baal Shem Tov sat in his room, steeped in the deepest contemplation, trying to impact the spiritual realms and imploring the heavens to open up, to move the clouds and let the moon's light shine forth. However, his efforts were to no avail and the clouds remained. The Baal Shem Tov became even more embittered.
Meanwhile, his Chasidim, unaware of any of this, began to sing and celebrate the conclusion of the holy day. Their singing began to become even more enthusiastic and their dancing even more energetic. The entire room reverberated with their simcha. The door of the Baal Shem Tov's room became ajar and opened slightly. The chassidim went in and tried to convince their Rebbe to join them in the singing and dancing. The Baal Shem Tov complied, and while they were dancing, someone came in and said that the skies had cleared, and the moon can be seen!
Later, the Baal Shem Tov commented that the simple and pure joy and simcha of his chassidim had a greater impact on the heavens than all of his deep contemplations and spiritual efforts.
The jester of Mezibuz
There was once a horrible epidemic in the town of Mezibuz. Reb Baruch from Mezibuz zt"l, davened and prayed with all his abilities that the epidemic should be eliminated and all those inflicted cured. However, despite his rigorous and devout prayers, the epidemic raged on.
One day, a funeral procession for one of the victims was passing by his home. A Jewish jester, a badchan, came to Reb Baruch's home to lift his spirits with humor. With an illuminated expression on his face and a joy in his voice, he said, "Rebbe! The plague has ended!"
The Rebbe replied, "Look outside my window! The coffin of a victim is being brought to the cemetery as we speak!"
The jester, in a clever tone, answered, "That? No! The cure has been so powerful that even the dead are coming back to life! That coffin is on its way back home from the cemetery!"
The Rebbe smiled slightly. And he began to daven again and immediately the plague began to subside, and everyone saw the power of simcha.
Reb Avraham from Slonim, zt"l, taught that simcha is the key to everyone's sustenance, both physically and spiritually. Through simcha a yid can achieve anything. And because simcha is so powerful, the yetzer Harah tries to capture a person in self-doubt, worry and depression, particularly during an eis ratzyon, a heavenly fortuities time.
Happy Being a Jew
A yid should be able to have simcha permeate his life simply from the fact that he merited to be born a yid. As the Karliner Rebbe explained, the simcha a yid feels when he says the bracha in the morning of thanking Hashem for "not creating him a gentile", should be powerful enough to last the entire day. If a yid doesn't feel that simcha and it doesn't remain with him throughout the day, he clearly, the Rebbe explained, doesn't understand the depths of that bracha.
Reb Mottle Slanimer quoted the Karliner Rebbe that said: the simcha a yid has from simply being a Jew, guarantees that he will not be harmed in any way, and that he will have only good things in his life, both physically and spiritually.
Every yid, every single Jew, should be overwhelmed with simcha from the mere fact that he has the privilege and opportunity to create a connection, a bond, with Hashem, the Creator of the World, through His mitzvos. That simcha helps that yid tap into a flow of blessings and goodness into this world. In fact, it even adds to that flow, erasing and uprooting any din, judgement, which might result in hardships and suffering in his life and the world at large. When a yid performs a mitzvah with simcha, they weaken the power of the evil heavenly forces and strengthen the holy ones.
The Reward for Simcha
Chazal teaches (Kiddushin 39b) that there is not a reward in this world for the mitzvos. The simplest understanding of this teaching is that the main purpose for a person being born into this world is to earn an eternal life in the World to Come. Each mitzvah generates a specific amount of reward. If someone were to receive a reward in this world, there won't be any of that reward left for the eternal life waiting in the World to Come, where the benefits of those rewards can be felt infinitely.
However, the commentators still ask the obvious question: many times, we see Chazal prescribe a reward in this world for a specific mitzvah?! Isn't that a contradiction to this logic?
The seforim Hakedoshim answer this conflict with a beautiful insight. There is not a reward in this world for the actual mitzvah. However, a person is rewarded in this world the way they performed the mitzvah, for the simcha they felt as they were fulfilling Hashem's Will.
The Orchos Tzadikim (Shar Simchah) taught that the reward for someone who performs a mitzvah with simcha is a thousand times greater than the person who performs the mitzvah as if they were a burden.
Chazal taught (Brachos 8a) that the enjoyment from working hard is greater than yiras Shemayim, Fear of Heaven. The Chida in his book entitled Lev Dovid explained the words of Chazal, that the reward for someone who toils to do a mitzvah with simcha is greater than someone who toiled to perform a mitzvah out of fear.
Perform Them with Life
This is what our pasuk is teaching us here: You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them. When a person performs the mitzvos in a way that he draws a liveliness from them, that he performs them with simcha and enthusiasm, he will merit to see and feel "I am the Lord".
Through that simcha, a person can connect to Hashem and see him in his daily life. He can feel Hashem's presence through the goodness and brachos that will flow into every crevice of his being and every element of his life.
With Hashem's help, each of you should find the strength and inspiration to always fulfill Hashem's Will with simcha. You should internalize the incredible privilege you have as a yid, to have the ability to connect to Hashem through your avodah. That simcha should eradicate the suffering, challenges, and hardships in your life and for the yidden around the world, and replace those dark moments with light, blessings and only goodness. Amen.
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