At the end of Parashat Re’eh ( 16,11)
It says, “A person, on the holiday, has to be happy in front of Hashem his God. You, your son, your daughter, your male and female servants, the Leviim( which today is the rabbis) the convert, the orphan and the widow….”
As we have said in the past, Rashi says that Hashem says My four correspond to your four… Your four are your son, daughter, your male and female servant.
And God says, “If you make My four happy, I’ll make your four happy.” It’s a guarantee from God: If you want to be happy on the holiday you have to take care of God’s four, and He will make sure that yours are happy.
Rav Chaim Palagi says that he has seen many people who were not happy on holidays, although they had all the money they needed. He says that he sent them this Rashi, to show them that you need to make sure other people are happy.
Aside from being a general rule, it’s specifically connected to the Seder night.
This thought was a gift that Hashem sent me this year:
As we should all know, Maggid is based on the four pesukim that we read in Bikurim. In Devarim chapter 26, pasuk ה, it says,”With Bikurim in hand, say in out loud., in front of Hashem your God….” And it goes through the four pesukim that we read at the Seder. Then, at the end, in the Bikurim statement, it says, “Now I have brought the Bikurim, and I have placed it in front of my God and I am bowing down….”
Then Hashem gives an additional command: “And you shall enjoy, together with the family, all the bounty…”
It’s not enough to just walk in with the Bikurim and make the proclamation. You have to come out full of happiness and gratitude. This is also part of the Seder. Then, at the end of that Bikurim statement, it says
You, the Levi and the convert… ( if anyone can look up why the orphan and widow aren’t listed here as well, please get back to me) After the discussion of Bikurim, there is something called Viddui Ma’aser, when you make a confession that you’ve done everything right with your tithes. And I noticed this year that it says “ I gave to the Levi, the convert, the orphan and the widow. I did everything you told me to do.”
Rashi says that this means I am happy and I made others happy. The Sfat Emet says that this is all God wants us to do. That’s the whole story. The whole Torah is, you be happy and make others happy.
That is our story.
It’s the story of Ahavat Yisrael, it’s the story of Yom Tov, and it’s the story of Lev Chana- we are trying to make ourselves happy, and make other people happy at the same time.
The clock is ticking. The money has been spent. After the holiday, the stores send in their bills and we have to cover them.
There is song about this concept of, If you make mine happy, I’ll make yours happy…
Sing it over Chol Hamoed. Because the more you believe in it, the more it works.. Ask yourself, “What can I do for my family and children to make them happy?”
We can make others happy.
That’s why I like to say I sell happiness insurance. We never really want to use our insurance. We don’t want to go to the hospital has v’shalom, and we don’t want our cars to be smashed. People take out warrantees that they hope they never need.
Well, this is happiness insurance.
Take out a big, wraparound holiday policy.
B’ezrat Hashem, we should all have happiness for ourselves and others.
Amen.