In Adar, we are supposed to be more joyous than usual. How do we do that? Here is a short thought from a new book by Rebbetzin Yemima Mizrachi:
“We live in a joy-challenged society. Today, joy must be learned. It is precisely joy, which everyone treats lightly, that requires serious consideration on our part.
“Joy is sometimes perceived as superficial, while the tragic, the melancholic, is perceived as deep and serious. But that isn’t true. True joy contains great depth. It is a resolution, a decision, a choice.
“Women must choose to be joyful. Women these days expect of themselves to do everything – to work, to educate, to succeed at home and outside the home, to host, to finish everything quickly. I say: Cut yourself much slack, but never give up your joy. A messy bed can be made. A work report can be prepared. But an unhappy woman is worse than all these.
“So, yes, you didn’t tell a bed-time story. You didn’t finish the to-do list. You got angry again. But you forgot to write on your to-do-list the task of smiling and enjoying.
“So choose your tasks properly, decide what to forgo and what not to forgo, but one thing you should never forgo: joy, today, now.
