Just a quick thought from a shiur I attended this evening by Rabbi Paysach Krohn about attaining simcha in challenging times. Rabbi Krohn stated that in the month of Adar, we are supposed to add joy, but in the month of Av, we minimize joy. Keep in mind that we are told to decrease joy but not to do away with it. A yid has to be besimcha (happy) always.
The letters of the word בשמחה (happiness) can also be flipped around to give us the word מחשבה(thought).
Rabbi Krohn related to the audience that Rav Pam used to say that people are always searching for the city of happiness, but they don't realize that it is a state of mind.
(If it weren't the nine days, I would end the post with a clip from the song - Don't worry, be happy.)
This is just what the doctor ordered. I was with a 99 year old woman and friend ( survivor of Auschwitz)as she took her last breath here on earth. I've been agitated and down but today I feel really good and reading your post was like standing on a mountaintop in Israel....Not bad since I'm still stuck in Galut..
ReplyDeleteThank you.
the Lubavitcher Rebbe's interpretation of "mishenichnas Av mi'maatin b'simcha" - normally translated as, "when Av enters, diminish joy," the Rebbe says, "when Av enters, how do you diminish the negative aspects of the month? through simcha."
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