Living Torah Archives

Chasidism places much emphasis on serving G-d with joy. In truth, this is not something that a Jew must search too far to find. It is a natural expression of the awareness of G-d in all facets of life, and of the Jew’s recognition of what lies within him.

As a young boy, Baruch Wilhelm suffered an accident causing damage to his ears, and requested the Rebbe’s blessing to regain his hearing. While he may not have received what he was hoping for, he received was a deep and impactful lesson to apply throughout his life. (1980)

King David writes, “Serve G-d with joy.” Our study of Torah, our Jewish intellectual life, our acts of kindness, and our Jewish communal life, must all be infused with joy.

“Rabbi Moshe Isserles writes in his glosses to the Code of Jewish Law: ‘One who has a cheerful heart is always feasting.’ Be an example to your students of how a Jew is always rejoicing with his good fortune to be Jewish.”

In a letter to one of his disciples, Maimonides describes the taxing daily schedule he endured as court physician to the sultan of Egypt. It not only drained him to the point of exhaustion, it also left him nearly no time to pursue the true joy of his life: Torah study.

The importance of joy in one’s life and in one’s G-dly service is central to Chassidic teaching. In one of his private meetings with the Rebbe (in 1961), Mr. Bentzion Bernstein asked how such joy was humanly possible.

All of Torah and Mitzvos must be done joyously. Maimonides writes that a Jew must strive to emulate King David, who literally “hopped and danced before the L-rd.”