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What’s the Deeper Connection between a Gragger and a Smiley Face?

· Purim,CR Weissfish

One morning in Yerushalayim, R’ Eliyahu Roth approached someone before Shacharis and offered him a deal: “I’ll give you $50 for your mitzvah of putting on tefillin this morning.” When his offer wasn’t accepted, he went up to a hundred and even two hundred dollars yet the man refused and answered, “Even for $20,000,000 I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing!!!”

Asked R’ Eliyahu, “If so, the question that screams out from between your words is: why doesn’t your face show that expression and delight of someone who just won $20,000,000?!!!

Now let’s try and translate this into our language:

I was once knocking on someone’s door in the middle of the morning, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed with admiration (and even envy) to hear her singing with her children. She sang with so much joy and enthusiasm – it sounded like such a happy atmosphere, and even though those kinderlach were young and just about joining in, I was amazed how she continued on and on full of spirit! The ideal picture-perfect home of my dreams!!!

How on earth is she able to do this? I wondered from the depths of my heart. How I wish I could also…

Suddenly the door opened and abruptly put an end to my floating dreams. I saw the complete picture which revealed the truth: A lady who was employed by this playgroup to come in once a week to entertain and sing with these children!!! She was paid to do this job and that’s what gave her the great motivation!

As I walked back home, it suddenly dawned on me that my problem is that I’m just not aware of the immeasurable reward I can be deserving of, plus the huge amount of nachas I can give Hashem through simply being a happy wife and mother, shining rays of simcha to my family on a daily basis… As David Hamelech says in Tehilim: שש אנכי על אמרתיך כמוצא שלל רב

Reb Noson says in Likutei Halachos: פקודי ה' ישרים משמחי לב – mitzvos bring simcha and whoever believes in Hashem with temimus like Yidden do, there’s no simcha in the world for him like the simcha of being able to bring nachas to our Creator.

This is something that everyone can understand, that there’s no lasting happiness in this world because as much money as someone makes, he ends up without it, כי לא במותו יקח הכל everyone knows that there comes a time when our life in this world ends.

That’s the reason why philosophers have no true happiness as their sad faces show us so clearly – they are constantly full of worries because from where should they get חיות ושמחה if they are כופר in the Torah? How we must thank Hashem that He in His great mercy separated us from the goyim אשרינו מה טוב חלקנו שהבדלנו מן התועים ונתן לנו תורת אמת. How we must be full of joy to be zoiche to do mitzvos which are so pleasant, as it says, דרכיה דרכי נועם and through that simcha the Shechina comes out of galus.

We create happiness by making those around us happy – the more moments of simcha you create, the happier you will be!

If we would only open our eyes and hearts to appreciate the great merits we have as Yiddishe mothers employed by the מלך מלכי המלכים alone to look after His heilige kinderlach, the atmosphere in our homes would improve drastically. Instead of a long, boring afternoon facing us to play with our kids and wishing the clock would go round faster and make it bedtime already… we could savor the opportunity to sit and have fun playing together, teaching them to be מוותר and how to be happy in every situation, even when you lose the game. We could look deeply into each child’s eyes and understand the messages that they are trying to portray, and inject each of them with the exact dosage of love and encouragement they so desire and require in order to bring out their full potential in their lives.

Happy times make the deepest impression on your child. Close your eyes and take note of which childhood scenes float by in your memory, bringing a warm smile to your face… there’s bound to be happy occasions amongst them like Simchas Torah, Chanuka Lecht, Lag B’omer in Meron. (That’s actually one of the reasons of making chalaka in Meron, so that the child feels how everyone joins in his great simcha of getting peyos and that gives him a deeper connection with this mitzvah for his entire life.)

If you really want to make the best investment in your chinuch, see to do it happily. Make the effort to show your children your own simcha to do mitzvos and put in your utmost to help create a happy setting around their mitzvos because like that it will last, and give them a solid foundation for life.

Which families remained frum in the USA when the concept of working on Shabbos threatened to drown all the immigrants from Europe as soon as they stepped foot on American soil?...

Those who managed to keep Shabbos with simcha!!!

Unfortunately, there were so many who even though they didn’t go to work on Shabbos, were not zoiche to yiddishe nachas because their mesirus nefesh was done bitterly… The power and ripple effects of simcha affects not just you yourself now, but generations to come!

(Haman was so jealous of Mordechai Hatzaddik and the Yidden when he say how strong they were to do mitzvos with great simcha and mesirus nefesh, that he literally wanted to destroy them from this world חו! That’s why davka on Purim – the time when Haman was defeated we have this mitzvah of simcha because simcha is the weapon against Amalek. Therefore we have all types of ways to reach simchas Purim, through dancing and singing, becoming shikkur…)

The Rebbe speaks a lot about the power of simcha, that through ריקודין והמחאת כף (dancing and handclapping) there is המתקת הדינים (yeshuos). We are supposed to know that even though the Rebbe’s words are extremely deep and we cannot grasp their secrets, they’re not meant just for big tzaddikim but apply to every Yid to accept בתמימות ופשיטות on their level.

A clear example of this can be seen from the following recent true story:

A little girl was wheeled into the operating theatre for a long, complicated operation. Outside the big steel double doors, the place where parents’ hearts melt completely, tears pouring down their faces and the minutes feel like eternity until the surgeon makes his return appearance, a totally different scene was taking place. A small circle of men, made up of fathers and relatives of this sick girl, were holding hands and dancing!!!

Yes, as unbelievable as this may sound, these precious Yidden rose above their nisyonos and reached the level of practicing the Rebbe’s teachings למעשה! As they danced with closed eyes and tefillos on their lips, the surgeon operated and after several hours, he came out and announced that it was successful Baruch Hashem! על ידי ריקודין והמחאת כף there came about המתקת הדינים!

The Rebbe tells us to force ourselves with all our might to be happy at all times, because by nature we tend to get pulled down into depression. As the Yiddishe song goes:

"וואו מען איז

ווי אזוי מען איז,

מצוה גדולה

להיות בשמחה..."

Wherever one is, however one is, it’s a mitzvah to be happy.

He explains that the way to achieve this is through מילי דשטותא. That’s why Tzaddikim had badchanim who did all types of things to bring them to simcha. And even the Tannaim and Amaroim used to make jokes before they taught their talmidim to bring them to simcha, because there’s nothing that disturbs our avodas Hashem as much as depression.

We must continually remind ourselves that the source of our neshamos is simcha, because the Shechina is called שמחתן של ישראל and our neshamos are a חלק אלקי ממעל. Therefore, we should aim and strive to reach true simcha in our lives.

Are you looking for expert professional מילתא דשטותא therapy?

Pick up a baby and give them a little throw in the air and catch them, and hear the giggles. Or sit a young child on your lap and just leave the job to them… They’ll already manage to get a true smile on your face, no matter now down your feeling. Learn the ricks of the trade from them! Forget about all your sophisticated problems and just listen to their childish pure sense of humor. Smile with joy and laugh along with them, enjoying the bliss of a happy, serene life.

The secret key to reaching simcha and חשק every day is right here within our reach now at this time of the year. As the Rebbe says, ‘Through working on ourselves to be b’simcha on Purim, one merits to bring down the light of Mordechai and Esther’ i.e. to awaken in ourselves a tremendous desire to want to do mitzvos and fulfil Hashem’s will!!

What can we want more than this???

So let’s pour forth a heartfelt Tefila:

 הצילני מקליפת המן עמלק

Please Hashem, save me from the thoughts of philosophers like Haman which lead to depression,

וזכיני לקדושת מרדכי ואסתר

Let me be zoiche to Kedusha which is simcha, to be happy with Hashem, and always remember that על ידי בטחון בא שמחה

Guide me along the right tracks to be crystal clear about my tachlis in this world and reach אין שמחה כהתרת הספיקות and give me ס"ד to know exactly which keys to play in order to produce the most beautiful notes of harmony to enhance my own personal song of joy in my life and in the lives of those around me.