פרשת כי תבא ומצוות שמחה
This week’s Parsha contains perhaps one of the most elusive commandments in the whole Torah, yet one of the most important ones. Many people spend their entire lives searching for it, yet never find it. At the end of all the curses mentioned in the rebuke which Moshe Rabenu gives in the Parsha, the verse says that all these terrible things come upon a person because he didn’t serve Hashem out of joy and gladness of the heart. The Rabenu Yona and the Rambam explain that even if a person keeps all the Mitzvos properly, if he does not do them out of a genuine happiness, he cannot serve Hashem correctly, and can therefore bring disaster on himself. I would like to attempt to elaborate on why the commandment of Simcha is so integral to a Jew’s Torah observance.
Certainly one aspect of the importance of Joy can be seen from the Maharal. The Maharal explains that joy is a fundamental component in motivating a person. Without a basic feeling of enthusiasm, a person is essentially helpless to function normally. Service of Hashem is no exception. If an individual doesn’t feel any drive to perform the Mitzvos, he will certainly get burnt out rapidly, and eventually abandon his Mitzvah observance altogether. The Maharal makes a beautiful comparison between the word אדם and the word אדמה. He says that just as earth which is not tended to will not yield any produce, so to a man who does not have enjoyment in his Mitzvah performance will not be able to bring out his true inner strengths, and will wither and die, whereas if he does have inner satisfaction and gladness, he will blossom in his service of Hashem and reach his full potential. The great Mussar giant, R’ Moshe Shapira who is also a linguistic expert in the Hebrew language once added to this Maharal that the word שמח and the word צמח (sprout forth) are the same word as a “ש” is interchangeable with a “צ”. It is clear from these titans how important it is to develop one’s feeling of delight in his Torah observance and service of Hashem.
Another facet of the centrality of joy in one’s Mitzvah observance is that it is truly indicative of everything that is going on in a person’s growth. When a person performs the commandments with genuine delight, it is indicative that he has attained a high level of love and fear of Hashem, and that his service is authentic. R’ Zadok Hakohen goes so far as to say that a person’s entire spiritual status can be summed up by evaluating the joy he feels during the performance of a Mitzvah. The level of gusto and enthusiasm seen can allow us to determine exactly where a person is holding in terms of his service of Hashem. He says that this was in fact the hallmark of the holy forefathers. It wasn’t what they did as much as how they did it. They were all burning inside with a passionate fire to perform the will of their creator, and it was this fire which allowed them to become who they were. This type of attitude takes work, but it is clearly integral for the proper service of God. It is well known that the Ari Z”l said about himself that any level which he reached in his service could be attributed solely to the passion he felt about the Mitzvos.
That being said, I would like to offer some practical advice on how to achieve this lofty, and clearly necessary attribute of joy. First, the Gemorah in Shabbos (25) asks, “Who is truly happy”? The Gemorah cites four opinions. R’ Meir says that the happy man is one who is satisfied with his wealth. R’ Tarphon says that it is one who has 100 vineyards, 100 fields, and employs 100 slaves. R’ Akiva says that it is anyone who has a virtuous wife. And R’ Yossi says that it is anyone who has a toilet next to his dining room. I think we can ask three powerful difficulties on this Gemorah. First, the Mishna in Avos asks the same question, and essentially only gives the answer of R’ Meir – one who is happy with his lot. What happened to the other three positions? Second, what are these Tanaim arguing about? Their positions seem somewhat random intelligent discussion as to why each opinion rejected his opponent? And finally, why do all of these Tanaim give only physical suggestions for happiness? Were they so shallow to only consider one’s wealth, wife, or health in the complex and elusive emotional equation for happiness?
The Maharitz Chiyus on the Gemorah solves all three of these difficulties in one fell swoop. There is no argument at all between any of these holy men. They are all essentially saying that the only way to be happy is if a person is able to see the blessings in his life. If one glances into the lives of each of these Tanaim, their suggestions become more reasonable. R’ Meir was exceedingly poor, and he therefore felt that the way to achieve happiness was to focus on the monetary blessings that he does have, and how he was able to get by despite his lack of abundance. R’ Tarphon had the opposite dilemma. He was wealthy, but his wealth may have come with a heavy price tag. As many of us can testify, wealth often comes with great challenge, and many wise people have tried to avoid excessive material abundance. R’ Tarphon therefore chose to focus on the positive aspects of the blessings bestowed upon him by his creator, and didn’t pay any attention to the enormous challenge wealth may have presented for him. R’ Akiva, who conversely was financially destitute, focused on his wife, who was nothing short of a princess and made his life wonderful in every way. R’ Yossi chose to concentrate on his physical health, and felt great joy about the fact that he was able to take good care of his body and that Hashem blessed him with wellbeing. From these Tanaim’s biographies, it is clear that they are not arguing in any way. They are all saying that the key to happiness is to focus on one’s blessings, and always consider the alternatives. R’ Avidgor Miller was once approached by a man who complained that the city of New York was too polluted and it was making him very upset. R’ Avigdor tried to calm the man, but later went home and submersed his head in a sink full of water. His shocked grandson, who was home at the time, and thought that his grandfather had lost his mind and said “Zayde, what are you doing”? R’ Avidgor responded, “I was worried that this person’s complaints had had some effect on me, and I wouldn’t be thankful enough for Hashem’s blessings, so I put my head in a place where I couldn’t breathe, and when I came up, I was so appreciative for the simple blessing of air, and that I felt incapable of complaining about anything”.
The Ohr Sameach on the above quoted verse proves this exact point. The verse says, “These curses came upon you because you didn’t serve Hashem out of joy, and gladness of the heart when you had everything“. Most people understand this to mean that because you didn’t perform the Mitzvos when your life was going great, all of those blessings you didn’t utilize will be confiscated. But the Ohr Sameach explains with great novelty that the verse is teaching us the secret to happiness. The reason you weren’t able to serve Hashem out of enjoyment is because you were always looking for “רב כל” – everything, whereas had you taken the approach of the Torah – to be happy with the blessings you did have, and recognize the source of those blessings, you would have been much more content, and thereby able to keep the Torah out of true simcha. If we take this lesson to heart, we can increase the joy in our lives by many fold today, without much effort, and achieve what many people spend a lifetime searching for!
I would like to discuss another method for achieving happiness, which is perhaps even more germane to a Jew’s life then the first one, and that is the happiness in Mitzvos. The Rambam says at the end of the laws concerning the Lulav that this type of happiness is fundamental for every Jew to obtain, and if he cannot, he will have to answer for himself on this account in Heaven. The way to accomplish this type of elation is by focusing on the fact that each and every Mitzvah that a person performs brings him closer to his creator, and perfects his character in a way that nothing else on this earth can. There is a certain type of jubilation which comes when a person knows that he is having a positive effect on himself, and on the entire world, and the reason why the Rambam says that he will be punished if he has not fostered this type of understanding is because to not think this way severely undermines the worth of the Torah and the commandments, and shows a basic lack of sincerity and appreciation for the value of the Mitzvos and diminishes the significance of how precious the Mitzvos truly are. In Brisk, it was well known that a man once saved up for an entire year, and had to sell his own home in order to purchase an Esrog for Succos. If we would foster this attitude toward the Torah and its commandments, we would be well on our way to achieving this lofty and necessary level of “Simcha Shel Mitzvah”.
I would just like to conclude by mentioning that all the suggestions we have given can only be effective if they are in conjunction with prayer. A person must also shed heartfelt tears to the Master of the World that He help with this elusive trait of delight in the Mitzvos and happiness in general. The Ramchal in chapter 19 says that we can learn this concept from King David. When Dovid observed the tremendous joy the Jews had when they began to donate the necessary materials for the construction of the Beis Hamikdash, he commented that these people had indeed reached a true state of bliss, and he turned to Hashem with a sincere prayer that all Jews in all future generations be allowed to reach such a state. From his reaction, it is clear that we must follow suit and use all the above offered proposals, together with earnest prayers for success, in order to reach happiness.
May we all merit to reach and maintain a state of service of Hashem with true inner joy!