05 Sep MULTIPLYING OUR MITZVAHS FOR THE NEW YEAR

As we approach closer
and closer to the Day
of Judgment, we are
earnestly trying to find
ways to upgrade our
mitzvah output for
the coming year. We
understand that in order
to make a strong case for
a better New Year, we
need to show Hashem how we are going to be
better. I’d like to share with you an idea on
how to swell our mitzvah total exponentially.
The Orchos Tzadikim, one of the pillars of
mussar study, writes the following powerful
rule: A mitzvah done with happiness and joy
is worth a thousand times more in the eyes
of Hashem than a mitzvah performed as a
burden, as something that needs to be checked
off a to-do list. This means that we can
convert a routine mitzvah into a bonanza of
one thousand mitzvahs with a correction and
alteration of our attitude.
Chazal give us the directive, “Ivdu es
Hashem b’simcha – Serve Hashem with joy.”
A professional recruiter will tell you that
one of the things they look for before hiring
a potential employee is to see whether they
enjoy their work. After all, a happy worker
is a more productive worker. Hashem wants
us to be happy constituents. The great B’hag

counts the mitzvah of being happy as one of
the 613 mitzvahs. He bases this on the verse,
“V’samachta b’chol hatov asher nosan l’cha
Hashem Elokecha ul’veisecha – You should
rejoice with all of the good that Hashem has
given to you and to your household.”
I once heard the great Rabbi Noach Weinberg,
zt”l, zy”a, ask, “Why do we need a mitzvah
to be happy? Happiness is the universal
quest.” He profoundly answered that there
are two novelties in this Torah command.
Firstly, as being happy is an official mitzvah,
it means that everyone – no matter their life
circumstances – can attain happiness, for
Hashem does not ask from anyone what they
cannot do. Secondly, since it is a mitzvah to be
happy, it falls within the purview of the yeitzer
hara, the evil inclination, to thwart us from its
fulfillment. If it wouldn’t be a mitzvah, the
yeitzer hara wouldn’t get involved. But now
that simcha is a Torah command, like by any
other mitzvah, the yeitzer hara tries to frustrate
us from fulfilling it. This explains why we see
so many unhappy people walking around. By
striving to do our mitzvahs with a happy zest,
we can make an excellent case to Hashem
that we plan on multiplying our mitzvahs a
thousand fold.
We must know that it is natural to be
happy when fulfilling the mitzvahs, as the
verse declares, “Pikudei Hashem yesharim,

m’samchei lev – The commandments of
Hashem are upright and they gladden the
heart.” It’s only the yeitzer hara that fools
us and makes us think that we have so many
better things to do. For example, the yeitzer
hara tell us to daven our minchas and maarivs
quickly so we can run to get on with the
business of life!
Rav Eliyahu Rota, zt”l, zy”a, once asked
a kollel yungerman if he would agree not
to put on tefillin one day in exchange for a
hundred thousand shekalim. When the man
answered quickly, “Of course not,” Rav
Rota persisted, “What about for a million?”
When the yungerman once again insisted
that he wouldn’t do it for all of the money
in the world, Rav Rota turned the tables and
said, “Then when you do put on the tefillin,
you should feel happier than if you received
a million shekalim.” This is indeed the
sentiment of the verse, “Tov li Toras picha,
mei’alfei zahav v’chesed – It is better for me,
the Torah of Your mouth, than thousands of
coins of gold and silver.”
It’s been said that the letters of the word
b’simcha, in happiness, are the same letters
as the word machshava, thought, because
happiness depends on one’s attitude. If we
work on realizing that acts of kivud av v’eim,
honoring our parents, or v’simach es ishto,
gladdening our wives, or nosan titen, giving

tzedaka give us endless years of bliss in the
world to come, we will be happier than if we
had won the lottery.
In the merit of trying to do our mitzvahs
joyfully, may Hashem bless us with a sweet
New Year of good health, happiness, and
everything wonderful.