If simchah is not a goal in this world, so why does it say in the Torah, in the tochocho, that whatever will happen is because you didn't serve Hashem with simcah?
ANSWER:
Now look at these words that you yourself quoted, tachas asher lo avadata es Hashem Elokecha b'simchah, you didn't serve Him with simchah. It's talking about serving with simchah. So simchah is not the goal, it's the serving Him, the simchah in the service. When you're happy when you're serving Hashem, that shows that your heart is in it. Tachas asher lo avadata es Hashem Elokecha b'simchah, now there's another meaning to that pasuk, if we have time I'll soon explain. But first the way you quoted, because you didn't serve Hashem with simchah. Serving with simchah demonstrates that your heart is in it.
Let's say you ask your boy to go to the grocery store for you, and he goes. He goes with a heavy heart, he drags his feet, it's like he has shoes made of lead; his heart is not in it. But if he skips down the stairs, it shows he's happy to do the mitzvah of kibud av v'eim. Therefore the simchah demonstrates how you love the mitzvah, how you love Hashem.
There's another meaning there, an entirely different meaning and both are true. Because you didn't serve Hashem when you were living in simchah; when you had everything. In the time of simchah, a man should be grateful, and demonstrate his gratitude by serving Hashem. When I gave you everything, I gave yousimchah, u'btuv leivov mierov kol, why don't you serve Me? That's the meaning of that pasuk in the second aspect. So we'll sum up the two meanings.
One meaning is why didn't you serve me with the simchah? To demonstrate how happy you were. Like when King David was going to the beis hakneses, he's going to the synagogue, he was happy. Somachti b'omrim li beis Hashem neileich, I was happy when he said let's go to the house of Hashem. When he heard these words, he was full of joy; that's where he wants to go!
When a man opens the Gemara in the Yeshivah and the first thing in the morning, he gives a big yawn, thatshows that he's not happy. Nobody yawns when he's happy, it's his duty to come and learn. But when a man comes in with fire, with enthusiasm, this is his place of success, then that's serving with simchah.
The other meaning is, when things are going well, when you're still healthy, when you're still young, or when there's still peace in the world, when you're still a citizen of your country and you're not persecuted and harried, when everything is going smoothly, then you have to serve Hashem in gratitude for that simchah.
And both meanings are true.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures. To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Important Numbers
