Getting to Know Your Simcha - 005 A Life of Happiness

Different Kinds Of Happiness

On Yom Tov, there is a mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov – to be happy.

The perfect kind of happiness will only be revealed in the future. Although today we have the redemptions of Purim and Pesach, these redemptions are an incomplete happiness.

The Gemara states that in the times of the Beis Hamikdash, there was no happiness except in meat (of the korbon shelamim), and thus the mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov was fulfilled only with meat.

What does this mean? If a person lived in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, does that mean that he can only be happy when he eats meat? This is clearly not what it means. It must mean that the holiness that one received from eating the korbon shelamim gave a person a tremendous happiness. The holiness of its meat was absorbed in the person’s flesh, and this made him happy; “My heart and flesh shall sing to the living G-d.”

The Gemara continues that in our times when there is no Beis Hamikdash, there is no happiness except in wine, for it is written, “And wine gladdens the heart of man.”

What does it mean that “wine gladdens the heart of man”?

It can only be referring to an inner happiness that comes from the depths of the soul. “When wine enters, secrets come out.” There is a secret happiness that is in the soul which wine can bring out.

On Purim, there is a halacha that one must become drunk. This is because we must reach an inner happiness on Purim – the secret deep in our soul.

Inner Happiness and Outward Happiness

On Shabbos, we have oneg (pleasure) and on Yom Tov, we have simcha (happiness). What is the difference between oneg and simcha?

Oneg Shabbos is an inner happiness that remains deep down in us; it is not revealed out in the open. It is a happiness that comes from a deep source of pleasure in our soul.

Simchas Yom Tov though is a revealed kind of happiness. On the Yom Tov of Sukkos, they would dance in the Beis Hamikdash. This was an open, revealed kind of happiness.

When a person lives a life of inner pleasure from his soul, he lives a life of happiness. Such happiness is rooted in oneg, which is the power of Shabbos.

But even if a person is happy from his inner pleasure of the soul, his happiness must still be revealed outward. For this, we have wine, which can reveal our inner happiness outward. That is why “There is no shirah (song) except by wine.”

How To Come To The Inner Happiness

How can we come to arrive at the inner happiness – our oneg?

It is not a superficial kind of happiness. Even though there is a mitzvah to eat meat nowadays on Yom Tov and this fulfills the mitzvah of Simchas Yom Tov, eating meat is an external action which does not bring an internal happiness. In order to reach the inner happiness, we need to be ready to accept the levels that Purim can bring us to.

But we can only get the happiness of Purim when we prepare for it. For this, we must prepare at least fourteen days in advance. That is why the halacha is that “When Adar comes, we increase our happiness.” It is because in order to receive the happiness of Purim, we must start preparing for Purim as soon as Adar arrives – fourteen days of preparation.

There are many kinds of superficial actions that people do today to try to get happiness. But the real, deep happiness can only be gotten when a person enjoys Hakadosh Baruch Hu. This happiness is rare today.

The happiness attainable on Purim can only be reached if we prepare well in advance before. We must prepare for Purim from the beginning of the month of Adar. It is impossible to gain such a deep happiness without preparing for it beforehand.

Preparing For Purim

How do we prepare for Purim?

We need to clean out our heart. “To the upright of heart, happiness.” When we have yashrus in our heart, when our heart is clean from various desires, the simcha can enter it.

Inner happiness comes from the depths of our soul. It is a constant happiness, not the kinds of happiness that don’t last. This inner happiness is something we ask Hashem for every day.

But in order to get it, we need to prepare for it properly.

May the bar mitzvah boy here be zoche to only strive for the truth in his life, and not be affected by his surroundings – he should be zoche to arrive at the true happiness.