In this week’s Parsha the Torah commands us not to follow other G-ds and that Hashem is One (Devarim 8:19). The Medrash says that the word וְהָיָה, vehaya refers to joy. What joy could there possibly be in forgetting Hashem?
The Kotzker Rebbe says a phenomenal thought: This verse can be understood by dividing these words differently. If you forget to be in a state of joy, that is you forget the vehaya which refers to joy, this will cause you to forget Hashem. If someone lacks joy, he will find it difficult to appreciate Hashem. Joy is one of the forty-eight ways to acquire the Torah. Lack of joy leads to many faults and difficulties. When in a state of joy, you have a greater appreciation for Hashem and all that He has given you (Rav Zelig Pliskin shlita).
Rav Avrohom Pam zt”l famously used to say, “The city of happiness is in the state of mind”! We must be Jewish and Joyful! We must be in love with the one above! Happiness in life is achieved when there is growth. When one develops as a person in his relationship with Hashem, with others, and with himself, one feels a deep sense of fulfillment.
On the other hand, when one remains stagnant and does not experience growth in any significant way, unhappiness often sets in. Keep on growing. Keep on striving to become the greatest you can be. We must work on being a Jew and proud – heeding to all that Hashem commands us. We must be happy! At times this is extremely hard and may seem like a daunting task but by working on it is quite possible to overcome this challenge.
There is a story about one who overcame his hardships and served Hashem with his whole heart and soul: Near Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l’s home there lived two families that kept Shabbos with mesiras nefeh (self-sacrifice). The men of those families were fired every Monday morning, because they refused to go to work on Shabbos, and their families were starving. (In that time most businesses and factories operated on Shabbos and those who didn’t go to work on Shabbos were fired from their job and it was extremely hard to find a new one).
One of those families raised children who grew up and kept mitzvos, while the children of the other family tragically all abandoned Judaism. The father whose children catastrophically left the path of Torah, poured out his heart to Rav Moshe: “How did this happen to me? I kept Shabbos with tremendous sacrifice, just like my neighbor. Why did all of the other man’s children come out fine and observant, while mine didn’t?”
Rav Moshe answered: “Your neighbor came home happy every Friday and said, ‘Children, Baruch Hashem this Shabbos, we will be moser nefesh! We will make an incredible sacrifice! Let’s make Kiddush and thank Hashem for the sacrifice that we are offering on his behalf.” Rav Moshe continued, “Even though it was incredibly hard for the other man’s family, the children felt a tremendous thrill – they fully recognized the enormous privilege that it is to keep Shabbos. They knew it was worthwhile to keep Shabbos, even when it entailed self-sacrifice. You, on the other hand, went home broken, sighing with bent shoulders, and said ‘Who knows what will happen to us? I’ll lose my job again because of Shabbos – we will have no money; we will have no food…’
Your children thought and understood that Shabbos was the cause of your problems and they wondered, ‘Who needs Shabbos? Our poor father was raised to keep Shabbos. But why should we suffer as he does?’ the children stopped keeping mitzvahs preferring the so-called easy life over the struggle to keep Torah and mitzvos. We must have a love and special joy for Yiddishkeit, instilling this thought into children at a young age. We must be Jewish and Joyful following and embracing Hashem’s Torah and Mitzvos! Make sure to check out the Parsha Knowledge exclusive podcast: Jewish n’ Joyful for incredible inspiration!
