Serving Hashem With Joy

Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parashas Ki Savo, the Jewish people receive a series of conditional blessings and curses. The blessings include that the land will give forth bountiful fruit, and the nation will enjoy peace and prosperity. The curses foretell destruction, death, and exile, and the Jewish people suffering the greatest atrocities of all time. Which sin warrants such brutal retribution? The Torah tells us (Devarim 28:47) that these punishments will come “because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy.”

Why is serving Hashem without joy considered so terrible? If the nation were to abandon the Torah completely, G-d forbid, leaving the entire world devoid of any purpose, we might understand such severe punishment. Surely joy is just an advantage in our service to Hashem. Why does the Torah view it as so essential?

Moreover, many other verses cite various other sins as the cause of punishment, and not merely lack of joy in keeping mitzvos. Why does the Torah stress only joy here?

Rav Simcha Zissel of Kelm writes that it may be true that only abandoning the mitzvos deserves severe punishments such as these. However, one who lacks joy in performing mitzvos should realize that he is on a path that leads away from the Torah. Our Torah observance depends on joy, because without it one’s service of Hashem will weaken little by little. Ultimately, one may abandon it completely, G-d forbid. The parashah is teaching us that lack of joy was the root cause of the people’s abandoning the Torah during the Temple era, and the eventual destruction of the Holy Temples themselves.

Indeed, the Chazon Ish is known to have emphasized this idea by saying, “One either has 613 goals or 613 obstacles to happiness!” Goals are things that we work towards, and we experience happiness when we have opportunities to fulfill them. Obstacles, on the other hand, annoy us when we encounter them. It is true that we can’t choose to feel happy about doing mitzvos. However, we can choose to cherish the mitzvos as gifts, or to view them as cumbersome obligations. Ultimately, this will be the difference between growing in spirituality and drifting away from it.

Joy is vital in a positive way, too. It gives us the energy to work on our service of Hashem and our relationship with Him. Happiness sets us on the path to serving Hashem and reaching spiritual fulfillment. The Kotzker Rebbe teaches that we can ascertain our spiritual level by how happy we feel about doing mitzvos. Happiness shows that we are growing. The happier we are when doing mitzvos, the greater the indication that we have grown.

Rav Aryeh Finkel, a mashgiach in Mir Yeshivah, asks an interesting question: how can Hashem command us to fear Him, yet also be happy? Fear and joy are opposite emotions! He answers that fear of Hashem gives us a context for understanding why we should be overjoyed by opportunities for mitzvos. When we appreciate that every action we do determines our eternity, we will surely be excited over the privilege to serve Hashem through the mitzvos. Though we feel fear over making the wrong choice, the knowledge that the right choice will gain us eternal life should inspire us.

A classic example of this is the Days of Awe. Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein says that though they are days of judgment in which our lives hang in the balance, we can still appreciate the joy in these days. It is a special time for personal growth, in which we are capable of cleansing ourselves from all kinds of terrible sins. On Yom Kippur, Hashem Himself purifies us. This is an opportunity for incredible closeness with Him. Instead of letting the gravity of these days depress us, we should appreciate them as Hashem’s gift. Instead of calling them the Days of Awe, Rav Yechezkel Levenstein would call them the Days of Joy.

Many years ago, Rav Nosson Sherman wrote (in The Jewish Observer) that when he was young, he had an experience that impacted him tremendously. He grew up in an era when American Jewry was very weak, and Torah-observant Jews were few. One day he attended an event where Rav Moshe Feinstein spoke. Although Rav Sherman could not follow the entirety of Rav Moshe’s complex discourse, the conclusion remained with him forever. Rav Moshe’s face beamed with joy as he declared that the most important things that a parent can give his child are pride in being a Torah-observant Jew and happiness in doing mitzvos.

“There’s nothing worse for a parent to tell a child than, ‘It’s hard to be a Yid.’ It’s hard to be a Yid!? It’s an honor to be a Yid! It’s a joy to be a Yid!” Decades later, Rav Sherman could still recall Rav Moshe’s shining countenance. The inspiration of that moment remained with him.

Rav Sherman was one of the founders of Artscroll Publications, and he continues to make works of Torah accessible to English-speaking audiences, bringing many people to higher levels of Torah observance and a greater appreciation of their Yiddishkeit. Look at how powerful finding joy in mitzvos can be!

May we be zocheh to serve Hashem with joy!

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Rabbi Krieger’s “Gedolei Yisroel on the Parashah & Yamim Tovim” is now available from the Yeshiva office, Jewish bookstores worldwide and can be ordered online at https://www.feldheim.com/gedolei-yisroel-on-Parashah-yamim-tovim-2.