From Where Does My JOY Come?

From Where Does My Joy Come?

JOY of Serving G*D

Hazon – Our Universal Vision:  www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/
excerpted from "My Firstborn Child" - 190
by Reb Yosef ben Shlomo haKohen, 2008   (formerly Jeff Oboler)

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.

On the awesome day of Rosh Hashana, we proclaim the sovereignty of Hashem, the Compassionate and Life-Giving One. This awesome awareness reminds us that we were created to fulfill the mandates of our Sovereign which enable us to serve and protect the Divine creations. Through this awesome awareness, we rediscover the secret of human joy, as it is written:

“The mandates of Hashem are upright, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:9).

In his commentary on this verse, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes: “All the mitzvos that regulate our private and public acts are simply directions for the proper discharge of this mandate of serving and preserving.” And he adds:

“Therefore they rejoice the heart. They give us that joy of life which nothing can ever dim, that satisfaction which comes from a task well done. There can be no substitute for this feeling of quiet joy and serenity, secure in the knowledge that we have done what was expected of us in life, however small or limited the sphere in which our lives are lived. For there is only one true joy, eternally bright: This is the gladness that smiles upon us from every little plant, that shines forth from every one of our marvelous fellow-creatures – the joy that comes from a life of duty fulfilled, of consecration of all our desires and achievements to the fulfillment of the will of God.”
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