"And they did not listen to Moses due to shortness of spirit and hard labor" - Words of Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a for the Holiday of Pesach

The Festival of Passover and Freedom, from the mouth of the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, who speaks on the obligation to strengthen oneself in joy as the correct path in the service of Hashem in particular, and for physical and mental health in general - "And they did not listen to Moses due to shortness of spirit and hard labor" (Exodus 6:9).

Moshe Rabbeinu arrived in Egypt and announced: "My masters, Hashem has revealed Himself to me! The Geulah (Redemption) is about to happen. Start rejoicing, start singing, start playing music! The time has come for dances and songs. Bring orchestras, bring violins, bring flutes—start singing over the tidings of the Redemption." Yet, "They did not listen to Moses due to shortness of spirit and hard labor." Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 86: "Those of little faith are in the aspect of 'shortness of spirit'... because they are in the aspect of shortness of spirit due to their lack of faith, therefore they require hard labors and fasts." Those who are in a state of "shortness of spirit," lacking the perfection of Emunah (faith), tend toward self-affliction and fasting.

The Noam Elimelech explains that this was the debate between Moshe and the tzaddikim of that generation. Moshe said: "Stop with the fasts and self-afflictions! Stop the hard labors! Start rejoicing, singing, and playing music!" In truth, from the beginning of the enslavement, the People of Israel did not remain silent, and the tzaddikim did not remain silent. The tzaddikim fasted, wept, and sat on the ground. They saw children being thrown into the Nile every day; every day children were slaughtered and placed into the walls; Pharaoh bathed in the blood of infants. No one remained silent—everyone fasted, wept, and afflicted themselves to bring the Geulah. Moshe came and told them: "My masters, this is not the way! You want to fast? Fast. But this will not bring the Geulah. With fasts and self-affliction, one does not bring the Redemption closer. The Geulah will arrive only through joy!"

They said to him: "What? You are proposing a new path in the service of Hashem? You want to take away our fasts and self-afflictions after we have been fasting for years upon years, starving and afflicting ourselves?" But they did not listen to Moses due to shortness of spirit and hard labor—out of sheer despair, out of shortness of spirit, out of the overwhelming hard labor, they were incapable of shaking off the despair to believe in hope, to believe in the Geulah. Moshe said: "The time has come to serve Hashem through joy, through tremendous joy. Only joy will subdue the klipah (husk of evil); only joy will bring the Geulah."

The Noam Elimelech says that the tzaddikim who seek out hard labors and fasts possess a soul of precious value—not just an ordinary soul—but they do not see what the tzaddikim who are in the aspect of Moshe see. For the True Tzaddik nullifies the judgments and decrees with the greatest ease; he needs no effort, no self-affliction, no fasts. He nullifies the judgments through joy, with melodies and songs.

The world is in error. A person thinks that to merit salvation and to sweeten judgments, one needs hard labors, fasts, etc. In reality, the Baal Shem Tov already completely annulled the concept of fasts and hard labors. This is what Rebbe Nachman means when he says that the world does not believe that it is possible to merit salvation and to sweeten all the judgments in the world through joy.

There are several levels in the "Image of God" (Tzelem Elokim). There is a level of the Image of God where a person lives in the present, rejoices with the present, and is always happy. This is level one, the primary level of the Image of God. There is, of course, a level of the Image of God in perfection, where one must know the Torah, the Mitzvos, and the laws. But first and foremost, one needs the first level: to begin to know what the "present" is, to begin learning how to live now, how to rejoice now. To be happy every moment and second, to feel the present—only the present—and not to think about anything from the past or the future. You are here now, alive, healthy, breathing—so rejoice! Be happy! Joy without any thought of what will be or what was. This is "Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion." Happy every moment, happy every second. They aren't beating you? You have a cup of tea? What more do you need? What are you missing? You are thirsty, so drink; you are hungry, make yourself a slice of bread. Feel good! Feel happy, feel blissful. Do not worry about what was, do not worry about what will be. Be at the peak of happiness. In this way, you will receive everything. The moment a person lives in the present, he fulfills "Who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion," and from this joy, he will receive everything—all salvations—and reach all the spiritual levels in the world.

A Jew's test is to be happy always. This is the main test, for every single person must undergo tests, descents, and ascents until the end of their life. The main strengthening in joy is during the time of the descent, during the time of the test, believing that he will emerge from the descent.

There is a shocking story, a tremendous story in *Kochavei Or*, about a man who dug and found a diamond worth a million dollars. He thought it was a piece of glass. Someone came and told him, "This is a diamond! It is worth a fortune, but you won't find anyone in the village or the entire country who can buy this diamond from you." Therefore, he decided to travel to London. He sold his house, all his rags, and broken furniture, but the money was only enough to reach the port. When he arrived, a ship captain found him and asked, "Why are you wandering around here?" He replied, "I have a precious stone, a diamond," and showed him the diamond. The captain was astounded and said, "If you have such a thing, board the ship immediately. No need for money; don't pay anything." He arranged a magnificent room for him, a luxurious bed, and three meals a day.

One day on the ship, he sat down to eat and looked at the diamond, delighting in it. Suddenly, he dozed off and fell asleep for a second. The waiter entered, cleared the table with the diamond along with all the dirt and scraps, took everything, and shook it into the sea. When the man woke up, he went into shock; he nearly fainted, his heart stopped working. If the captain found out what happened, he would throw him off the ship—throw him into the sea after the diamond. The Jew then decided he must strengthen himself in joy with all his might, with supernatural strength. He strengthened himself with all his power to rejoice and smile. Five minutes later, the captain entered. The Jew gave him such a smile, started laughing and dancing; he made such gestures of joy that he became the happiest person. The captain had never seen him so happy.

In truth, the Jew knew he could only maintain this joy, this bliss, for a short time; soon his heart would stop beating. But when the captain saw him so happy, he said to him: "Let's make a deal. Everyone thinks I am a pirate. When I arrive in London, everyone investigates me regarding the source of my merchandise. Therefore, you are a compassionate Jew—come have mercy on me. The entire ship, with all the merchandise, with all the gold and diamonds—everything will be in your name. I trust you; you are a great, successful merchant, and you have a diamond here worth a lot." He registered everything in the Jew's name. They had just arrived at the port, and before they even disembarked, the captain suffered a stroke and died. All the property on the ship, all the millions, all the gold—everything passed into the possession of the Jew.

Rebbe Nachman revealed a completely new insight: Know this—there is no despair in the world at all! There is no such thing as despair. Even in the greatest disaster, even in the greatest crisis, if a person holds on for five minutes rejoicing, dancing, singing, then everything flips to the good. One must always come home with a smile, always come home with joy. At home, they don't need to know that you are currently in trouble or in a crisis. If you cannot smile or rejoice, sit outside on the stairs, make smiling faces, make gestures of joy, practice—and then enter the house with a happy face, with a shining face.

If a person holds on and rejoices, he can merit all the miracles in the world. A person's entire work is to rejoice with all his strength, with self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), to say constantly "Everything is for the best." This is his test. If he says "This too is for the best" regarding everything, he will emerge from all the suffering in the world; he will have miracles and wonders. A person needs to rejoice, sing, and thank Hashem always, before a trouble arrives, Heaven forbid. Do not wait for a trouble to occur and then be released from it—at which point, when released from the trouble, one is obligated to give thanks, sing, and bring a Thanksgiving Offering. Rather, let us always rejoice, always sing to Hashem, always recognize the greatness of Hashem. "Let every soul praise God" (Psalm 150)—let every breath praise Hashem. You are breathing? Start rejoicing. For every single breath, one must sing. Do not wait for trouble, because if you rejoice, sing to Hashem, and thank Hashem, then troubles will not arrive either.

The main work is not to be in sadness even for a single second, because there is no reason to be sad. One must believe that every Jew is capable of attaining all good in material and spiritual matters, every success in the world. There is a concept of rejoicing in the fact that "He did not make me a gentile," that He made me a Jew—Baruch Hashem, I merited to keep Shabbat, I merited to put on Tefillin. Rejoice that you merited to pray; it is as if you found a diamond worth millions. One must always draw joy upon oneself, endless joy. If one doesn't know what to rejoice about? One needs to rejoice that Hashem created us as Godly beings; this is the greatest joy.

"Israel rejoices in its Maker; the Children of Zion will delight in their King." Let us rejoice with Hashem, that Hashem created us, "and we are His people and the flock of His pasture." Hashem created us for His glory: "Blessed is He, our God, who created us for His glory and separated us from those who go astray." Let us rejoice that Hashem created us for His glory, so that we may learn, pray, and that the whole world will see—that all the nations will see—that the weapon of the Jew is Torah and prayer. Since Hashem sees us in true joy, that we are happy with Him, He will annul all the decrees, all the troubles. So what is left for you? Start rejoicing in Hashem. Rejoice with Hashem, only with Hashem! With Hashem, you can rejoice! He is Living and Enduring. Hashem is Eternal. Hashem loves you. Hashem created you. Hashem believes in you. Hashem believes in your teshuvah (repentance). He will never leave you; He will give you everything.

Courtesy of the leaflet *Tzam'ah Nafshi* 052-763-9126