Fun

I was once watching a video for children about the Makkos with my children. The lady describing the Makkos kept saying "It wasn't fun". I was thinking-  that's all?? It just "wasn't fun". Isn't it WORSE than that?? 

Then I realized. In our culture - everything is about fun!! Life is to have "fun". The WORST thing that you can say about the Makkos is that - רחמנא ליצלן - they weren't FUN!!! 

How do you say "fun" in לשון הקודש? There is NO WORD for fun! הלא דבר הוא. [In Modern Hebrew they say "כיף" which is actually an Arabic word!!] Because in the world of Kedusha, fun is not a "thing". 

So yes - at times we need "fun" [חיים של חילוץ עצמות], we need it for Simchas Chaim etc. but that is not a goal. 

There is worse in life than merely "not fun".