It is written: “Serve the Creator with joy.” If there is no joy, it is a sign that we are not in spirituality. Bestowal is impossible without joy. It is written in The Book of Zohar that “Shechina is only in the perfect place: not in the place of lack, not in the place of deficiency, not in the place of sorrow, but in the right place, in the place of joy.” Indeed, there is illumination from the presence of the Creator in the corrected place, and this brings joy to a person.
By this sign, it can always be determined whether a person is in spirituality or not. When beginning to study, for a long time a person does not feel the corrections taking place in himself or he perceives them in the opposite form; therefore, he may feel discouraged, irritated, or in disagreement with the changes taking place within.
Here joy is a very significant moment. If a person feels joyless, then his desires do not correspond to the Creator’s. They are opposite to Him. As the desire is being corrected, joy is revealed in it. The stronger and deeper the joy, the greater the upper light, the presence of the Creator, Shechina, is revealed.
If the upper force is ready to be revealed in a person, then joy appears in him first and then the Creator. Joy is an illumination from above, a special power of the light, which manifests itself in response to a prayer, a request to the Creator from below.
When we turn to the Creator with questions and requests, when we want to contact Him, then as a response we receive the light from above that corrects our desires and fills them.
This light first of all brings joy and then all other revelations. Therefore, the Shechina (the presence of the Creator) is revealed only in joy, which manifests itself first.
If I want to achieve bestowal, I must always be in joy. If it is not there, then I need to check myself: where else in me is there still uncorrected egoism that disallows me to reveal the Creator? We do not know whether we are approaching the revelation of the Creator, and therefore, the Kabbalists give us the criterion to test ourselves: am I getting closer to joy or, on the contrary, am I moving away from it every day?
From these movements to a greater or lesser degree of joy, one can judge to what extent one is approaching the revelation of the upper force or moving away from it. After all, joy is a consequence of good deeds, that is, corrections.
In every state one needs to stay in joy because “there is none else beside the Creator”—everything comes from Him. No one can secretly do something bad from the Creator to us. This does not happen—everything comes from above. The Creator stands behind every person and affects us through this theater. If I do not have an egoistic intention to receive, then I will always be in joy. I do not care what the Creator gives me: the main thing is that He continuously takes care of me. I do not weigh what is more pleasant and profitable for me in my egoism, and therefore, I accept everything with joy.
By this sign, one can check oneself: whether we are moving in our groups toward correction and revelation of the Creator, whether we set an example to our friends that we always have to be in joy in order to bring the revelation of the upper force closer.1
Joy is the consequence of what I bestow to my friends, to the Creator, to humanity. Joy is the result of bestowal because by bestowing I become similar to the Creator. Because of my actions, I receive an illumination, which is called joy.
Spiritual joy comes from the fact that through my actions I help the Creator fulfill all of creation. Joy is a consequence of the fact that I, with the help of the Creator, fulfill all of creation and thus bestow pleasure to Him.2
From Lesson 5, Latin America Convention 2019 “Building A Future Society” 5/18/19, Day 2, Serve the Lord with Gladness
From Lesson 5, Latin America Convention 2019 “Building A Future Society” 5/18/19, Day 2, Serve the Lord with Gladness
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