BS’D
Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated L’iluy nishmat Machluf ben Chaim z’l. May his neshama bask in the Divine radiance together with all of the righteous who have departed from this world, Amen.
So good to be back! Thank you for your tefillot. I feel tremendous Hakarat Hatov to all of you who care, wrote and cheered me on through my medical challenges. Thank you Hashem for healing me through another relapse. May we all continue to serve you faithfully with Emuna shleimah, Amen.
On Purim we can reach the highest of highs in our spirituality; a place beyond intellect and reason. This state is defined as “ad d’lo yada (a state in the realm of our mind where we cannot distinguish reasonably between ‘Blessed is Mordechai and cursed is Haman.’) Our holy Sages ask how does this state of mind contribute to one’s happiness?
The Vilna HaGaon ztk’l brings a remarkable answer based on the teaching in Pirkei Avot (4:1), “HaSamaech b’Chelcko (Who is happy? The one who is content with their lot in life.)” The Gaon lists HaSamaech b’Chelcko as one of Hashem’s attributes. How can this apply to the Master of the Universe? We understand it to refer to a person who lacks certain things in life, yet is not satisfied? But Borei HaOlam?
The Chofetz Chaim ztk’l illuminates this teaching but referring to Hashem’s ‘contentment with His lot’ as Hashem being happy with His people, the Jewish nation. In spite of our lowliness, Hashem is ‘happy’ with his creation. Hashem is happy with every creature since each one contributes to His world in their own special way and plays an integral part in His Divine scheme.
We are meant to emulate this joy in our personal lives. How? By being happy and content if for no other reason other than being aware how vital we are in Hashem’s Divine master plan. We are to celebrate every small achievement we make in life; whether we see it as minuscule or grandiose. It doesn’t need to make any sense to me how I am ‘making a difference’ in this world, yet I should be happy knowing I am.
Inner joy surfaces when we see ourselves growing spiritually and feel we are contributing to this world. Samaech is closely related to the Hebrew word Tzmicha (growing, sprouting) since we experience the most joy when we actively work through our emotions and develop our G-dly selves.
We are on the road of life. Joy comes from knowing we are traveling faithfully on the right track and are continuously searching for new accomplishments to reach in life.
