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What’s said in this shiur
The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.
Shalom and warm greetings. Judaism presents a fascinating demand. Serve God with joy. This means that every Jew is expected to be joyful at all times. In the book or sadikim, paths of the righteous. A powerful question is raised. How can you demand of a person not to fear if he's genuinely afraid? How can you demand of a person to be happy when in reality he feels anything but that? but that? There are many actions you can ask of someone. Concrete behaviors that are within their control. But emotions, how can someone be commanded to feel something, be happy, don't be afraid? Every person wants to achieve these emotional heights. And yet, Judaism takes this demand so seriously that there's even a strong rebuke in the Torah for failing to serve God joyfully. As Mymones explains regarding the verse, As Mymones explains regarding the verse, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, this failure can lead to severe consequences. Interestingly, there are only two times a year when we're told to adjust the level of our joy. When the month of Av enters, we reduce our joy. Note, it doesn't say to be sad, just to dial down the joy. When the month of Adar enters, we increase our joy. This raises an important and pressing This raises an important and pressing question, especially in difficult times. When someone is going through personal suffering, hardship or distress, when the Jewish people as a whole are in crisis, how can anyone be expected to feel joyful despite everything? The sadikim explains, "God wants the Jewish people and humanity as a whole to live with joy. Serve God with joy is not a demand for God's own benefit like some cruel ruler seeking power.
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- 0:00Shalom and warm greetings. Judaism presents a fascinating demand. Serve God with joy. This means that…
- 4:38simple and powerful. A child feels that he is the center of the world. He has…
- 9:45no soul level uniqueness. So the Talmud teaches that God made us different, not just in…
- 14:54raises an important question. Why do we only celebrate the clouds of glory with the holiday…
- 20:00warhead. He walks up and asks the first man, "What are you doing?" The man replies,…
- 25:05whose motto was Gamu Ltova. This too is for the best. No matter what happened to…
- 29:45for the good. We humans tend to think life starts at birth and ends at death.…
- 34:51clarity, to purpose, and to God. Music has the power to touch the most sensitive strings…
- 40:00does the soul feel such pleasure when a person hears music? What is it about melody…
- 45:08If you ask even the best dancer to perform without music, he might say, "What am…
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