Infinite Joy

A Rabbi, or the Guy at the Information Desk? 

A story: a Jew became aware of a complicated and urgent halachic question, and called an important rabbi, a posek from his community. The rabbi understood the severity of the problem and told the man he would get back to him immediately After making some phone-calls, he indeed got back to the person who asked, and provided him with appropriate references. The Jew did what the rabbi said, and, indeed, everything worked out. 

 

This is a rather routine story, and it usually ends here. But the Jew took one more step: After things had worked out, he called the rabbi and told him that, Baruch Hashem, everything was okay. The rabbi was very happy and told him: “Thank you for calling to let me know. You don’t know how many people call me at all hours of the day and night with various problems. I feel their pain and do my best to help them, and if things don’t work out, they call again and again. But only a few bother to call me and tell me about a happy end to their problem. They don’t understand that I am not just a guy sitting at an information desk who passes on information and doesn’t really care what the person asking is going to do. I am a human being, and I have a heart and I am really concerned for their welfare and success. They don’t know that I would be very happy to hear that a Jew has had his problem solved. May you be blessed for calling to tell me. You have made me happy.” 

 

The Joy of a Jew 

The great rabbinic leaders of Jewry were noted not only for their deep Torah knowledge, for for their strong, amazing emuna (faith), and for their good character traits and the aid they gave to others. They – like, of course each and every one of us who wishes to follow in their footsteps – were truly concerned about every Jew and were really happy with the success of every Jew. They brought salvation to Jews only because every salvation of any Jew was their personal salvation as well. 

 

We are in the month of Adar, in which one is supposed to increase joy. What is joy? How much should one be joyous? 

 

The Tiferet Shlomo, Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk, a Polish chassidic Rebbe and tzaddik, tells us that the happiness one gets from one’s own success, salvation and good things in life – that is happiness to be condemned! In his own words: “If a person pays attention to and prays only about himself and is happy only with the good that comes to him, that should be much condemned.” 

 

So what is complete happiness? What is the best happiness? We will bring the answer from the Tiferet Shlomo: “Here is what is the main thing: what a person prays for his fellow and is glad and joyous when he has salvation…  that is truly a good trait in a person, which deserves to be praised in the holy Torah.” 

 

A Happy Heart 

We read in this week’s parasha about the clothing of the Cohen Gadol – the high priest – and about the precious stones that were placed on Aharon’s heart, and Chazal say that he merited these because of “And he (Aharon) will see you (Moshe) and will be glad in his heart” – Aharon was truly happy that his younger brother had been granted such a great and important role.  

 

Aharon was the leader de facto for many long years of slavery and suffering and bore the yoke of the people during the most difficult years. Then, shortly before the redemption, his younger brother popped up out of nowhere and received all the distinction and honor. The Creator of the world knows what’s in the heart of all people, and He testifies to the fact that Aharon Hacohen was free of jealousy and was truly happy with his brother’s new status. This shows unbelievable greatness! 

 

And it is also true happiness, a completely pure happiness, because of which Aharon Hacohen merited to carry the sparkling Choshen (breastplate) on his heart. 

 

We have another example of this in David Hamelech a”h, who says: “You have placed gladness in my heart from the time their grain and wine have increased.” He was not glad about his own abundance, but about the fact that another Jew had abundance and enjoyed success! 

 

Unending Happiness 

Therefore, the first piece of advice regarding happiness arising from all this is to be happy in the happiness of our fellow Jews. Baruch Hashem, there are many simchas (happy occasions) among Jews. We have to think about this and feel happiness and satisfaction upon any Jew enjoying joy, success, or salvation. 

 

But the greatest level, truthfully, is to be happy when a fellow Jew succeeds spiritually. As Rabbi Nachman said in one of his most amazing and incredible talks: “When a person is at the level that he is satisfied and wants and desires very much that his friend will be a kosher and righteous person, even though he himself won’t be, chas veshalom, that is a very high level.” 

 

You see another Jew who manages to pray with kavanna (concentration), to learn diligently, to raise fine children and the like – and you are truly happy for him. You don’t know what a wonderful happiness that is! That is the advice for how to achieve a real, inner simcha (happiness), that is favored by Hashem. And it is an infinite simcha, because there is no end to the good things and simchas and the successes of the Jewish People, and you will always have more and more reasons to be happy. 

 

Some Good Advice  

But there is another idea, a deeper one, that can promote your being truly happy for someone else, for to be truly happy for someone else is no easy thing. How can one merit it? 

 

Let’s take another look at the words of the Tiferet Shlomo: “what a person prays for his fellow and is glad and joyous when he has his salvation…”. When you look in the source itself you can see that is speaking about simcha, so why is he mentioning the matter of tefilla – prayer – here? 

 

But it is understood from his words that the way to reach true simcha when faced with the good his fellow Jew has is only by way of praying for the Jewish People. Because whoever really cares and feels responsible for his fellow Jew, and takes it on as real personal obligation – the simcha of his friend is a really personal simcha for him too.  

 

The Tiferet Shlomo also emphasizes that we are not talking about random prayers here and there, but about a person who feels obligated and views the refraining from prayer for the nation as a great sin. And therefore, he decides to institute for himself a daily prayer for the success of all Jews. Only a person like that, who yearns for the good of all Jews and awaits it, and prays for all Jews – only he can really be happy in the success of someone else! 

 

The Root of Simcha 

So we can learn from this that prayer for Am Yisrael – the Jewish People – is not only an obligation, and not only the best advice on how to achieve personal success in serving Hashem, and it is not only the greatest source of pleasure for the Holy One, Blessed be He – as we have already written at length in many articles – but it is the best advice leading to true happiness. 

 

Our sages say that when someone separates himself from the community when they are in trouble and does not pray with them at that time – the two angels that accompany him tap him on the head and tell him: “He who did not feel the suffering of the community, will not see in the consolation of the community.” This is, of course, a terrible and frightening curse. But according to what we have written here, it is also a natural result, because if you do not feel any obligation regarding the community, and you don’t feel their troubles are your troubles as well, clearly you will also not feel any joy when salvation comes to the community, because the simcha, too, will not touch you. 

 

Light and Gladness 

The Tiferet Shlomo explains according to this the passuk that is part of the consoling prophesies about the future: “Then the redeemed of Hashem will return and come to Tzion with glad song, with simchat olam – eternal gladness – upon their head.” What is “eternal gladness”? Says the Rebbe: “That the simcha of the entire world when others are having it good – is on their head.” 

 

Every simcha in this world is limited. Only the simcha at the End of Days is an eternal, never-ending simcha. And why? Because in this world a person is happy about his own happiness. This is the happiness of one person only, and even that is not constant. But whoever manages to be glad about the happiness of the entire Jewish People, is glad at every moment, feeling the happiness of the entire world! This is already an immense, unlimited simcha, and it gets renewed every moment.  

 

The light of Purim is the light of simcha. Not a momentary simcha, and not a happiness of dissipation, and not even a private spiritual happiness. It is the simcha of all Jews together: “The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.” Whoever merits to pray much for am Yisrael and feel the great responsibility that is placed upon us, especially during these days, and takes upon himself a commitment to pray for Am Yisrael, he is the one who will reach Purim feeling great and enormous joy – simchat olam – upon his head!