A man is dancing at the wedding of his only child. He's a good dancer, but never before, and never again in his lifetime, will his dancing attain the grace and expressiveness it now displays. In fact, all his talents, capabilities and qualities are currently at their zenith: his mind is at its keenest, his loves and his hates are at their most passionate; put a brush in his hand, and he'll paint you a picture which exacts the utmost of his artistic potential.
The Chassidic masters use this parable to demonstrate their definition of "joy": Joy is revelation. Joy unearths latent potentials no one even knew existed and amplifies revealed potentials to levels no one ever thought possible. Joy is an effusion of self that spills over to places and achievements far beyond the soul's natural horizons.
Let's explore the dynamics of joy though this selection of 17 insights, stories, personal voices, meditations, readings—and a collection of recordings of joyous chassidic niggunim (melodies):
Insights:
How Can I Be Happy?
by Aron Moss
Four Reasons to be Happy
by Yanki Tauber
The Dancing Jews
by Eliezer Steinman
Meditations on Joy
by Tzvi Freeman
Learning to Laugh
by Yanki Tauber
Good Thinking
by Yanki Tauber
Stories:
Voices:
The Women's Balcony
by Sarah Shapiro
Sitting in a Café
by Jay Litvin
The Most Joyous Pain
by Sara Esther Crispe
Readings:
Rabbi Scneur Zalman of Liadi on Sadness and Joy
From chapter 26 of Tanya
The Chassidic Masters on Joy
From "The Key to Kabbalah" by Nissan Dovid Dubov
Recordings:
Seven joyous niggunim (chassidic melodies) sung by Avraham Fried:
Niggun Simcha,
Niggun Simcha 1,
Niggun Simcha 2,
Niggun Simcha I,
Niggun Simcha II,
Niggun Simcha III,
Niggun Simcha IV
To be Happy is to be Human
an audio class by Manis Friedman
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