The founder of the Tolna chasidic dynasty, Rebbe Dovid ztz"l stressed simcha. One visitor to Tolna remarked "Whoever didn't see the simcha in Tolna during the 9 days, never saw simcha in his life. Whoever didn't see the fear in Skver during simchas torah, never saw fear in his life" [Skver was a SERIOUS place:)].
A true story about him: One day a non-jewish journalist was walking down the street in England when he saw a VERY OLD man RIDING A BIKE. He smelled a scoop so he approached the man and asked him "Excuse me, but how old are you?" "One hundred and eleven years" was the answer. "What do you eat?" The journalist wondered.
"My old age has nothing to do with my diet. When I was a little boy of about 3 I lived in a small town in the Ukraine called Tolna. I was in the synagogue and they were reading the Torah. Suddenly they came to a letter which was not clearly written. According to Jewish law when there is a doubt about a letter in a Torah scroll they ask a child to read the the questionable letter [because he doesn't know what the letter is supposed to be, he will innocently read it. An adult will automatically read the letter as it should be, not necessarily as it is]. If he reads the letter as it should be read, the Torah scroll is kosher. So they called me up and I read the word correctly rendering the Torah kosher. The Rabbi there was a Holy Man named R' Dovid'l. He was so happy that I made the Torah kosher that he put his two hands on my head and blessed me. "You should live and live and live and live!!!"
This man's story and accompanying photograph appeared in an English newspaper.
"My old age has nothing to do with my diet. When I was a little boy of about 3 I lived in a small town in the Ukraine called Tolna. I was in the synagogue and they were reading the Torah. Suddenly they came to a letter which was not clearly written. According to Jewish law when there is a doubt about a letter in a Torah scroll they ask a child to read the the questionable letter [because he doesn't know what the letter is supposed to be, he will innocently read it. An adult will automatically read the letter as it should be, not necessarily as it is]. If he reads the letter as it should be read, the Torah scroll is kosher. So they called me up and I read the word correctly rendering the Torah kosher. The Rabbi there was a Holy Man named R' Dovid'l. He was so happy that I made the Torah kosher that he put his two hands on my head and blessed me. "You should live and live and live and live!!!"
This man's story and accompanying photograph appeared in an English newspaper.
He writes [Magen Dovid Vayeilech] "The primary trait of tzadikim is to be connected to Hashem with love and joy."
Elsewhere he write [Birkas Dovid Behar] "The main spiritual arousal is to be constantly strengthened in simcha and faith at all times and to speak a lot of Torah and to connect to Klal Yisrael. The most important thing is simcha in the heart as it says 'Raise your heart in the ways of Hashem' even if one is feeling down."
A story I heard fron his great great [double entendre] grandson, the present Rebbe Shlita:
Reb Dovid'l was once מקרב a fellow who had committed the horrible sin of having relations with a married woman [what made it worse was that she wasn't married to him]. A certain Rov noticed this and asked him why he is being so nice to this rasha. Reb Dovid'l answered that this person is a HAPPY PERSON. That being the case, one day his yetzer tov will grab him and he will do teshuva. He is better than an unhappy person who hasn't committed such a sin. An unhappy person thinks he is a frum person. He thinks that he is serving Hashem and he is really not.
The pasuk in tehilllim says עצביהם כסף וזהב מעשה ידי אדם. The simple meaning is that avoda zara of gold and silver is made by man. But Reb Dovid'l explained עצביהם - Do you know why people are sad [בעצבות]? Because כסף וזהב מעשה ידי אדם people think that the money is theirs and they are NERVOUS! But it's not!! It's all Hashem's. So there is nothing to be sad about.
Don't worry about money!!!:-)
The pasuk in tehilllim says עצביהם כסף וזהב מעשה ידי אדם. The simple meaning is that avoda zara of gold and silver is made by man. But Reb Dovid'l explained עצביהם - Do you know why people are sad [בעצבות]? Because כסף וזהב מעשה ידי אדם people think that the money is theirs and they are NERVOUS! But it's not!! It's all Hashem's. So there is nothing to be sad about.
Don't worry about money!!!:-)
In another place [Kehilas Dovid Vayakhel] "Even though one is happy it should be with Hashem as it says 'Ivdu es Hashem bi-simcha'. But when one is happy and forgets G-d he falls into all sorts of filthy places and heresy."
The way to reach joy is to be humble. If one is arrogant then the whole world turns into his enemy whereas one who is humble sees the value in everybody else and doesn't worry about his own honor and what people think of him.
In this weeks parsha it say "בזאת יבוא אהרן אל הקודש"- With "this" Aharon should go into the holy. What is "this"? Explained R' Dovid'l: The Rabbis say מאד מאד הוי שפל רוח" - One should be of a very very low spirit [i.e. humble]. מאד מאד is the gematria of מים water, and the Rabbis teach us [taanis 7] that water goes from a high place to a low place. בזאת is the gematria of שפל [humble]. Through humility one enters the holy.
We should ALL have a shabbos of Light and Joy.
[Li-zchus my beloved friend, Rebbe Yosef Ezra ben Esther and his whole family]
