WATCH: People recall the BEST advice they received about happiness

I asked in a private audience, “How is it possible to be joyful, always?” The Rebbe said, “You should know that the soul of a Jew is a veritable part of God. So that being so, how is it possible <i>not</i> to be joyful?” In other words, the Rebbe turned it around completely. “You are, by nature. a melancholy type of person. You have to bear this in mind at all times, to be joyful, and for that reason.” There are many ways to serve God, but the ultimate way to serve Him is through joy: when a Jew’s Torah study, prayer and kind deeds are all infused with joy. Moreover, Torah instructs that we must “know God and serve Him in all we do;” our every activity is a service of God, – so <i>everything</i> we do must be infused with joy. I wrote to the Rebbe for a blessing for success. In a nice way, he told me that I should be joyful: “Few pay attention to the ruling in the <i>Code of Jewish Law:</i> ‘One who is cheerful is always feasting.’ The implication of this ruling is that according to Jewish law a Jew must be in a constant state of Joy.” <v Visitor>I’ve made a new wine.</v> You should write a new book! It is written “wine brings joy to God and to man.” But then you need to sit down and use that joy to study Torah, and then complete another book… The work <i>Orach Chaim</i> directs us on how to live. It concludes the <i>Code of Jewish Law</i> with the words:<i> </i> “One with a cheerful heart is always feasting.” May you be example for your students of how a Jew is always happy with the mere fact that he is a Jew. That alone is enough. Then it will bring joy into your service of God. My Mother was here and she told the Rebbe, “We are the Rebbe’s soldiers!” I always told the Rebbe that we are his soldiers… his emissaries… we follow orders. The Rebbe said, “<i>Happy</i> soldiers!” A soldier has to follow orders, but it should be done with joy. The Rebbe told me that the service of God, in whatever form it takes, must be approached with joy and not only with a sense of duty. That is what he asked, to approach it with joy in any situation. Once my husband and my son, Yosef Yitzchak, may he be well, went to receive wine from the Rebbe. They had both not eaten and my husband was downcast – I was in the women’s section. I saw how the Rebbe noticed and gestured, “Be happy!” My husband immediately lit up. The Rebbe had such warmth… When a Jew becomes joyful, it is a good receptacle for additional blessings from God Almighty for his joyful life. This leads to completeness in the Jew’s service of God because Joy breaks all your limitations; the limitations and restrictions imposed by your own intellect, or other factors. The Zohar explains that serving God joyfully evokes a mirror response from Above in the same joyful manner. God’s concealed kindness becomes revealed as evident and obvious good, a good which, in turn, evokes joy. I wrote to the Rebbe everything that happened in my spiritual life. I felt I needed a <i>tikkun –</i> to “repair” my conduct – so I asked for a <i>tikkun</i>… What I should do. The Rebbe said, “Forget the entire matter, including the <i>tikkun</i>. Work on being joyful. Think about joyful things that rejoice the heart.” I had challenges at work, and so on. I came to the Rebbe and told him what was on my heart. The Rebbe looked at me and said, “This is what you need to work on: On a cloudy day you must be as happy as you are when the sun shines brightly.” The Torah instructs us to serve God with joy and gladness. That means that it all depends on a Jew’s willingness to do so. The greater the will the greater the joy.” A Jew’s service of God is complete when the ten faculties of the soul are permeated with true willingness and delight in His service. The service you perform with these faculties is then complete. The Rebbe writes to my father that joy is able to change a person’s entire perspective. Joy can lift up a person – if you do things with joy it helps the work and it helps the way in which it’s done. The Rebbe goes on to point out and say, “Those that have a connection to me, and are doing my work, when they are joyful, it causes me to be joyful, as well.”