TJS S5 Interlude Purim 5782 In search of joy

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Happiness, said philosopher Immanuel Kant, is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination. And I imagine that if we all are reasonable for a minute, we'll recognize that happiness is what we want. I'm Rav Mike Foyer, and this is The Jewish Story. Season 5 interlude, In Pursuit of Joy You know, I was looking at the New York Times just the other day. Don't come down on me. It's an important source of information. And I noticed that there was a headline article that said, Yale happiness professor says anxiety is destroying her students. Now, that doesn't give a check on the state of the world that I'm not sure what does. We need help, people. I don't want to stoke anybody's fears, but in fairness to those students of Yale, there's quite a bit to be anxious about.

I mean, an unending pandemic, economic struggles, large and small, and now we seem to be flirting with World War III right in the heart of Europe once again. What a perfect time for a double dose of the month of Adar. Now, I've been holding off making an Adar Purim interlude. Whether you know it or not, I'm an Adar baby. So I've been feeling that energy quite strong even through my recent bout with Corona. But now, as Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the second month, the true month of Adar, approaches, it's time to say it loud and proud. Mish'enichnas Adar marbim b'simcha. When the month of Adar comes, we increase our joy. And, in my experience, both personally and professionally, simcha is an important antidote to anxiety.

The question, of course, is, what exactly is simcha? Now, in order to get to the bottom of this, you have to know something that we've spoken about before, that Hebrew is a word-poor language relative to other major languages. Biblical Hebrew has approximately 7,000 words. Modern Hebrew has added a bunch. It's up around 33,000. Just to give you some context, the second edition of the OED, that's the Oxford English Dictionary, for those of you who aren't geeks like me, contains 171,476 words in current use, and more than 47,000 others that are considered obsolete. I mean, Russian, got to mention the Russians, right? 130,000 words, and the winner takes the cake with a difference in scale that's astounding, is Arabic, with 12.3 million words.

There's a whole classical colloquial split there we can get into another time, But you get my point. 7,000 biblical words and 33,000 in modern Hebrew? That is why, by the way, when it comes to Hebrew, you may have experienced what's called the high, lofty Hebrew, which on the surface of it is not so complex, but is extremely hard to penetrate. That's because depth of meaning and communication in the Hebrew language so often reside in context. Now, we're just lacking synonyms. That plethora of words, which give the feeling that there's a shade of language somewhere out there that can say exactly what I mean, except in certain rare cases where suddenly synonyms abound, like, You may not know the song, you may not even know the language, but what I just did is start to sing to you a variation on how many different ways there are to be happy.

Now, first things first, That sense of variation, the fact that the notion of happiness or joy has this sudden plethora of synonyms is in many ways the best way that we can use to find joy in our life. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that one thing, one person, one job, one place, one change is going to do it. That lends itself either to excuses, oh, if only I could, if only I had, or God forbid, even to paralysis. I would be happy, but get out there and try something. And if that doesn't work, try something else. In cognitive behavioral therapy, they call it behavioral activization. That sometimes digging at the roots of our problems is not nearly as useful as taking the first step toward solving them.

In my counseling practice, I offer it in terms of that old existential truth. You can't steer a bike until it's moving. Go ahead and try, but do it on a soft surface. Meaning what? Meaning that when we feel like we don't know where to go, that we've lost the agency in our lives, which is so essential, not just to joy, but to feeling like a human being, sometimes you got to get moving. And once you have a little bit of momentum, then you can figure out where you're headed. So there are many paths to happiness. In fact, in many ways, an infinite number of them. And all of them begin with action. And that's why I love this month. Can you feel the ferment? Nonetheless, we do say, Mishin nichnas adar marbim b'simcha.

When adar comes in, we increase our simcha. There's something very specific about this time. Now last year, if you recall, I focused on the more, that marbim, the increase. Now we need to follow up on a promise I made then, and consider how simcha is different than the other Hebrew words for happiness, and how that distinction might itself be a critical aid in our quest for joy. Now, I like to start that discussion with a beautiful verse from the Psalms. It's Psalm 105.3, if you want to look it up. And it says, Yismach lev mevach shei Adonai. Right? May the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. First things first, what does it mean to seek God? Now, obviously, many things to many people, many names to one God, and the number of paths seeking are equal to the number of people who set out to do so.

there's no question about that, but there is, with all its infinite diversity, something which unites the effort to seek God, because all those paths are looking for a broader, more embracing horizon. I mean, isn't that what it means when we say in that wonderful abstract term, I'm seeking something greater than myself, whether it's in nature, in relationships, ideas, ecstasy, or the divine, we're all looking for that larger embracing horizon. And the power and problematic of the fact that there are infinite paths to a greater horizon, I mean, all you have to do is strike out from where you are to somewhere bigger. It might be that which drove David to start the verse the way it actually does, because I started in the middle.

The verse, properly speaking, is, Right? Rejoice in God's holy name and may the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Or we might say, is to boast is the translation I see here. frankly, is its own form of rejoicing. Better discussed on Hanukkah, frankly, the home base of the Hallel praises in liturgy and history. On Purim, if you recall, or if you don't know, we don't say hallow. Our simcha rises from different places. Nonetheless, the verse offers wisdom and a working definition for the word. That the act of seeking a larger horizon is a critical tool in bringing joy. Now note, the act of seeking, not of finding. I'm all for coming to the resolution that I have found a larger world in which I dwell.

I mean, listen, finding a larger horizon is an act of definition that can bring with it many things. Clarity, comfort, confidence, guidance for action, I could go on. And in fact, I believe, and one of the things I do in my practice, is to help people define the horizon within which they live But of course once that horizon is drawn it also risks stagnation and idolatry So, finding that larger horizon has many benefits. One of them, however, is not simcha. It's not joy. At least not how David and Malach, King David, is using it here in Psalms. That comes from the quest. So if we're going to look to this verse as a source of joy, or at least guidance in our seeking of it, then we need to think about why it says, Yismach lev mevach she Hashem.

Why does it say, let the hearts of those who seek God rejoice? Now, the simple answer is that joy resides in the heart. And so the simple solution is, increasing simcha means getting out of your head and into your heart. Simple, right? I don't think so. You know, as far as I can tell, out there in the field, much of our challenge today flows from the fact that we aren't really in our heads to begin with. I mean, the brain-to-heart blockage is just as real, whether you know it or not. But when you're clearly in your head, you're stuck in your head, you've got to get in touch with your heart, you at least have a chance of identifying that block, of feeling it in your life. Perhaps shortcomings in communication and behavior.

Maybe you sense the limitations in your relationships when your emotions aren't awake. Maybe you just feel it as a lump in your throat. But that old school definition of, oh, he's all in his head or she's not in touch with her heart, right? If you're stuck in your head, at least you know your heart is out there somewhere. Today, our problem is fundamentally different. We're so distracted. we let other voices into our heads and we're constantly striving to get our voice into others I mean guilty that we risk losing touch with the blockage between head and heart altogether and if we lose touch with that blockage we might lose touch with the heart itself because that same realm of distraction capitalism which is foaming at the mouth to own your attention is also happy to sell you some ersatz emotions cheap and easy.

You can feel love. You can feel joy. You can feel whatever you want to feel with the swipe of a finger. So what we need to do is to touch the heart first before we can ever understand how it itself is the vehicle or at least the receptacle for joy. It's a conversation, by the way, I'm always happy to have. If you want some counsel on the topic of how to cultivate emotional awareness, which can have incredible benefits, like I said, communication, behavior, relationships, your health, contact me, robmikefoyer, gmail.com. A little bit of spiritual counsel is always in order. For now, I want to keep going on Purim. And now might be actually a time to put my warning label on this holy day. Like I said, I'm an Adar baby.

And I'm all in for the avoda of Purim, the spiritual work which lies at his heart. And frankly, that spiritual work is to get out of the head and into the heart. Now, unfortunately, many people see that as drunkenness. And now, hey, I'm not exactly one who holds back on Purim itself. But there's a big difference between getting out of the head and into the heart than just looking to get out of your head. Because if that's what you're looking for, I would say, please don't do it. or at the very least, make sure you do it safely and in moderation. But if you really want to accomplish the Avoda, the spiritual practice, which is Purim, you're aiming to get not just out of your head, but into your heart.

You need to set yourself up for a chance to experience that power of what we say, when the wine goes in, the secrets come out. And where do we hold our secrets? Except in our heart. Now, there was my warning label. I've done my due diligence. let's talk about why the heart seems to be where joy comes to rest. And in order to do so, there's a beautiful scene from the Torah that I want to touch. You may know it. If not, Moshe has been arguing with God back in the book of Shemot, very right in the beginning, when God first invites or commands Moshe to go down to Egypt to be God's messenger in redeeming the children of Israel. If you recall, Moshe's not exactly excited about the prospect. We'll leave aside what his hesitations were, but it's a prolonged argument, right?

And at the end of it, Baisic says, like, what am I supposed to do? I'm not the talking guy. And he says this famous line, He says to God, I beseech you, O Lord, send your message with whom you would send, meaning not me. And God gets angry. Right? So it's quite a potent moment. And then suddenly says a strange thing. the Yomar, God says hello Aaron, Achicha Halevi isn't Aaron your brother the Levite out there? I know he can speak and I happen to also know being God, that he's on his way out from Egypt to come meet you in the wilderness and he's coming to see you and when he sees you he will rejoice in his heart Well, first of all, on one level, it's quite simple why Aaron will be happy. They're brothers.

They haven't seen each other for years. I mean, I hope we've all tasted the sweetness of such a reunion. But on a deeper level, there's a lot to be challenged by here. Aaron is the older brother. Ramoshah is now being chosen, and as the younger brother, I can tell you that doesn't always sit easy. Furthermore, Aaron has already tasted prophecy at this point. He is a leader established amongst the people. Well, that's the implication of the Levite. And here's Moshe, who frankly wasn't raised amongst the people. And his first foray in being a leader amongst them led to his exile. And he's been hiding out the wilderness for so long. He's a marginal figure, suddenly about to step to the fore, to be in the center of the Jewish story.

I don't know about you, but if my little brother, if I had one, took that role, I might be a little bitter. But Aaron, this was the furthest thing from his heart. he was overjoyed not just to see Moshe, but he was overjoyed to see the role that Moshe took. And the Midrash, the rabbinic approach to understanding this, has a beautiful insight. Amar Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai. It's what Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai says, it says, Let the heart which rejoiced at the elevation of its brother wear the Urim V'tumin. Those beautiful symbols, or perhaps the name of God, whatever, how you conceive it, he says, You shall place the Urim V'tumin into the breastplate of judgment so that they will be over Aaron's heart. That's from Shemot, from Exodus 28.

Meaning what? That Aaron had a heart for his brother. He had a heart for his brother. He rejoiced at his brother's elevation, even though it might have been perceived as a slight on his own. And thus, he was fit to be a Kohen. This is the moment in which Aaron becomes a Kohen. Now, why would this be relevant to you and I in our quest for joy? Well, on some level, it's quite simple. The Mishnahh in Pirkei Avot, Ethics of Our Fathers, says the following. In the name of Hillel, it says, Be amongst the students of Aaron. We should all learn and attempt to emulate this holy brother who was happy in his heart and thus merited to be a servant of God. Now, what does that look like? Oev shalom, v'rodev shalom, love peace, pursue peace, O'ev HaBriyut, Love, Creation, Umekarvan LeTorah, and Bring them close to Torah.

Now notice that the task of his students, those that rejoice in their hearts, and thus merit to be a kohen, has a few pieces here. First of all Love and Pursue Peace Now how could you possibly be happy if you don have a credible vision of how the world ought to be Something that fills your heart with love when you contemplate how the world could be at peace. And it's worthwhile to pray for the peace of the world even as I speak. You could hit pause right now and give a little prayer for all the people in the world and especially those in the Ukraine. and if that vision of peace is real enough to fill your heart with love when you contemplate it then enjoy then how could you not pursue it at least to some degree and it's also to be a student of Arun is to that's loving creation but specifically it's loving humanity it's much easier to love the trees the bees the beavers the dogs people are tough but that's a universal element amongst Arun's students something that I'll touch in a second.

And finally, last but not least, bring them closer to Torah. Makarvim la Torah. Whether you take that in the literal sense of bringing Am Yisrael closer to the Torah and our special task which therein lies, or in a more broad sense that Torah really means hora'ah. It's a sense of practical instruction. And what the world needs now is some constructive wisdom. And anybody who's ever had a sense of what it is they actually ought to do knows that that's an important source of joy. So seek out the people in your life who can help you figure out what it is you want and how it is you can achieve it. Right? The type, by the way, of hora'ah, of practical instruction, whose authority flows from its ability to set life on a foundation and aid it to grow.

Now, that universal element in the Mishnahh, meaning love all humanity, is easy to understand. After all, it says students of Aaron and not Aaron's children, anyone who is able to rejoice in their heart for their brother, or their sister, or whomever, can take on the task of ministering to the world, even if they themselves are not technically a Kohen. And it's in this sense that we speak about, we speak about, the Torah calls Am Yisrael calls the Jewish people Mamlechek Kohanim. I know that it's often translated as a nation of priests, but in this case, my Christian brothers and sisters, I think, have the word a little bit more accurate. A nation of ministers, meant to minister to the world. And how could you possibly minister to the needs of others if you weren't only feeling the love?

And furthermore, if you weren't able to rejoice for them in your heart. And by the way, even a literal Kohen has to feel the love for all, not as an abstract, but as an actual present reality. Remember, Aaron had joy in his heart for his brother. And that's why he was fit to be chosen as a Kohen. And a literal Kohen has to have love and pursue the well-being of all of Am Yisrael while also being a student of his holy answers and having a heart for the whole world. There's a beautiful statement from Rav Avram Yitzchak a Kohen cook, one of my spiritual mentors. It comes in Midot Haraya, his work on Midot in this context are character traits, I think we'll call them. And Raya is an acronym of his name.

So it's delving into things like hate, fear, faith, and love. And there he says the following. The characteristic of love, which dwells in the souls of the righteous, embraces all creation, not excluding any item, people, or language. Even Amalek is only erased, says Rav Kook, from beneath the heavens. But through clarification, He is elevated to the root of good that lies above the heavens, which everything is combined in a supernal love. But one needs great power and mighty purity for that lofty unification. Now, it's hardly news that love is good for the heart. And what we need to do is understand from that the connection between simcha and the heart, between the joy in the heart. And once again, we see it has to do with horizons.

Because Rav Kook's words, as beautiful as they are, shouldn't be taken as a simple call to universal love. Love everybody, man. I mean, first of all, he did note how hard he is. But on a deeper level, it's important to remember, especially when we read such universalistic writings, that Rav Kook is a Jew to the essence of his being. And, of course, he was literally a cohead. and therefore knows that should the average person try and love everyone, everything, everybody, what they really do is run the risk of never knowing what love actually is. Because the Torah teaches us to love in concentric circles. If you want a fantastic essay on that topic, write me an email, robmikefoyer, gmail.com, or you can find me on Facebook, and I'll share with you Zev Magain's classic essay, Imagine on Love in Leiden, where he explores this very simple and profound fact that we learn to love in concentric circles, from the most intimate to the most broad.

But the implication of that learning process is that every broadening of a horizon moves us into an area where more things are fit to love because they're part of creation. That the limitations of love lie in our capacity to make it real, not in the essence of what deserves to be loved, because that includes everything. Hence the fact that Rav Kook even mentions Amalek, timely for the Purim holiday. Even the anti-Israel, whose very memory we are committed to blotting out and that we're actively doing in the time of Adar and culminating in Purim, even that we increase joy by destroying the memory of Amalek, even they are only hated and erased in a limited horizon as he says, mitachat ha-shamayim from beneath the heavens yeah, if the sky is the limit you'll go very far but you still have a limited horizon the heart knows no limits and only love can teach it that and once it feels that real love if only for its brother then it's ready to receive joy Now, everybody who knows anything about the Hasidim knows they want to be happy.

And in fact, if you've ever seen the modern-day breast lovers with their rocking van in downtown Jerusalem paved with those crazy paisley colors, blasting the music and stopping traffic, then you know that the avodah b'simcha, the labor, the spiritual practice of serving God in joy, is considered all but a commandment. Yeah, you've heard it before, but we can easily be misled when we think about that to mistake the idea that this simcha flows from a happy life from the things which exist outside of us and happen to us, right? That it's the things and the people and the environment which make us happy. But that couldn't be further from the truth in the eyes of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement.

Remember, if you know a bit of the history, his followers at first came primarily from those who suffered the most, the poor, the unlearned, those who were excluded from the easy sources, at least of social happiness. And what did the Baal Shem Tov do? Did he take them to a different place? Did he give them a different life? Maybe yes, maybe no. But his primary teaching when it came to joy was to help them rejoice in the life which they had, not to pine away for the one which they didn't. Which, by the by, in our quest for joy, that I don't want to lose track of, but I'm just too excited about the Torah to overly focus on it, sometimes we have to accept and let go that which is not in order to find the joy which exists in that which is And the Baal Shem Tov specifically focus on the fact that we always have agency when it comes to joy.

We talk about the primary practice of the Torah being, Uvecharta V'chaim, choose life. Well, of course the Baal Shem Tov agreed with that. He just placed on top of it. And what does that look like? Uvecharta V'simcha, choose to rejoice. You can find in the Ketoshem Tov, a collection of the Baal Shem Tov's teaching, the following statement. He says, Adam hu besod katnut the gadot. He says, the essence, the secret nature of humanity is that we exist in katnut and gadot, in a narrowness and in an expansiveness, both of person and of consciousness. He says, ve'ayideh ha-simcha umilted debedichuta, and through joy and, yeah, a little bit of levity, laughter, is a joke, having some fun. How do you get out of that narrowness into an expansive consciousness?

How do I break through from the pain of my bitterness into the power of joy? Well, by rejoicing. And then we're able, he says, and then we can truly learn and cleave to God. Now, if that seems a little bit abstract, I'll offer you a Mashal, a metaphor, if you will, from Rabbi Nachman B'Breslov, right? Famous grandson of Vibal Shem Tov. He says that sometimes you see that the Hasidim are dancing, and they're rejoicing, and the song is beautiful, and it's powerful, and yet, there are folks standing around the side. Now, I'm not talking about the wallflowers here who don't feel like getting into it, but sometimes, it's someone standing at the side who's actually unable to join in their rejoicing, filled, as he said, with Marash Chorah, a dark bitterness.

And if you don't know anything about Rabbi Nachman, he himself struggled with depression. And, you know, life can be like this. Sometimes the only way to feel happy we feel is to push my troubles aside, create a closed circle where little joy can exist, and leave the bitterness to the side. And by the way, that's not necessarily a bad idea. Creating a limited horizon, as much as I've been thinking about the expansiveness, sometimes is also an important tool with joy. I can tell you honestly, personally, the way I have gotten through the last two difficult years, at least in part, has been to keep my horizon tight, but at the same time, to keep my heart expansive. Because, you know, carving out a place beyond the troubles of my life and the world, where I can taste a little simple joy, is an important practice, but it's not the avoda of simcha.

It's not that spiritual practice of joy that the Baal Shem Tov taught his Hasidim. That transformation from katnut to gadu, from the narrowness to the expansiveness, isn't going to happen by carving out a narrow space. Because everybody knows that real joy is all-encompassing. So, what should the chassidim do, says Rabbi Nachman, when they see this guy standing on the side? Grab him and pull him into the dance. And not just pull him in, but make him dance until he smiles. You've got to bring that bitterness into your joy. And I mean that literally. Not a simple process. And just as a last reminder, if you want help engaging that bitterness and feeling more joy, bringing the two together in order to be able to be real with your life, reach out to me.

Don't feel alone in these times. Rav Mike Foyer at gmail.com You can find me on Facebook. Send me a smoke signal. I don't care how. I'm here. But for now, rather than try to break down this process that lies at the heart of the Avodah Shebisimcha, the spiritual practice of rejoicing, I'll end with a story. I hope you've heard of the Holy Brothers, Rebbe Zusha and Rebbe Elimelech. Historically speaking, they're the ones that brought Chassidut to Poland. And seeing as Polish Chassidut became the majority, they have a rather important role to play in the unfolding of the Jewish story. But for the present purposes, this is before they were famous. They were just holy brothers, students of the Hasidim, who happened to be wandering through Poland one day when they got stopped by the police.

Now, it's not such a good thing if a Jew gets taken by the police back there in early 19th century Poland. And sure enough, they didn't have any papers when asked. And their names were not satisfactory to the officer, and they landed in jail. But the Hasidim, they knew everything comes from God, and furthermore, that you have to serve the Lord in joy. So they were in the jail cell. They weren't worried God would provide. But at a certain point, Rabbi Zusha looks over at his holy brother, Rabbi Elimelech, and he sees that Rabbi Elimelech isn't smiling. Rabbi Zusha says, Holy brother, what could possibly be wrong? Why aren't you smiling? Rabbi Elimelech sighed, and he pointed to the chamber pot. What? Well, you know, it was a Polish jail in the 19th century.

A chamber pot is bad enough, but just imagine what was in that thing. And it probably hadn't been changed for weeks. So Rabbi Elimelech says, listen, holy brother, I know the whole Shulchan Aruch, all the codes of law. I have the teachings of the Holy Baal Shem Tohs memorized by heart. I can pray a storm that can bring fire down from heaven. But I can't do any of that right now. because that chamber pot makes it forbidden. You're not allowed. I can't learn. I can't pray. I can't do anything. How am I supposed to connect to God in this lowly place? Zusha, not only did he not frown, not only could he not match the tears in his brother's eyes, his grin only got wider. He said, holy brother, I'm not as learned as you.

and my prayer doesn't reach as high in heaven as yours and sometimes I find it a little bit difficult to remember exactly what the Baal Shem Tov taught us but I do know this that it says in the Shulchan Arach, like you said that we're not allowed to pray we're not allowed to learn we're not allowed to think holy thoughts in a place of filth and sadness like this which means he caught his brother by the shirt do you know what this means? It means that just by doing nothing, we're fulfilling God's will in a complete way that we can't even imagine. Suddenly, Rabbi Adelich jumps up and a smile likes his fate. And his brother reflects it back. And they're suddenly singing, dancing around the chamber pot.

Now, meanwhile, you start dancing around the chamber pot in a Polish jail early in the morning in the 19th century, you're probably going to get some lumps from the other inmates. People start to shout. And they're screaming. and finally the jailer comes and says, what's this racket? He says, I have one drunk pull. I don't know. These two Jews are speaking in their Yiddish language. All of a sudden, they start to jump up and dance around that chamber pot. Oh, yes, says the jailer. I'll show them. And he grabs the chamber pot and he takes it away. Oh. Just want to thank a few folks before I sign off. I want to thank all the folks who give their hard-earned money to make this show possible, to keep it free and widely available.

I want to ask you to join them right now. Go to my website, jewishstory.co. You'll see a button there in the upper right-hand corner that says be a patron. You can click on that to give a little bit of per-podcast support. Or if you like, be in touch with me directly, ravmikefoyer at gmail.com, or find me on Facebook, ravmikefoyer. I'm happy to share with you ways in which you can give one-time donations or dedicate a show in honor of someone you love who's with you today or in memory of those who've passed on. I want to thank the Land of Israel Network. That's thelandofisrael.com. They're building a center for spiritual transcendence in the heart of Judea. I want to thank the Pardes Institute, P-A-R-D-E-S dot org dot I-L, for throwing the doors of the Beit Midrash open as wide as possible.

I want to thank all the people listening. I'm Rav Mike Foyer, and this is The Jewish Story.