Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav taught, Mitzvah gedolah lihyot be-simchah tamid – “It is a great Mitzvah (a Divine Commandment, a religious duty) to be happy – always!” Is constant happiness possible… or even a desirable goal? There are times when other emotional responses are more appropriate… indeed, inescapable.
We should feel outrage at injustice and acts of evil. We experience grief at personal loss. We properly demonstrate sympathy at the misfortune of others, and pain at the suffering of strangers. Our tradition demands we sincerely mourn the losses of Jewish history. Aren’t regret at missed opportunities, and remorse at personal failures, integral aspects of the human moral load… essential to spiritual growth and human refinement? Might constant happiness – at times – be morally irresponsible?!
Celebrated Jewish communal leader and educational pioneer, Rabbi Joseph Lookstein, wrote that “Happiness is the dividend that one receives from the investment he makes in the well-being of others.” Perhaps Rabbi Nachman is best understood from that perspective. We must not define what is right and good and holy merely as that which makes us happy: that would be hedonism! Rather, the “Great Mitzvah” is to seek personal satisfaction and happiness by constantly considering the needs and feelings of those around us… and effectively acting to improve their lot. Always!
(Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.)
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav taught, Mitzvah gedolah lihyot be-simchah tamid – “It is a great Mitzvah (a Divine Commandment, a religious duty) to be happy – always!” Is constant happiness possible… or even a desirable goal? There are times when other emotional responses are more appropriate… indeed, inescapable.