What does it mean to serve Hashem with joy?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau explains King David’s words “Ivdu es Hashem b’simcha” with a picture of a king. “A miserable person can obey a ruler, but a king is crowned by people who are happy they chose him.”
Joy, then, is not an extra. “Joy is a part of the campaign.” Your joy tells the world, “I didn’t just obey Him, I chose Him.”
That is why it matters so much in front of others, and especially in front of children. Nobody wants to join a miserable movement, he says, but if your beliefs make you alive and your mission gives you energy, people feel it.
Related concepts: Spirituality · The influence you already have
In A Soul at Peace: Serving Hashem with Joy
Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Joy is part of serving Hashem, not decoration on top of it.
Deepest human truth
A ruler can be obeyed by miserable people, but a king is crowned by people happy to choose him. Joy says: I chose Him.
More questions from this teaching
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