THE SPECIAL SEGULA OF SIMCHA

…what more can be done that hasn’t already been done?!…

We could say that the thing which still wasn’t done in order to bring Moshiach is – the desired service of simcha [joy] in order to bring Moshiach.

Dear Reader sh’yichyeh,

A gutten Chodesh! We are now beginning the new month of Adar Rishon – the first of the two Adars that we have this year. In the sichos of the Rebbe – especially in the year 5752 – the Rebbe teaches us that this special month is very connected to Moshiach. 

The following are some of the ideas discussed by the Rebbe:

1) The reason for a leap year in the Jewish calendar is to match the lunar calendar with the solar calendar. This is done so that Pesach will fall out in the spring season. This reminds us of the prophecy that the Navi Yeshayahu (30:26) says about the time of Moshiach, “And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of the seven days, on the day the Lord shall bind the fracture of His people, and the stroke of their wound He shall heal.”

2) When you have a “double Adar” year, you have 60 days of Adar. There is a famous halachic principle called “Bittul B’Shishim – nullified in 60.” An example of this rule is, if a drop of milk falls into a pot of chicken soup which has sixty times the amount of the drop of milk, the drop of milk becomes nullified. In other words, the number “60” demonstrates something potent enough to annul something else. This shows us that we can use the power of the 60 days of Adar to nullify this exile!

3) The Gemara tells us that “When the month of Adar begins, joy increases.” We know that this applies to the first Adar as well. And in general, being joyful helps bring Moshiach, as Chazal note, that the word ישמח (being joyful) has the same letters as משיח (Moshiach).

Let us review the words of the Rebbe (summer 5748):

“There is no explanation why Moshiach hasn’t come: it is certain that every Jew has done t’shuva; the T’hillim of Dovid Malka Meshicha have been recited in the greatest quantity; many farbrengens have been held; the spreading of the wellsprings [of Chassidus] has been going on since the Baal Shem Tov, more than seven generations […]

If so, the question is asked: what more can be done that hasn’t already been done?!…

We could say that the thing which still wasn’t done in order to bring Moshiach is – the desired service of simcha [joy] in order to bring Moshiach.

In addition to the fact that “simcha breaks all limitations,” including the limitations of galus [exile], there is a special segula [hidden power] in simcha to bring the geula – as explained that Hashem’s simcha atzmis [true, essential joy] will come with the building of the 3rd Bais HaMikdash, and we awaken this simcha atzmis through simcha shel mitzva, that the simcha shel mitzvah reaches higher than the mitzvah itself, and through it davka we awaken the simcha atzmis of the Time to Come.

Even though there was certainly simcha shel mitzvah in all the previous generations, since simcha shel mitzvah is a fundamental matter in serving Hashem, as it is written “serve Hashem with simcha”, and “you served Hashem your G-d with simcha and goodness of heart”…nonetheless, in any case, in simcha shel mitzvah the main emphasis on the way of doing the service, that the service needs to be with simcha, and if we are speaking here about the simcha to bring Moshiach it is – on the simcha itself pure simcha, the service of simcha for the sake of the goal and tachlis of the coming of Moshiach.

Since this is so, then we find that the way to bring Moshiach is by adding in simcha, pure simcha, simcha that will immediately bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu.

How could it be that over all the generations they didn’t make an effort to bring Moshiach with simcha? They did all they could do to bring Moshiach, even crushing the Crown Jewel in the king’s crown, etc. [a metaphor for the teachings of Chassidus], in order to get a drop in the King’s mouth[…]

We could say as a simple explanation that when we are found in the doubled and redoubled darkness of galus, when all Yidden are in galus, and the Sh’china is in galus, it is understood that due to the amount of pain of galus, that pure simcha is not relevant.

Nevertheless, since in the end we are obligated to bring Moshiach—there is no choice but to bring Moshiach through simcha, pure simcha.

Regarding the difficulty to bring about a feeling of pure simcha in the darkness of galus—since we are obligated to bring Moshiach Tzidkeinu, then we must say that at the end of galus mamash—they give the special powers to be able to have pure simcha, and the explanation—this simcha is generated by contemplating that mamash immediately Moshiach is coming, and then the entire world will be in ultimate simcha, and therefore, there is already a feeling of pure simcha (a taste and sampling of the simcha of the geula).

And the main thing – that instead of lengthy discussion, etc., they will begin to actually do it: to go out and declare and announce about the special increase in simcha in order to bring Moshiach, and certainly through this Moshiach will actually come mamash, and with the greatest alacrity, “in the blink of an eye.” 

Rabbi Avtzon is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Lubavitch Cincinnati and a well sought after speaker and lecturer. Recordings of his in-depth shiurim on Inyanei Geula u’Moshiach can be accessed at http://www.ylcrecording.com.