In Parshat Va'era, deep messages are revealed regarding Emunah (faith), Simcha (joy), and our constant connection with the Creator of the world. Even when everything seems difficult, the Torah teaches us that through joy, one can sweeten the judgments and merit salvation. This article by Rabbi Menachem Azulai shlit"a (may he live long and good days) seeks to deepen our understanding of the meaning of joy in the service of Hashem and how it accompanies us through daily struggles.

"And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by My name Hashem I was not known to them" (Exodus 6:3). The name El Shaddai implies that there is enough (dai) in His Godliness for every single creature (The Arizal zt"l).

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

The Power of Joy: A Deep Message from Parshat Va'era

Through Simcha (joy), it is possible to merit salvation and sweeten all the judgments in the world. One must learn to live in the present, to stop thinking about what was and what will be, and to stop worrying about the past and the future. "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion"—happy in every moment, happy in every second.

Joy as a Key to Salvation

The test of a Jew is to be in joy always. Life consists of trials, ups and downs; it is a war that does not end until the final moment, and one must constantly strengthen oneself in joy. The essence of strengthening oneself in joy is specifically during the time of a descent (yerida), during the trial, by believing that he will emerge from the descent—that this very descent will yet turn into a wonderful ascent, and he will merit to draw a little closer to Hashem and taste a new flavor in the service of Hashem. This is a taste that Hashem gives to those who strengthen themselves during a descent and believe that everything will yet turn over for the good.

The Rav (Rabbi Berland shlit"a): ["When Moshe Rabbeinu arrived in Egypt and said, 'Gentlemen, Hashem has appeared to me! Redemption (Geulah) is about to happen, start to rejoice, start to sing, start to play music, the time has come for dancing, songs, bring orchestras, bring violins, bring flutes, start singing about the news of the Redemption,' 'but they did not listen to Moses because of shortness of breath and hard labor.' The Noam Elimelech zt"l says this was the argument between Moshe and the Tzaddikim of that generation. Moshe said: stop the fasts and the sigufim (self-afflictions), stop the hard labors, start to rejoice, sing, and play music. If you want to fast, fast, but that will not bring the Redemption. With fasts and self-afflictions, the Redemption is not brought closer; the Redemption will arrive only with joy! They said to him—'What? Are you suggesting a new path in the service of Hashem? You want to take away our fasts and self-afflictions after we have already been fasting for years upon years?' They did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard labor; they were unable to shake off the despair, to believe what Moshe said—that only joy would subdue the kelipah (husk/evil force), only joy would bring the Redemption. Regarding this, our holy Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman, Torah 86, Part II) said that because they lack perfection in Emunah (faith), they tend toward self-afflictions and fasts."] (End of quote from The Rav).

A person's entire work is to rejoice with all their strength, with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice), to say constantly "everything is for the best," to thank Hashem for every step and every breath. Do not wait for a trouble to arrive and then, when released from it, feel obligated to thank Hashem. For if you rejoice and sing to Hashem and thank Him now, then troubles will not even arrive.

The essence of the work is not to be in sadness for even a single second. You merited to be a Jew—rejoice! You merited to keep Shabbat—rejoice! Hashem created you for His glory, Hashem loves you, Hashem will never leave you—rejoice!

When a person goes to perform a Mitzvah (commandment), he needs to know that he is going to do something very great and precious. Every Mitzvah, every effort to do the will of Hashem, shines in the heavens with a precious light. Mitzvos connect us with the Creator of the world, and the primary connection with the Creator is joy. The more you rejoice in the Mitzvah, the more it connects you with the Creator.

Emunah and Simcha go together. We need to bring more Emunah (faith) into our lives; only this will take us out of sadness and these falls. A person, from the moment he is born until his final day, has all sorts of plans throughout life, and his plans do not always succeed; his desires are not always realized. We don't know who to be angry at and we forget that there is actually Someone who directs the entire creation. So true, what we received is not exactly what we wanted. But who said it isn't exactly what is needed? Who said that what we want is what is necessary? Perhaps what we want is one thing and what is necessary is another? If things aren't going your way, continue to want, to long, to pray until you build the vessels, and then you will be able to receive. In the meantime, rejoice! Do not blame yourself or anyone else. Remember that everything is from Hashem and that this is what is best for you for now.

Our business card in this world is our joy. Because our joy reflects how close we are to Hashem and how much we believe in Him. For if you are in sadness, it is as if you are saying there is no G-d in the world, Heaven forbid. A person might be chased away, removed, or not accepted, but you have not been chased away from Hashem—flee to Hashem.

Joy as a Test of Emunah and Closeness to Hashem

Our mission in this world is to remain in joy in every situation. Did I commit a sin, Heaven forbid? I will not let the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) knock me down into sadness. Absolutely not! I will do Teshuvah (repentance), I will ask Hashem for forgiveness, I will ask Him to help me never fall into this sin again, and I will continue with joy. One of the most important things is to believe with complete Emunah that Hashem loves me with an infinite love. When I truly believe this, I look at everything with slightly different eyes. For if Hashem loves me so much, then what is happening to me now cannot be bad. When one accepts these difficult times with love, one merits a special closeness. Specifically then, we can prove how faithful we are to Hashem and how much we exert ourselves to find the way to reconnect to Him anew.

Remaining in Joy Even in Difficult Times

I don't have everything, but I have a lot. All in all, I received a rather nice package. I try to rejoice in every small thing, even in a tiny fraction of a thing. Every good movement, every shift—even the slightest—from bad to good is very precious to Hashem Yitbarach.

The Meaning of Joy: Our Portion in This World

Hashem loves it when we are happy with our portion. What is "our portion"? It is everything required for us to complete our role in the world. Every soul was given talents and other heavenly gifts according to what it needs to do here in the world. One received much money to deal with the test of wealth, and the second, who already dealt with that test in a previous incarnation (gilgul), comes now to the world specifically to deal with the test of poverty. Everyone receives exactly what is necessary for their tikkun (rectification). A person needs to rejoice even in what is not going well for him, even in what he lacks—all of this is called "his portion."

And when we contemplate "our portion" a bit, we see how impressive it is, how many thousands of kindnesses and favors we receive from the Holy One, Blessed be He, moment by moment. We were given a mouth so as not to stop thanking the Holy One, Blessed be He, for all the kindness He showers upon us, for all the good desires He gives us—because desire is joy. When can a person reach true joy? When he wants, not when he acts out of coercion. When he wants, when he loves, then he suddenly feels the joy.

With joy, everything can be arranged. If a person dances and sings to Hashem, then all the abundance (shefa) comes to him. With joy, one merits to turn a descent into an ascent, to sweeten all judgments, and to heal all illnesses. "Do you have children? Start to dance and rejoice. Do you not yet have children? In the merit of joy and dancing, you will have children. Do you not yet have a shidduch (marriage match)? In the merit of joy, you will have a shidduch" (The Rav). Did you fail and commit a sin, Heaven forbid? You must not fall in your own estimation; do Teshuvah and continue to rejoice, because the most dangerous thing is sadness. See what a great Yetzer Hara you were given, see what you deal with every day, see how you overcome and perform Mitzvos in this difficult situation—therefore, it is fitting that you should rejoice more and more.

My whole focus is to maintain the connection. This will make me happier than anything else. Even if we have all sorts of other pleasures—for we are not among those who live in total withdrawal from the world—deep inside, we know the truth: that the greatest pleasure is when we love Hashem and remember how much Hashem loves us. With what expressions of affection the Creator promises us in this Parsha that He will redeem us, that He will not forget us: "And I will bring you out," "and I will save you," "and I will redeem you," "and I will take you"... A father cannot disconnect from his children, even if they have fallen to wherever they have fallen, even if they reached the sheol tachtis (lowest depths). It is in nature; there isn't even a choice here. A father will turn the world over for his children. And the more they are in darkness, the more Hashem has mercy and brings down more light—not because of their merits, but because of His mercy, may He be blessed.

There are things we do not understand. In the previous Parsha, Moshe and Aharon come to Pharaoh on their mission and demand: "Let My people go!" And instead of things getting better, they became worse. No more straw is provided; go and gather straw yourselves, but there are no discounts—the same quantity you produced before, you must produce now. And the Parsha ends with the piercing question of Moshe Rabbeinu: "Why have You dealt ill with this people?" (Exodus 5:22). Since I came, it has only become worse. It is hard to see their terrible suffering. The answer can be found at the opening of our Parsha: "And I appeared to Abraham... but My name Hashem I was not known to them" (6:3).

There is also the aspect of "I was not known to them." The holy Patriarchs (Avos) did not merit a clear revelation like Moshe had, and yet they had no questions. With closed eyes, they marched after the voice of Hashem, in Emunah and trust. "One who has Emunah," says our holy Rebbe (Sichos HaRan 53), "his life is a true life, and he spends the days of his life always in goodness. But one who has no Emunah, Heaven forbid, his life is not a life, because as soon as any evil passes over him, he no longer has any vitality at all, since he has nothing to comfort himself with, as he walks without the Blessed Hashem and without Divine Providence, may the Merciful One save us."

Pharaoh receives such heavy blows and yet he is stubborn, unwilling to admit that the hand of Hashem is in the matter. And what about us? To what extent do we truly believe that everything that happens to us is from Hashem? We receive "small blows"—I dropped something, something broke, I lost something—it is all with mercy, all to remind us that there is a Leader in the palace and that everything exists by His word. And if we do not wake up from the small blows, we invite upon ourselves larger blows, Heaven forbid.

One must constantly strengthen oneself in the Emunah that there is no "nature." What we call nature is entirely the result of the Creator's will. And when He wills it, nature changes.

The Power of Prayer and Faith in a Changing Nature

A Jew walks with prayers; he can change the laws of nature because prayer connects him to the One who pulls the strings of nature. All the plagues of Egypt come to strengthen us in this Emunah: "And you shall know that I am Hashem." And where there is Emunah, there is Simcha.

["A person needs to be in joy, every moment, and all his life. Joy is an aspect of the revelation of Emunah. If a person is in joy, it is a sign that he believes. If for one moment he is not in joy, it is a sign that at that moment he is disconnected. A person's entire work in this world is either connection or disconnection. A person suddenly sees that he is sad—this should be a sign to him that he is not connected. Then he hurries to connect: 'Hashem, Hashem, I love You, Hashem I know that this world is all You, that there is nothing else here. I have now received this trial and the other received that trial, and I have nothing to complain about regarding my trials because ultimately the goal here is to connect, so I connect through my Divine mission here in the world. With my data, with these difficult character traits that I have, with this suffering from this neighbor, with these parents, with this secular family that is difficult for me, to whom I must also give honor because one must give honor, and on the other hand they can destroy my whole home—and how do I manage all this, which is terribly hard? And in general, for Ba'alei Teshuvah (returnees to faith) it is very, very hard. And do not think there is a person for whom it is not hard, because if it weren't hard, why did he come to the world? For the whole world is struggle, struggle, struggle with more and more difficulties. But, I am not alone. I am not alone, there is Hashem. So if suddenly I feel bad, I lift my head to the heavens."] (From Be'or Pnei Melech).

Joy is the sign that we are connected with Hashem. A person cannot say he is happy when he is not connected with Hashem; joy without connection is mere revelry, jokes, nonsense, and wild behavior. But if he is truly happy, it is proof that he is connected with Hashem.

Joy as the Final Station in Connection with Hashem

One must practice mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice) for joy. The greatest obstacles in the world are against joy. The nature of a human being is to be in sadness. That is the nature—it comes from the dust (earth) not to be in joy. A person goes through insults, humiliations—'they did this to me, they did that to me'—all sorts of adventures of the body and soul. But with joy, everything can be arranged. A person dances and sings to Hashem, everything passes, everything works out. Because joy is connection to Hashem.

Joy – The Essence of Jewish Life

A Jew who rejoices in his Judaism is the happiest creature on earth. A Jew does not need to waste a vast fortune in futile efforts to achieve an imaginary joy as is the custom of the world. A Jew draws his joy from the connection with Hashem, from the knowledge that he serves the glory of a high and exalted King, the King of kings, together with the clear Emunah that everything that passes over him is all for the best. These give birth within the soul to a true joy, which is the essence of life.