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Thought for the Day: We Live on the Joy With Which We Do Mitzvos

 [Paraphrased/extracted from The Treasure of Simchas HaMitzvah -- R' Ezriel Cziment]

In the  In the middle of the dire predictions of the rebuke we find in Ki Savo, we are given a clear and explicit reason for all this sorrow (D'varim 28:47):

because you did not serve the Lord, your God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when [you had an] abundance of everything.   תַּ֗חַת אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־עָבַ֨דְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּשִׂמְחָ֖ה וּבְט֣וּב לֵבָ֑ב מֵרֹ֖ב כֹּֽל:

Um... what? And more than that, the Rambam brings this as halachah -- if one doesn't serve HaShem with joy, then he is deserving of all the misfortunes that befall him. That didn't help at all... this is halachah? And we never see that even failure to perform a positive mitzvah comes with punishment at all (I mean, you need to bring an elevation offering, but not a punishment, per se.) Wait... there's more: What does the Rambam mean "he deserves what he gets"; either he is guilty or not, right?

So here's the deal: Chazal tell us (Kiddushin 39b) -- שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא/the reward for doing a mitzvah cannot be experienced in this world (my free -- and quite accurate, thank you -- translation). There is a TftD on this topic from 2021. (You didn't remember?!? Well, I didn't either, but I can search my blog and I had a vague recollection.)

One may ask: Since we are in this world to do mitzvohs, and since we don't get rewarded for doing mitzvohs, in this world, how are we staying alive/connected to this world? The answer to that question is simple: our lives are (literally) fueled by the joy with which we do the mitzvohs. The joy with which one does mitzvohs elevates us and protects us from the ravages of the "natural" world. (More about those quote marks in a future TftD, בעזרת השם.)

The dire predictions of the rebuke are not about punishment, they are about: Don't go swimming right after eating because you could get cramps and drown. Don't smoke because you could get cancer. And that is what the Rambam means by, "well, he deserves what he gets." Not a punishment; a consequence.

And it is an additional chesed of our Creator that doing mitzvos is so much fun!

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