Today’s class has been sponsored for Refuah Shelemah Chaya Shefiah Shoshana bat Sarah and yeshuot for all am yisrael.
Yesterday we spoke about the phenomenon that in our religion, it is possible to have mixed emotions that do not clash. On one hand, a person can be in a state of mourning, but that state of mourning will actually bring him to happiness.
Likewise, a person can be sad over his sins, but that sadness can cause him to realize that G-d is the Forgiver, which can bring him to happiness.
Rabbenu Yonah points out another interesting phenomenon, which is that, in Torah, it’s possible to be afraid of someone and yet be happy (to be in his presence) at the same time.
Normally, if you’re afraid of a king, you would not happy in his presence, you’d want to avoid him. But once a person has Yirat Shamayim, he’s afraid of Hashem, then he’s happy that he felt afraid of Hashem, and he’s happy that he felt that connection. That fear brings him to happiness. Again, it is an interesting phenomenon.
The Sefat Emet tells us something very fascinating, regarding Yitzhak Avinu. Of the three Avot, Yitzhak was known for the middah of Gevurah- strength. Gibbur is strong, and fiery, scary. On the other hand, Avraham Avinu was known for the middah of kindness He was a man of kindness/an Ish Hessed. If you tried to visualize Avraham Avinu, you might picture a nice, warm, soft, kind man, like someone you know. I can picture great Gedolim like that. But, Yitzhak Avinu, is visualized of course, as a great man, but more of the fire-breathing type, we can call it, like many great people that we would be scared to be in the presence of. And again, I can think of some great Gedolim that were scary. They were great, kind, men, but it was scary to be in their presence. So, it would seem that Yitzhak Avinu was more of that type. There are different types and they are all great.
Yet the Sefat Emet points out that the root of the name Yitzhak is S’hok-which means laughter, and every name matches the person. So, this seems a little peculiar, that the name laughter matches Yitzhak Avinu. But, no, he says, it is not a question at all, because the only person who is truly happy is someone who fears only one force-
G-d.
Everyone has fears, worries, concerns and anxieties, and they are endless.
It is hard to be happy when you’re concerned and worried, and when you have doubts, that you don’t know how to deal with.
It’s says אין שמחה כהתרת הספקות, there is no happiness, like having your doubts clarified. When you don’t know what is going on, it’s hard to be happy. When you finally know, even if it is bad news, at least you know what is going on, so you’re happy. Because there is no other happiness like getting rid of doubt, worry and concern. Says the Sefat Emet, Yitzhak Avinu was only afraid of G-d. And when you are only afraid of G-d, and not of anything else, your מלא שמחה full of happiness.
If you looked at Yitzhak Avinu, he was always laughing and happy. Of course, if you saw Yitzhak Avinu when he was praying, you’d see him crying, begging, and pleading... but the rest of the day, he was full of happiness, because he feared Hashem. That brought him to his happiness. I do not want to mention any names because I don’t want to single out any one Rabbi but, I have, in my mind, the image of a certain great Rabbi, that epitomizes this concept. His Amidah was full of tears, but the rest of the day, he was giggling, because he had taken care of everything that needed to be taken care of. That is the great concept of bitachon.
I like to use a mashal to explain this: Every so often you get an offer to consolidate your debt. If you have a lot of debt spread out over different credit cards, why not consolidate, the ad says, put it all together and get a better rate.
Well, there’s another concept called Consolidate your Fears. Instead of being afraid of the economy, and your health, and your family’s welfare, of epidemics and pandemics, politics, and elections, or anything else... all of which makes life hard, consolidate your fears. Put them all together, and fear one force- G-d.
That fear will bring you to simcha. That’s what we will discuss this week- this phenomenon which shows up in our religion: these contradictory emotions don’t really contradict each other.
You can be mourning the Bet HaMikdash, which then causes you to celebrate for seven weeks thereafter. You can be sad over your sins on Yom Kippur, then celebrate on Succot afterwards. This is phenomenal concept! Look at our calendar, it is beautiful!
Three weeks of mourning, seven weeks of comfort. Ten high holiday days, then another fourteen or so with Simchat Torah and all the extras. There are a lot of days of simcha.
They do not just come one after the other. One causes the other. The mourning causes the comfort. The sadness or crying over our sins causes the simcha. G-d wants us to be happy after Yom Kippur. It’s Z’man Simchatenu-Time for Happiness. Jump right out of it! Do not stay in Kippur forever. We cannot bemoan our sins forever. We must pick ourselves up and continue on.
That is the beauty of our religion. There are no contradictions. Everything can be worked out and fit in.
BeEzrat Hashem, tomorrow we will continue with this beautiful concept.