15 Adar 5783 – Woensdag 8 Maart 2023
Tehillim 84:5
אַ֭שְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵ֣י בֵיתֶ֑ךָ ע֝֗וֹד יְֽהַלְל֥וּךָ סֶּֽלָה׃
Happy are those who dwell in Your house;
they praise Thee forever. Selah.
Initially, you can read that quite literally. The Cohanim and the Levites were literally in the House of Hashem and were allowed to do their work there for Hashem.
In the second instance, you can say the House of Hashem is where He lives. Hashem is everywhere, the whole world is His Dwelling Place, is His Temple. As long as we live in this world, we can do good deeds, do mitzvot, which will be a blessing to us. A blessing because it connects us to Him, a blessing because He will bless us in this world and/or in the world to come.
But are we always happy in this world? We would like to be and we should strive to be. Sometimes when you are sad, you can look back to past joys and cling to them. Sometimes you can put your trust in Hashem and know that even the sorrow or suffering that happens to you will eventually be for the better, and try to draw your joy from that thought.
Rebbi Noson teaches that if you are not happy, you should borrow happiness. (Siach Sarfei Kodesh). But how do you do that? Try to think of as many things as possible that can make you happy.
These thoughts will hopefully “disconnect you for a while” from the sad thoughts you may have. It could be big things you could think about that could make you happy, but better to look for it in small, practical things. Thinking often leads to acting, and thinking about joyful future moments will hopefully lead to actually carrying out these actions, making you feel joy again.
But no matter how we feel, our aim should always be to praise HaShem. When I prayed to Hashem in tears, I felt joy, that I could give my tears to Him. So even in sorrow, you can feel joy.
By Angelique Sijbolts
Sources: Breslov App DayByDay 8-3-2023
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