Mitzvah gedolah lihyot be-simchah tamid <\/em>\u2013 \u201cIt is a great Mitzvah (a Divine Commandment, a religious duty) to be happy \u2013 always!\u201d Is constant happiness possible\u2026 or even a desirable goal? There are times when other emotional responses are more appropriate\u2026 indeed, inescapable.<\/p>\nWe 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\u2019t regret at missed opportunities, and remorse at personal failures, integral aspects of the human moral load\u2026 essential to spiritual growth and human refinement? Might constant happiness \u2013 at times \u2013 be morally irresponsible?!<\/p>\n
Celebrated Jewish communal leader and educational pioneer, Rabbi Joseph Lookstein, wrote that \u201cHappiness is the dividend that one receives from the investment he makes in the well-being of others.\u201d 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 \u201cGreat Mitzvah\u201d is to seek personal satisfaction and happiness by constantly considering the needs and feelings of those around us\u2026 and effectively acting to improve their lot. Always!<\/p>\n
(Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.)<\/em><\/p>\n
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