A Flavor called Simcha
I recently encountered a new approach to a favorite "Avodah Thoughts" topic; Simcha B'Mitzvos. Rav Aharon L. Steinman שליט"א, the guide and light of our generation, explained the centrality of joy in Mitzvos with an amazing mashal. When someone prepares an everyday meal they may or may not add spices to enhance the taste. However, it is unthinkable not to add flavoring to a special meal. The principle - for important things we don’t suffice with the basics rather we make sure they taste their best.
The same applies to Mitzvos. We may do them in a mundane and tasteless way or, realizing that they are the most important things we will ever do, we add the necessary spices to bring out their full flavor. Simcha, he claims, is the flavoring and if G-d's commands are central we ensure to add that all important ingredient.
Feel, for a moment, the truth of this mashal. Think about a mitzvah you recently did with joy. How vastly different was it from the same mitzvah without that Taam?
Three ideas emerge from Rav Aharon Leib's mashal:
One) Simcha B'Mitzvos is a sign. It signals how much we value the Mitzvos. Are they just a regular meal or something that deserves flavoring? If we suffice in doing them without joy this shows we are lacking in appreciation of their importance. We brought in an earlier "Avodah Thoughts" that the אריז"ל attributed his unfathomable madreiga to his overwhelming joy in every mitzvah he did. Rav Aharon Leib understands this in light of the above. If the Ari had such joy it was a clear sign of how much he valued and cared about each and every command of the Almighty and that’s what carried him to his most lofty place.
Two) Simcha is the flavoring.
Three) Here is the real chiddush. In the past, I saw Simcha B'Mitzvos as something that was highly worthwhile to add to our Mitzvos. The Rosh Yeshiva pushes us further. If we see Mitzvos as important we must work to do them joyfully ("with Taam") and if we have a lack of joy it is a sign that our whole perspective on them is amiss. Will we suffice with "tasteless" Mitzvos or go through the process of making them, so to speak, tasty by adding the magic ingredient?
Appreciation for Mitzvos affects our joy in them in two ways. One- The more we care the more we naturally find joy in them (as anyone finds joy in what he values). Two- as we have now learned, if we appreciate the Mitzvos we work to create the joy even when we aren’t naturally feeling it.
Certainly, every effort is immensely valuable. If we truly try to be joyous, even if at times it doesn’t bear fruit, Hashem Hatov will surely treasure those same efforts.
(Please send comments and questions to rdsvaad@gmail.com)
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I recently encountered a new approach to a favorite "Avodah Thoughts" topic; Simcha B'Mitzvos. Rav Aharon L. Steinman שליט"א, the guide and light of our generation, explained the centrality of joy in Mitzvos with an amazing mashal. When someone prepares an everyday meal they may or may not add spices to enhance the taste. However, it is unthinkable not to add flavoring to a special meal. The principle - for important things we don’t suffice with the basics rather we make sure they taste their best.
The same applies to Mitzvos. We may do them in a mundane and tasteless way or, realizing that they are the most important things we will ever do, we add the necessary spices to bring out their full flavor. Simcha, he claims, is the flavoring and if G-d's commands are central we ensure to add that all important ingredient.
Feel, for a moment, the truth of this mashal. Think about a mitzvah you recently did with joy. How vastly different was it from the same mitzvah without that Taam?
Three ideas emerge from Rav Aharon Leib's mashal:
One) Simcha B'Mitzvos is a sign. It signals how much we value the Mitzvos. Are they just a regular meal or something that deserves flavoring? If we suffice in doing them without joy this shows we are lacking in appreciation of their importance. We brought in an earlier "Avodah Thoughts" that the אריז"ל attributed his unfathomable madreiga to his overwhelming joy in every mitzvah he did. Rav Aharon Leib understands this in light of the above. If the Ari had such joy it was a clear sign of how much he valued and cared about each and every command of the Almighty and that’s what carried him to his most lofty place.
Two) Simcha is the flavoring.
Three) Here is the real chiddush. In the past, I saw Simcha B'Mitzvos as something that was highly worthwhile to add to our Mitzvos. The Rosh Yeshiva pushes us further. If we see Mitzvos as important we must work to do them joyfully ("with Taam") and if we have a lack of joy it is a sign that our whole perspective on them is amiss. Will we suffice with "tasteless" Mitzvos or go through the process of making them, so to speak, tasty by adding the magic ingredient?
Appreciation for Mitzvos affects our joy in them in two ways. One- The more we care the more we naturally find joy in them (as anyone finds joy in what he values). Two- as we have now learned, if we appreciate the Mitzvos we work to create the joy even when we aren’t naturally feeling it.
Certainly, every effort is immensely valuable. If we truly try to be joyous, even if at times it doesn’t bear fruit, Hashem Hatov will surely treasure those same efforts.
(Please send comments and questions to rdsvaad@gmail.com)
"if you would lilke to recieve these Avodah thougths every 2 weeks sign up at
http://rdsvaadim.com/subscribe/