Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli, Head of the Yeshiva: Chizuk for the 12th of Elul

The following is based on Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli's 12th of Elul (Hebrew) Chizuk video.

Serving Hashem with Joy and the Power of Repentance

During these days of the month of Elul, when a person engages in repentance (teshuva) to merit a good year with the help of Hashem, there is an immense joy in fulfilling complete repentance and walking in the ways of Hashem. It is a very great privilege.

As written in the weekly Torah portion: "Because you did not serve Hashem your L-rd with joy and gladness of heart." Blessings come when a person serves Hashem with joy. In Sha'arei Teshuva (Gate 4), Rabbeinu Yonah writes that the service of Hashem must be performed with joy. He explains that all the curses written in the Torah portion come as a direct result of lacking this joy.

The Rambam (Maimonides) states a similar concept in the Laws of Sukkah and Lulav. He writes that the joy a person experiences in performing commandments and in loving the Holy One, blessed be He, Who commanded them, is a supreme service. Anyone who refrains from this joy deserves punishment, as serving Hashem with joy represents the ultimate goal of human perfection. If one serves Hashem sluggishly or with sadness, it is like a servant bringing an offering to his master lazily, causing the master to reject it. Serving Hashem with joy demonstrates true appreciation of the privilege.

The Mishnah Berurah notes that the supreme spiritual levels achieved by the Ari (Rabbi Isaac Luria) were attained through the power of joy in performing mitzvot. For fulfilling commandments with joy, one receives a unique reward beyond the standard reward for the commandment itself. Prophecy similarly rests only through joy, as expressed in the verse: "And it came to pass, when the minstrel played..."

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter taught that conquering the evil inclination occurs only when a person is joyful in the service of Hashem. Joy provides necessary spiritual vitality. As the verse states: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who goes along weeping, carrying the bag of seed, shall come back with shouts of joy." Reb Zusha of Hanipol explained that one who serves Hashem with heaviness and grief receives small seeds as a reward, whereas one who serves Hashem with song reaps full sheaves and receives great abundance. King Shlomo similarly states in Kohelet: "So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works."

Rabbi Aaron of Karlin taught that sadness leads to all sins and trials, causing a severe neglect of Torah study. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein shared an observation from his early years in America when making a living was difficult. Some families kept the Sabbath with sorrow and heaviness, and their children struggled spiritually. Conversely, in families where the father celebrated the Sabbath with warmth and joy, the children turned out well. Joy in the home is essential for success.

Cleansing the Heart to Connect with Hashem

The Torah portion states: "This day Hashem your L-rd commands you to perform..." How can a person be commanded to love Hashem if love is an emotion that cannot be forced?

When a person performs complete repentance, a natural love for Hashem is awakened. This process can be understood through a parable of a piece of wood split into two. To join the two pieces back together smoothly, one must first sand away the dirt on the surface. As long as dirt remains, the pieces cannot bond. Similarly, to connect to Hashem and cleave to Him in love, a person must clean away the spiritual dirt through repentance.

Love of Fellow Jews and Protection from Curses

Regarding the 98 curses listed in the Torah portion, the Ari notes that the first letters of the verse "And Moshe commanded the people on that day, saying" (U'tzav Moshe et ha'am ba'yom hahu le'mor) spell the word Me'ahavah ("From love"). This teaches that when people love one another and rejoice in their fellow man, they are saved from all curses. The holy Zohar explains that the exile occurred due to baseless hatred (sin'at chinam). The Hebrew word Chinam has the numerical value (gematria) of 98 (Tzach), corresponding directly to the 98 curses.

Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky related that in his youth, the Chafetz Chaim visited the town of Krynki during a grueling fundraising journey to support the yeshivas he had established, which were suffering from severe poverty. The hall in Krynki was so densely packed that the people had to carry the frail, elderly Chafetz Chaim on a chair over their heads to reach the podium.

The Chafetz Chaim spoke with complete devotion, citing the Gemara in Kiddushin which states that a person's judgment after 120 years begins with words of Torah—specifically regarding how much one studied and how much one supported Torah scholars. He quoted the Jerusalem Talmud cited by the Ramban on the verse: "Cursed is he who does not uphold the words of this Torah to perform them." Rabbi Yosi explained that even if a person learned, taught, preserved, and performed the Torah, if he had the financial ability to support Torah study and failed to do so, he is included in this curse. The Chafetz Chaim wept, asking what people would answer on the Day of Judgment if they came empty-handed, and the entire gathering wept with him.

Every morning at home, the Chafetz Chaim would recite Nishmat Kol Chai, translating every single word into Yiddish with immense joy. Afterward, he would go to his wife and emphasize the need to thank Hashem daily for their good children, their daughter-in-law, and their livelihood, doing everything with gladness.

Rabbi Galinsky recalled that the Chafetz Chaim cautioned against arriving at the Heavenly Court with merely "a pinch of snuff tobacco"—meaning minimal spiritual accomplishments despite great effort. He illustrated this with a story of a traveler who walked long distances to a major fair in Bialystok and returned boasting of a great acquisition, only to pull out a single pinch of scented tobacco. The Chafetz Chaim wept at the idea of a person traversing an entire lifetime in this world only to bring back trivialities.

The Sages mention that Nakdimon ben Gurion provided water for festival pilgrims and distributed charity generously, yet the Sages noted that he did not give enough relative to his immense wealth. A person is expected to give according to the capacity Hashem gave him. When one performs deeds with joy, Heaven grants deliverances, and all promised blessings overtake him.

Overcoming Challenges with Joy and Recognizing Divine Goodness

The verse states: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you." Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky noted an allusion here: often when a person rises to wealth or success, he becomes distant and unreachable. The Torah specifies that the blessings will "overtake you," meaning the individual remains accessible and grounded. Furthermore, blessings pursue a person even when he flees from them out of fear that receiving reward in this world might deduct from his reward in the World to Come. Hashem ensures that the primary reward remains preserved for the World to Come while still bestowing goodness in this world.

This principle of trusting that Hashem only bestows good is illustrated by the story of a simple, poor man whose wife urged him to buy a fish from the market. Finding only one strange-looking fish left, he bought it at a deep discount. When he took it home and cut it into slices, he discovered a precious pearl inside.

Upon bringing the pearl to a merchant, the merchant shared a story about his own father, who had been gravely ill. A doctor instructed the father to pitch a tent by the riverbank for fresh air. Though reluctant, the father moved his tent several times along the riverbank. At the final spot, driving the tent peg into the ground opened a hidden hollow containing a chest full of pearls, making him wealthy. Though many had pitched tents there over the years, the reward was designated specifically for him through divine providence. When a person acts with joy and faith, light and salvation ultimately emerge.

Stories of the Sages on Joy and Commandments

The Ya'arot Devash writes that man's ultimate purpose is to be in joy, particularly in the performance of mitzvot. It is told that whenever the Chafetz Chaim engaged in self-reckoning (chesbon nefesh), his primary concern was evaluating whether he had served Hashem with sufficient joy.

A story is told regarding the Chatam Sofer. A wealthy man once came to repay a large debt to him and, as a token of appreciation, offered him a very expensive diamond ring. The Chatam Sofer took the ring, looked at it with admiration, and praised its beauty. His students were astonished, wondering how he could accept something that might constitute forbidden interest (ribbit). The Chatam Sofer then returned the ring to the man, stating that the Torah forbids taking interest and that he could not accept it.

When asked why he examined and admired the ring in the first place, the Chatam Sofer explained that he had learned this approach from his teacher, Rabbi Natan Adler. Once, when Rabbi Natan Adler was unwell, he set out on a winter journey for a great mitzvah. Mid-way, heavy snow stopped the wagon, and the driver stated the horses could not continue. Rabbi Natan Adler gave the driver extra money to hire an additional animal. When the driver returned and hitched the animal, Rabbi Natan Adler suddenly leaped out of the wagon into the snow—losing his shoes in the process—and began dancing joyously.

When the Chatam Sofer asked him why he was dancing in the freezing snow, Rabbi Natan Adler explained that the driver had hitched an ox alongside a horse to pull the wagon. By noticing this, they avoided the biblical prohibition of—"Thou shalt not plow with an ox and a donkey together." Rabbi Natan Adler rejoiced deeply at the rare opportunity to actively fulfill and be saved from that specific prohibition. The Chatam Sofer explained that he similarly rejoiced at the rare opportunity to fulfill the commandment of avoiding interest (ribbit), as opportunities to turn down such an offer rarely occur in daily life.

Another anecdote involves a dirt-poor man who found a valuable gold chain that could have settled all his debts and bought him a home. Instead, he overcame his financial hardship to fulfill the commandment of returning lost property (Hashavat Aveidah). After locating the owner, he went to a restaurant, bought 30 meals, brought them to the synagogue, and invited everyone to celebrate the immense privilege of returning the lost object to its owner.

In Remembrance of the Righteous

Today marks the anniversary of the passing (yahrzeit) of Rabbi Moshe Chai Gagin, son of Rabbi Chaim Gagin. Rabbi Chaim Gagin served as the first Rishon LeZion.

Here in the yeshiva, we preserved the holy prayer book (siddur) of Rabbi Moshe Chai Gagin, handwritten by him, which contained the mystical intentions (kavanot) of the Rashash. That holy manuscript possessed a distinct, heavenly scent of the Garden of Eden (rei'ach Gan Eden) whenever it was opened during prayers.

Today also marks the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Menachem Menashe, author of the work Ahavat Chaim. Originally from Turkey, he was a righteous scholar who dedicated his life to prayer, mitzvot, and acts of devotion. May the merits of these righteous sages protect and bless all of Israel.