Rebbe Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, zy”a, the “Shefa Chaim” of Klausenburg, Romania, was an extraordinary gaon and tzadik. During the Holocaust he suffered the murder of his wife and 11 children and the destruction of his community, and survived numerous death marches and concentration camps. Drawing from his deep reservoir of emunah and purpose, incredible dedication and holy determination, he rebuilt his community in Kiryat Sanz in Netanya and Union City, New Jersey. There, he built Torah institutions such as Mifal haShas and a thriving chassidus.
Throughout his sefarim, the Shefa Chaim stressed the importance and challenge of remaining b’simcha under all circumstances, for true simcha comes as a result of knowing that all is from Hashem.
In the first few days after the liberation, an American rabbi, a chaplain, visited the Rebbe in Föhrenwald DP camp and asked, “Do your disciples, who study with you, have everything they need when they sit and learn with you?”
“I teach them not to need anything,” the Klausenberger replied, “so that they naturally have everything they need.”
One Purim, many years after the war, the Klausenberger Rebbe remarked to one of his outstanding talmidim, “You must be happy today because you’ve learned a lot of Torah… I, though, am just happy about being a Yid. I am b’simcha that my father and mother were Jews and that I was therefore born Jewish…”
***
As we are in the midst of a leap year, this week marks Purim Katan, the 14th of Adar Rishon. While we do not read the Megillah and are not obligated to share mishloach manos until we reach Purim proper, the Shulchan Aruch cites an opinion that one “should” increase in festivity and joy, yet rules that there is no binding halachic obligation to do so. “Nevertheless,” comments the Rema, Rav Moshe Isserles, “one should somewhat increase his joy and sense of festivity in order to fulfill the words of those who are stringent.” Citing a pasuk from Mishlei (15:15), the Rema concludes, טוב לב משתה תמיד—“One who is of ‘good heart’ is festive always.” Thus the Shulchan Aruch comes to a close, the final se’if of the Code of Jewish Law stressing the value of being festive—tamid, always.
The Gra, haGaon Rav Eliyahu of Vilna (“the Vilna Gaon”), juxtaposed this closing teaching of the Rema with the very first comment the Rema makes in the opening clause of Shulchan Aruch. This is the first guideline informing how to begin our day upon waking in the morning; one takes upon himself the attitude that שויתי ה’ לנגדי תמיד, “I have set Hashem before me, always” (Tehillim, 16:8). The Rema writes:
Shivisi is a כלל גדול בתורה, a major principle in the Torah, ובמעלות הצדיקים, and it is among the virtues of the righteous who walk before Hashem… When one takes to heart that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Whose glory fills the earth, is standing over him and watching his actions, as it is stated, “‘Will a man hide in concealment and I will not see him?’—this is the word of God” (Yirmiyahu 23:24), he will immediately acquire yirah, awe, fear and submission before Hashem, and sense this (awe) always.
Furthermore, the Vilna Gaon corrects the text of the Rema to read that Shivisi—knowing that Hashem is before one always—is not just “among” the virtues of the righteous, but it is the “most significant virtue.” It is the cornerstone and foundation of a life of Yiddishkeit and the only way for a person to attain any level of piety.
The Gra would thus bless his talmidim, “You should be blessed to fulfill the shnei t’midim, the two ‘always’ passages”—the tamid in the opening and the tamid in the closing of the Rema’s commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim. To fulfill both t’midim is to unite the equanimity of Shivisi with the constant joy of a lev tov, the joy of simply being alive, of being you.
In the order of pesukim in Tehillim 16, first comes the sentence Shivisi Hashem l’negdi tamid… and then Lachein, samach libi, “Therefore my heart rejoices, my whole being exults, and my body rests secure.” This sequence points to a causality. Shivisi, equanimity, is the product of conscious choice to live with the knowledge that “Hashem is always with me.” When I am secure, and know that I am not alone, my heart can begin to open in joy.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught that the “first tamid,” that of Shivisi, implies yirah, reverence, awe and fear of God, a prerequisite for an appropriate stance in approaching the Ribbono Shel Olam. Once our daily observance and avodas Hashem has been initiated with yirah, then we can reach the “second tamid,” which is ahavah, love, closeness and joy, the natural outgrowth of doing mitzvos. This is the “tamid of Purim Katan.”
In this way, the “two t’midim” reflect a progression: Yirah is the gateway to a life of Torah and mitzvah observance, and this results in a sense of lev tov and simcha.
The Rebbe points out the irony of Purim Katan, a day that has no specific mitzvos attached to it, yet during this day we are encouraged to be in a state of constant joy.
In preparation for the miraculous turnabout and salvation of Purim in one month’s time, we are given Purim Katan. We are blessed with the opportunity to pause and rejoice in our day-to-day Yiddishkeit, for it is “always” good to be b’mishteh—b’mishteh tamid.
In his sefer, Shefa Chaim, the Klausenberger Rebbe explores the sentence “Baruch Mordechai haYehudi…”: “Consider the fact that Mordechai is not given the title nasi or gaon, but simply haYehudi, ‘the Jew’; this is the greatest and most important title of all!”
And simply being a Jew is indeed worthy of celebration all year round!
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the mashpia of OU-NCSY, founder of Tzama Nafshi and the author of “Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuva.” Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Ora and their family.
