Passages From Yemay Moharna"s — Laughter, Dancing, and Joy as Healing

And study in Yemay Moharna"s, part two, paragraph 32. In these words: "And before Mincha I was at first in great sadness, and I told some of my sorrow to R.G. [R' Gedaliah] and R.M. [R' Moshe] mentioned above — and they consoled me a little. And they said: 'Did Rabbainu, of blessed memory, not say that you laugh at the whole world, etc.?' And afterward I and R' Yehudah Eliezer began to laugh — and we intensified in very, very great laughter for a full hour continuously. And through this I made myself glad a little. And this was very greatly needed by me then — beyond all measure." And see also there in paragraph 37, in the middle: "And afterward I remembered that the 15th of Shevat had passed without appropriate joy — and I began to make myself joyful. And there was there R' Yeshayah from Tsherkass [one of R' Noson's companions] — one of the fellowship. And I seized him into the joy — and I danced with him against his will. And at first he was not at all willing — but I compelled him greatly, and he was not able to change my will. And through this — joy was drawn onto him afterward, truly. And as is clarified among us: that at first one needs to compel oneself to joy — and afterward joy comes truly. As I heard explicitly from his holy mouth. And these few dances and this joy on that night were very precious to me — more than gold and pearls. For I had despaired of being joyful at that time — for I had already fallen asleep — and Hashem was my help to come to joy then — which is for me a great thing. For all the time I merit to be in joy — even on an ordinary day — it is very precious to me — a great mitzvah. For Rabbainu, of blessed memory, warned us very greatly to be only always happy, and to compel oneself with all one's strength to always be in joy. And the essential thing is to make oneself joyful specifically through foolish matters, as is clarified among us many times. And through this aforementioned joy — through this we merited to be joyful also on Shabbos Kodesh — for through this too I taught R' Yeshayah the aforementioned to be in joy and dancing on the holy Shabbos. And especially in the matter of the journey to Eretz Yisrael — the joy was a very great essential thing for me. And every small and great joy — little and much — that I had on the way — all were heavenly assistance in order to cause us to merit to come there. And without this — it would have been impossible for me to come there." End of quote — study it well and be precise in these words and you will find rest for your soul. And see also Yemay Moharna"s, part two, paragraphs 165 and 166 — study there well, well.

My dear brother — for the sake of Heaven — remember well what the holy R' Noson, of blessed memory, said in these words: [Yiddish:] "When one is healthy — one must do and do and do. And if one becomes ill, G‑d forbid — one need only fulfill one mitzvah: 'Guard yourselves carefully' [Deuteronomy 4:15 — the commandment to guard one's health, derived from this verse in Talmudic literature] — and put aside scissors and iron." [Hebrew:] (When one is healthy, one must do and do and do. And when one becomes ill, G‑d forbid — there is only one mitzvah left to fulfill: "guard yourselves carefully" — and put aside the scissors and iron.) And remember well what the holy Rebbe writes in the holy Likutay Moharan: the essential healing is through joy. And sadness — G‑d forbid — is the father of all sins and all illnesses, G‑d forbid. And as the holy R' Noson, of blessed memory, writes in Likutay Halachos, Even HaEzer: the entire Torah depends upon what the holy Rebbe says on the verse "and they shall attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee" [Isaiah 35:10] — that one must seize the sorrow and sighing too into the joy — that is: from the very thing the baal davar wants to bring upon him in sadness — with that itself he must make himself joyful. A person as lowly as I — and yet close to such a holy Rebbe who said "a novelty such as I has never been in the world" — one must dance from joy!

[Yiddish:] "My dear, righteous, faithful brother — your entire deficiency is: that you fall into sadness and dark depression. And through this — one falls each time further, G‑d forbid. And one falls asleep completely and entirely. Therefore — for the sake of Heaven — do not allow sadness any approach to you. For sadness is the sitra achra — and G‑d, blessed be He, hates it. And the healing of the Daughter of the King is only through the ten types of melody — with joy. As the holy Rebbe brings in Sipuray Maasiyos, the Seven Beggars: on the sixth day: 'And I will heal her — for I can play before her all ten types of melody.'"