Parshat Va'era from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days), discussing the obligation to strengthen oneself in joy as the correct path in the service of Hashem in particular, and for the health of the body and soul in general.

In Parshat Va'era, Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) brings the news of the Geulah (Redemption) to the People of Israel. He calls upon them to rejoice, to sing, and to play music, out of the faith that this is the way to bring true redemption. The Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, based on the teachings of the Noam Elimelech and Rebbe Nachman, delves into this idea and teaches us about the power of joy in the service of Hashem and in daily life, even in times of difficulty and descents.

These are his holy words:

"But they did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard labor" (Exodus 6:9)

Moshe Rabbeinu arrived in Egypt and said—Gentlemen, Hashem has revealed Himself to me! Redemption is about to happen—start to rejoice, start to sing, start to play music; the time has come to dance and sing. Bring orchestras, bring violins, bring flutes, start singing about the news of the Geulah (Redemption). "But they did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard labor." Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 86 [of Likutey Moharan]: "They are of small faith, in the aspect of 'shortness of breath'... because they are in the aspect of shortness of breath due to being of small faith, they therefore require hard labors and fasts." Those who are in the aspect of "shortness of breath," who lack perfection of faith, tend toward self-mortification and fasts.

The Noam Elimelech says this was the argument between Moshe and the tzaddikim (righteous leaders) of that generation. Moshe said—stop with the fasts and self-mortifications, stop with the hard labors, start to rejoice, sing, and play music. Truly, from the beginning of the enslavement, the People of Israel did not remain silent; the tzaddikim did not remain silent. The tzaddikim fasted, wept, and sat on the ground. They saw every day that children were being thrown into the Nile, every day children were being slaughtered and placed inside the walls, Pharaoh was bathing in the blood of infants—no one remained silent; everyone fasted, wept, and mortified themselves to bring the Geulah (Redemption). Moshe came and told them—Gentlemen, this is not the way! If you want to fast, fast, but that will not bring the Geulah. Through fasts and self-mortifications, one does not bring the Geulah closer; the Geulah will only arrive through joy!

They said to him—What? Are you offering us a new path in the service of Hashem? Do you want to take away our fasts and self-mortifications after we have already been mortifying ourselves for years upon years, fasting and suffering? But they did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of breath and hard labor—from the intensity of despair, from the intensity of shortness of breath, from the intensity of hard labors, they were unable to shake off the despair, to believe in hope, to believe in the Geulah (Redemption). Moshe said the time has come for the service of Hashem out of joy, out of immense joy—only joy will subdue the Kelipah (evil shell); only joy will bring the Geulah (Redemption).

The Noam Elimelech says that the tzaddikim who seek hard labors and fasts have a precious soul, not just any 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-mortifications, no fasts. He nullifies the judgments with joy, with melodies and songs.

The world is in error; a person thinks that in order to merit a salvation or to sweeten judgments, one needs hard labors, fasts, etc. In truth, the Baal Shem Tov already completely nullified the matter of fasts and hard labors, and this is what Rebbe Nachman 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 G-d." There is a level in the Image of G-d where a person lives in the present, happy with the present, always happy. This is level one, the first level in the Image of G-d. But there is a level in the Image of G-d in its perfection where one needs to know the Torah, to know the mitzvos (commandments), and the laws. But first of all, one needs the first level—to start knowing what the "present" is, to start learning how to live now, how to be happy now, to be happy every moment and second, to feel the present, only the present. Do not think about anything, neither from the past nor from the future. You are here now—alive, healthy, breathing—so rejoice, be happy. Joy without any thought of what will be or what was, and this is "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion" (Pirkei Avot 4:1). Happy every moment, happy every second. You aren't being hit; do you have a cup of tea? What more do you need? What are you lacking? You are thirsty, so drink; you are hungry, so make yourself a slice of bread—feel good! Feel happy, feel fortunate! Do not worry about what was, do not worry about what will be. Be in the height of happiness; in this way, you will receive everything. The moment a person lives in the present, he fulfills "Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion," and from this joy, he will receive everything—all the salvations—and reach all the levels in the world.

The test of a Jew is to be in joy always; this is the main test, because every single person must go through trials, descents, and ascents until the end of life. And the main strengthening in joy is during the time of the descent, during the time of the trial—believing that he will emerge from the descent.

There is a shocking story, a terrible story in Kochvei 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 this village or the whole country who can buy the diamond from you." Therefore, he decided to travel to London. He sold his house, all his rags, his broken furniture, and the money was only enough to reach the port. When he arrived, a ship captain found him and asked, "What are you doing wandering around here?" He said, "I have a precious stone, a diamond," and showed him the diamond. The captain was stunned and said to him, "If you have such a thing, board the ship immediately; no money is needed, don't pay anything." He arranged a luxurious room for him, a luxurious bed, and three meals a day.

One of the days 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 single second. The waiter entered and cleared the table, taking the diamond along with all the dirt and waste; he took everything and shook it out into the sea. When the man woke up, he was in shock. He almost 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! Then the Jew decided that he must strengthen himself in joy with all his might, with superhuman strength. He strengthened himself with all his power to rejoice and smile. After five minutes, the captain entered. The Jew gave him such a smile, started laughing and dancing; he made such movements of joy, he became the happiest person. The captain had never seen him so happy.

In truth, the Jew knew he could only hold onto this joy, this happiness, for a short time; soon his heart would start pounding again. 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 to see where the goods came from. Therefore, you are a merciful Jew—come, have mercy on me. Let the whole ship, with all the goods, all the gold and diamonds, be in your name. I trust you; you are a great, successful merchant, you have a diamond here that is worth a lot." He registered everything in the Jew's name. They just reached the port, and even before they got off the ship, the captain had a stroke, a brain event, and all the property on the ship—all the millions, all the gold—everything passed into the possession of the Jew.

Our Rebbe [Nachman] innovated a completely new concept—know that 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 being happy, dancing, and singing, then everything turns around for 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 be happy, sit outside on the steps, make smiles, make movements of joy, practice, and then enter the house with a happy face, with a radiant 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 all the time "everything is for the good." This is his test. If he says "this too is for the good" about 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, G-d forbid. Do not wait for there to be a trouble and then to be released from the trouble—and then, when released from the trouble, one is already obligated to thank, to sing, to bring a thanksgiving offering. Rather, let us always rejoice, always sing to Hashem, always recognize the greatness of Hashem. "Let every soul praise Hashem" (Psalms 150:6)—with every breath, praise Hashem. You are breathing? Start to rejoice. For every breath, one needs to sing. Do not wait for trouble, because if you rejoice and sing to Hashem and thank Hashem, then troubles will not even arrive.

The main work is not to be in sadness (atzvus) for even a single second, because there is no reason to be in sadness. One must believe that every Jew is capable of reaching every good thing, physically and spiritually, every success in the world. There is a matter of rejoicing in the fact that "He did not make me a gentile," that He made me a Jew—thank Hashem, I merited to keep Shabbat, I merited to put on Tefillin (phylacteries). Rejoice that you merited to pray; it is like you found a diamond worth millions. One must always draw joy upon himself, endless joy. If you don't know what to rejoice about? You should rejoice that Hashem created us as Divine beings; this is the greatest joy.

"Let Israel rejoice in its Maker; let the children of Zion exult in their King" (Psalms 149:2). Let us rejoice with Hashem, that Hashem created us—"and we are His people and the sheep of His pasture" (Psalms 100:3). Hashem created us for His glory—"Blessed is He, our G-d, Who created us for His glory and separated us from those who err." Let us rejoice that Hashem created us for His glory, that we should learn, that we should pray, so 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 nullify all the decrees and all the troubles. So what is left for you? Start to rejoice in Hashem, rejoice with Hashem, only with Hashem—with Hashem you can rejoice! He is living and enduring, Hashem is for all eternity, 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.