"For You Shall Go Out with Joy" - Words of the Esteemed Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - Very Relevant

"But they did not listen to Moses because of shortness of breath and hard labor" (Exodus 6:9) -

(Transcription from a lesson by Rabbi Eliezer Berland)

Moshe Rabbeinu came to Egypt and said, "My friends, Hashem has revealed Himself to me! A redemption is about to happen! Start rejoicing! Start singing! Start playing music! The time has come to dance! Songs! Bring orchestras! Bring violins! Bring flutes! Start singing about the news of redemption." "But they did not listen to Moses because of shortness of breath and hard labor," says our Rebbe (in Likutei Moharan Torah 86), "They are of little faith, in the aspect of shortness of breath... because they are of little faith, they need hard labors and fasts." Those who are in the aspect of "shortness of breath," lacking complete faith, tend towards self-affliction and fasting.

The "Noam Elimelech" says this was the argument between Moshe and the tzaddikim of that generation. Moshe said, "Stop with the fasts and self-afflictions! Stop with the hard labors! Now the work is to start dancing, rejoicing, singing, playing music." Indeed, from the beginning of the enslavement, the people of Israel did not remain silent, the tzaddikim did not remain silent, the tzaddikim fasted, cried, and sat on the ground. They saw every day children being thrown into the Nile, every day children being slaughtered, every day children being placed within the walls, every day Pharaoh bathing in the blood of infants, no one was silent, everyone fasted, cried, and afflicted themselves to bring the redemption. Moshe came and said to them, "My friends, this is not the way!! If you want to fast, fast! But it will not bring the redemption, with fasts and self-afflictions you do not bring the redemption closer, the redemption will come only with joy!" They said to him, "What!? You are proposing a new way in serving Hashem? You want to take away from us the work of fasting!? The work of self-afflictions!? After we have already been fasting for years upon years, fasting and afflicting ourselves." "But they did not listen to Moses because of shortness of breath and hard labor," they did not listen to Moses because of shortness of breath, because of hard labor, because of despair, because of shortness of breath, because of hard labors, they were unable to shake off the despair, to believe in hope, to believe in redemption. . Moshe said the time has come to serve Hashem with joy, with immense joy, only joy will subdue the klipah, only joy will bring the redemption. The Noam Elimelech says that the tzaddikim who seek hard labors and fasts have a precious neshamah, not just any neshamah, but they do not see what the tzaddikim who are in the aspect of Moshe see, for the true tzaddik nullifies the judgments and decrees with utmost ease! He needs no effort! He needs no self-afflictions! No fasts! He nullifies the judgments with joy, with melodies and songs. The world is in error! A person thinks that to merit salvation, healing, to sweeten judgments, one needs hard labors, self-afflictions, fasts, etc... In fact, the Baal Shem Tov already completely nullified the matter of fasts and hard labors, and this is what our Rebbe says in Torah 86, "...because they are of little faith... because of this they need hard labors and fasts." Our Rebbe says that the world does not believe that one can merit salvation, livelihood, healing, to sweeten all the judgments in the world through melodies, through songs, through joy.