JOY by Reb Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

JOY  

by Reb Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen  (formerly in NY, Jeff Oboler)

http://yosef-ben-shlomo-hakohen-myrebbe.blogspot.com/

March 4, 2008

Dear Joy,

Yes, your special spiritual strength and potential is gila!

I would like to offer some personal reflections as to why you experience spiritual life and joy so intensely within your body:

Women have a very great potential within them to intensely experience spiritual life and joy within their bodies. This may be the deeper reason why the Talmud mentions that a woman of sixty will dance like a six-year old to the sound of musical instruments (Moed Katan 9b).  In fact, the path of mitzvos is to enable us to sanctify the physical, and the Midrash teaches that women tend to be more swift and eager to fulfill mitzvos than men (Exodus Rabbah 28:2).

In terms of feminine spiritual energy, you are very blessed; moreover, through following the "halacha" - steps - of the Torah path which sanctify this physical world, you can go higher and higher - from joy to joy.

May we soon experience the age when Zion, and eventually the entire earth, will become a Garden of Eden, where we will dwell together with the Shechinah.

Shalom Rav,

Yosef

~ ~ ~

From: Yosef <chazon
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007
Subject: New Reply

My dear Sister,

I am happy to hear you say, "And G*d loves me!" I pray that all of us can realize this more and more. And others can learn to develop this awareness from you and thereby achieve more joy. However, in order to achieve the highest level of joyous joy, they will also need to learn from you that we were placed in this world to serve; thus, our true joy comes from fulfilling the purpose of our creation. As human beings created in the Divine image, we find joy when we fulfill our potential to emulate the Divine love, compassion, and concern. The mitzvos - Divine mandates - of the Torah relate to every area of human existence, and they enable us to serve Hashem - the Compassionate and Life-giving One - in all areas of life. In this spiirit, the great singer of Israel, King David, proclaimed, "The mandates of Hashem are upright, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:9).

In the messainic age, all people will come to this realization, and this is expressed in the following verse from the Psalm of Thanksgiving which refers to the messianic age of spiritual enlightenment:

“A Psalm of thanksgiving: Call out to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with joy, come before Him with joyous song.” (Psalm 100:1,2).

May you be blessed with a Shabbos of tranquil contentment, light, and joy!

Yosef

~ ~ ~

excerpts from Reb Yosef:


“Rejoice with trembling.” There are a number of terms for joy in Hebrew, including gila, and the term for rejoicing in this statement – gilu – is the verb form of the term gila. In his commentary on these words, Rabbi Hirsch defines gila as, “the greatest joy, articulate joy, the greatest emotion.” Rabbi Hirsch explains that the awe which leads to rejoicing with trembling is the awe which leads to the full awareness that our only purpose on earth is to fulfill the Divine purpose. It is this awesome awareness, states Rabbi Hirsch, which leads to the great joy called gila.


On Rosh Hashana, the anniversary of the human being’s creation, we seek to return to the original wholeness of the human being when the human body and soul were dedicated to fulfilling the Divine purpose – to serve and protect the Divine creations (Genesis 2:15). The human being is to serve the Divine purpose with joy, as David proclaimed to all humankind, “Serve Hashem with joy; come before Him with joyous song.” 


In order to understand the deeper reason for this joy, we need to remember that we were created in the image of the Compassionate and Life-Giving One; thus, the purpose of our creation is to fulfill the compassionate and life-giving Divine purpose. When we fulfill this Divine purpose with all of our being, we experience joy, for we are developing and expressing the unique potential within us.

“A Psalm of Thanksgiving: Shout for joy to Hashem, everyone on earth. Serve Hashem with joy; come before Him with joyous song.” (Psalm 100:2)

“For You have given me joy, Hashem, in pa’alecha (Your work); at the works of Your hands, I will sing joyous song.” (Psalm 92:5)

“I shall put my hope in God, I shall beseech His presence. I shall request of Him eloquent speech, so that I can sing of His strength in the people’s congregation, and so that I can express joyous songs for the sake of His creations.” (O’chila L’Kal)

~ ~ ~ 

Dear Reb Yosef,

I think I'll keep my name, Gila. I am Gila.

Emes. mamash, emes.

This is what one of the shul board women said  to me after services on Shabbat. "Thank you for the joy that you always bring to us."

I serve G*d with Gila.

Thank you for feeding me, my brother.

One love, shalom and abundant blesSings of harmony, wholeness, health and joy to you,
Joy

"Serve G*d With Joy"
.