BackService Alone is Not Enough
By: Rabbi Barak Bar-Chaim
The Torah discusses the terrible consequences that will, God forbid, befall the Jewish nation for failing to observe God’s commandments. The Torah, while enumerating these harsh events, states: “…because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when you had an abundance of everything.” (Deuteronomy 28:47)
It seems from this verse that the criticism leveled against the Jewish people extends not only to a lack of observance of the mitzvot, but also to the way the mitzvot are performed. It is as if God is saying: “I gave you tremendous blessings. You should have appreciated the blessings I gave you and channeled that appreciation into performing the mitzvot with joy. Because you did not appreciate the blessings that I gave you and serve Me joyously, I will remove those blessings from you. I hope that you will wake up and learn to serve Me with joy, recognizing the blessings I bestow upon you!”
We are blessed to live in a time of tremendous abundance. We tend to take this abundant blessing for granted and focus on negative things that make us miserable. Let us all make more of a concerted effort to truly appreciate these blessings, and to channel our appreciation into the joyous service of God.
The Talmud (Arachin 11:1) inquires as to the Torah source for the obligation of the Levites to sing songs while offerings are brought in the Temple. The Talmud concludes that it is this very verse that is the source of this obligation, because serving God with happiness and gladness of heart clearly refers to song. Our sages teach us that prayer is the way we serve God in our hearts. Our prayers should, therefore, also be recited joyously with song, love, and appreciation. As we enter the High Holidays, let us focus on serving God in joyous prayer.
May God hear our joyous service and bless us all with a year of blessings, success, and peace. May we then truly appreciate those blessings and use them to serve God with even more joy and fervor.