Chapter Fifty-Seven: Always in Joy

A Chassid arrived at Rabbi Yisroel after reading in Rabbenu's books of the great importance of joy in the service of Hashem — that through joy and gladness all the healings for all manner of illnesses in the world are drawn down. And that joy is the essential life-force of a person and the essential holiness of Israel…

Oy yoy yoy — how much we Jews have at every moment and time: Torah and mitzvos! Hashem prepared for us Torah and mitzvos and such a life… Such wealth and such a life — the observance of Torah and mitzvos. For what do we live here — for what are we here? Only to fulfill the Torah and mitzvos!

Women — through what do they merit? What do they have, what kind of life do women have? They must bear children and raise them and learn to educate them in Torah and mitzvos. This is the work we have in this world. We had our holy ancestors — Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov. They gave us the holy Torah where every word is all our life-force — teaching us what we need to do in this world: to bring children and educate them as written in the Torah. To believe in Hashem and in the Torah and mitzvos — to make known to them that they should always be in joy. We have work already — such work!

(Rabbi Yisroel was asked: how is it possible to always be in joy?)

With emunah — only with emunah. This is the essential vessel of joy — only emunah and prayer. Blessed be Hashem — one must rejoice. One must strive with all one's strength to be in joy and thank Hashem who performs such kindnesses with us. We have such kindnesses and such good gifts that are beyond estimation and appreciation — blessed be Hashem.

Our holy Rabbenu is a son of joy — he is only joy. Rav Shlomo Weksler was a holy man. He said: "We have nothing — except the words of the son of joy!" Son of joy — this is Nachman. Rabbi Nachman, son of Simchah [= joy]. Happy are we that we merited to draw close to Rabbenu — he is the joy, he is all our life-force, all our joy. He is everything!

Oy — how much our holy Rabbenu spoke in his holy books of joy — in particular of joy on the holy Shabbos. Our holy Rabbenu says that joy is a healing for the entire body — joy. It is written in the book Likutay Moharan: "It is a great commandment to always be in joy!" Not merely to be in joy — but always, always be in joy. This is a good thing. Such joy, such a life — there is none in all the world. Only with Rabbenu — there is! But outside of Rabbenu — there is none in all the world!

Our holy Rabbenu prepared healings for each person. One word: "It is a great commandment to always be in joy" — in this we already have all the healings in the world!

Our holy Rabbenu is the only one who said "It is a great commandment to always be in joy." A commandment is a great thing. What is the commandment? "To always be in joy." Nu — let us see who wants a great commandment? We have this commandment here and here and here — everywhere. Our holy Rabbenu gave us such a commandment: "It is a great commandment to always be in joy."

What is joy? Joy in Hashem! There is no joy in the world — only the holy Torah and the mitzvos! We have Torah and mitzvos — this is the essential of life, this is joy. Without this there is no life, no joy, nothing.

Joy is the essential life-force of a person — joy! To rejoice: what is there to rejoice about? With the Torah! The Torah is the essential of life — the essential of goodness, the essential of light, the essential of joy. Without the Torah there is no life. Oy — the Torah of the Jewish people, oy — the holy Torah…

Miracles, miracles and wonders that Hashem performs with us — illuminating within us the light of Hashem, the light of truth, the light of emunah. Torah and mitzvos are all our life. And blessed be Hashem — we have this free of charge, as much as we want. Happy are we — this is all our joy, all our life: the Torah and the mitzvos. We are Jews — the people of Torah and mitzvos. There is no other life besides this. To believe in Hashem and the Torah and mitzvos. If not this — no life at all, no world, no food, nothing. We are one people in the world!

The Torah is our life — the essential of our life-force. "For it is your life and the length of your days." We have Torah and mitzvos for every moment, for all our life. Ahh — Shabbos, Pesach, festivals, matzos, Sukkos, tefillin, tzitzis — what we have! All our life, every moment a commandment, commandment, commandment…

Hashem created the world — we are nothing. Hashem gave us a home and everything we need. For what are the homes, for what is the money? Hashem gave us good gifts — rooms in which to serve Hashem, to study and fulfill the Torah and mitzvos. We are one people in the world — a holy people. And Eretz Yisroel is one land in all the world — the Holy Land, the land of Judaism, the Beis HaMikdash. The gentiles — what do they have? They have no life at all!

We can elevate ourselves above all the gentiles, above all the world. We merited to receive the mitzvos, the Shabbos, the festivals, the Torah. There is no goodness in the world like the Torah. Every mitzvah is a possession unlike anything in the world — every mitzvah. Is there greater wealth than this?! We are richer than all the gentiles, richer than all the world. One single mitzvah is worth more than all the world. What do they have?

Hashem loves us — He gives us such gifts worth all the world. We Jews laugh at all the world. No gentile has anything — they have no life at all. And we — blessed be Hashem — we have a commandment every moment. Only "it is a great commandment to always be in joy." What is the joy? That He did not make me a gentile. Yes — one can always be in joy. He did not make me a gentile — this is always joy. Is there a better life than this? "Who did not make me a gentile." "Who gave us His Torah." There will be joy beyond our understanding — there will be such joy…

Nu — strengthen yourself, always strengthen yourself with joy: "It is a great commandment to always be in joy!"

Happy are we that we are Jews — that we believe in the Torah and in the tzadikim. Happy are we, happy are we! How good is our portion and how pleasant our lot. Hashem created us and gave the Torah to the people of Israel. Ahh!

Who can speak and tell of such heroism! The whole world did not want to receive the Torah — there was not — only one people in the world: only a holy people, only the people of Israel. They merited to receive the Torah. We are the Jewish people — the people of Hashem, a holy people, the people of Torah. We are such heroes — that we could receive the Torah!

All the nations, all the world cannot receive the Torah. No nation wanted to receive the Torah. Of all the peoples — only we can receive the Torah, only the people of Israel, only the people of heroes. The essential of heroism is intellect and wisdom. The essential of life is wisdom: "Wisdom gives life to its master."

Hashem gave us the Torah — to know how to live and what we need to do in this world. The Torah teaches us — there are things one must know: what is forbidden and what is permitted, how to live, what to eat. Not like the gentiles — they have nothing: no Torah, no mitzvos, no life, nothing. The gentile all day does not study — he has no time. He must work and eat. He eats straw and it pleases him. He has no worry, no service. He is always only standing and eating and drinking — no more. That is it: a donkey. This is his service. And this is all the world — all the gentiles know nothing. Only give him to eat and drink by day and night — this is everything. For what does he eat, for what does he live, for what did he come to the world? He does not know at all. Without Torah he has no life-force — knows nothing. Such is the life of gentiles.

We — blessed be Hashem — every day and day we bless Hashem and say to Him: "Blessed are You Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe, who did not make me a gentile" — who did not make me a donkey. What is a gentile? A donkey! If we were gentiles we would have no life-force, no thing — he is like a donkey.

Is there anything better than the Torah and mitzvos? Blessed be Hashem — we are Jews, the people of Torah. We are human beings. But all the gentiles — donkeys! They have nothing: no Torah, no mitzvos — only donkeys…

We have the Torah — this is the essential of life, the essential of joy. We must overcome with all our strength to observe the Torah and mitzvos and believe in Hashem and the Torah.

We always speak with Hashem. You want to eat? No — it is forbidden to eat yet. Wait a little — not like a gentile. First one needs water — washing of the hands.

Nu — can one eat now? No — not yet. First one must speak with Hashem: one must bless: "Blessed are You Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." One cannot eat without this. If one eats with a blessing and washes hands as the Torah teaches us — good. If not — go, go!

We make a blessing — this is G-dliness. We bless — that He created this thing. The gentiles do not know what this is. But we always speak with Hashem. When we eat — we speak with Hashem: "Blessed are You Hashem" — that You gave us grapes, that You gave us such gifts. To speak with Hashem always. Hashem gave us grapes and all the fruits — for what? So that we eat and have strength to serve Hashem. And there is also the blessing after eating. We always have something to speak with Hashem — always. Hashem is here speaking with us and hearing us. Hashem gave us the Torah, gave us this, gave us this. He gives and gave and loves us — that we are blessed be Hashem human beings, not donkeys…

Blessed be Hashem — we have what to rejoice about, what to live for: such holy Torah and all the commandments of Hashem. This is true life — eternal life!

Ahh — our life! We have Torah and mitzvos for every moment, for all our life. We always speak with Hashem — we wake from sleep and open our eyes: immediately we speak with Hashem: "I give thanks before You — King who lives and endures — that You restored my soul to me with mercy: great is Your faithfulness."

Nu — we are always ready to speak with Hashem, always. "Blessed are You Hashem who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this time." When we eat matzos, when we dwell in the sukkah — we always pray and speak with Hashem. We are always connected and bound at the root — to the Creator, who chose us, who created us. We have a free telephone to call Hashem — and we always have only one occupation: to study Torah and fulfill the Torah.

Every mitzvah and every word stands and endures forever!

Just as we speak here and it is heard in America — so we speak with Hashem. We speak from here and from Heaven every word and every thought is heard. We have a telephone — Torah and mitzvos. One needs a telephone to know how to put on tefillin, how to make tzitzis, how to observe Shabbos. It teaches us every moment what service we have in this world — how to fulfill the mitzvos. We only need to say: "Blessed are You Hashem…" We are bound to Heaven — to Hashem, to the Torah and mitzvos. Always speaking with Him — by day and by night, always speaking with Him free of charge. Telephone, telephone, telephone…

We are always engaged to speak with Hashem in Torah and mitzvos. When one says Torah — every word, every utterance, every letter: it is such life and such joy as there is none in the world. In the home there is an ark with books — teachings of how to speak with Hashem, how to believe. We speak with Him with the mouth as with a friend. We speak with Him and rejoice with Him that He created us and gave us the Torah: "Blessed are You Hashem who did not make me a gentile. Blessed are You Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe, who chose us from all the peoples and gave us His Torah. Blessed are You Hashem, Giver of the Torah" — to whom? To the people of Israel, the Jewish people. This is a good gift unlike anything in the world! The gentiles have no Torah, no commandment, nothing. Only we — the people of Israel, the people of Torah!

Ho — how many things Hashem performed with me in kindness! I was born in a Jewish home of Torah and mitzvos. The child is just born — immediately they wash his hands. He is a Jew. Hashem said to wash the hands: "Blessed are You Hashem, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning washing of hands."

Always speaking with Hashem — this is all our life-force!

"Blessed are You Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe, who provides me with all my needs." "Blessed are You Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe, who girds Israel with strength." What is strength? Torah is strength — one must be a hero to fulfill the Torah and mitzvos. "The days of our years are seventy years, and if with strength — eighty years." I — blessed be Hashem — am more than a hundred. Blessed be Hashem I live with great joy. "It is a great commandment to always be in joy!" We always have service at every moment…

(Rabbi Yisroel was asked whether the intention of "It is a great commandment to always be in joy" applies also regarding Tisha B'Av.)

Yes — "always" includes also Tisha B'Av. We have such a Rebbi… There will be such joy when the true redemption comes. Ho — there will be great joy throughout the entire world. Only the gentiles will not know what joy is.

Blessed be Hashem — we are Jews, the people of Torah and mitzvos. Soon Mashiach will come and there will be a new world. All, all of Israel, all the Jews will want only to serve Hashem — to study Torah and observe the Torah and mitzvos…