There is No Bad at All!

The whole world is searching for happiness, not just short-term thrills. Yet, genuine happiness is probably the rarest commodity in the world. Few find it. Why? The only genuine road to happiness is emuna – nothing else leads there. Money? Without emuna, money can’t bring happiness. Plenty of rich people are miserable. Fame? How many famous people are miserable with envy of others who might be more famous than them? That doesn’t bring happiness either. Only emuna!

People don’t know where they’re going or what they’re doing on earth. Those whose goal is money or fame suffer constantly for they rarely accomplish their goals. On the other hand, if a person would know the purpose of life – that his soul came down here to earn its closeness to Hashem – he’d never be sad or depressed. Why? Hashem designates each of our individual paths in life; although that path may be rocky, still it leads to Hashem. So, if a person would look at the place where his path leads to, he’d never be depressed, no matter how many trials and tribulations are strewn along that path. His path leads to Hashem! That’s what gave Joseph the Tzaddik the inner strength to dance in prison. Not a modern prison with gyms and TV, mind you, but an Egyptian prison, a horrific dungeon!

No soul enjoys a free ride. The soul, despite the fact that it basks in Divine light, has no enjoyment before it descends to this world because it didn’t earn its place. Hashem enables the soul to descend to this physical world, where it pursues a path that leads to Hashem and helps it earn its rightful proximity with Hashem. In that way, there’s truly no bad in the world because everything on a person’s path is designed to bring him closer to Hashem.

Last week, I had one of the happiest experiences in my life. One of my students – a businessman – invested in a multi-million-dollar project with his two partners. They were “taken to the cleaners”, for they lost over three million dollars. You know what they did? They had a thanksgiving meal – a seudat hodaya – where they had a feast the likes of which one would only see in King Solomon’s palace. They had a klezmer band too. That ate, drank, and praised Hashem. I never saw anything like it. I was so happy – my student was thanking Hashem for his million-dollar loss…

When Mashiach comes, that will be our reality – people will rejoice equally over the seemingly bad as they will over the good, for they’ll know that everything comes from Hashem and that it’s all for the very best. There is no bad in the world at all!

All those who think that this generation is terrible are wrong. Sure, the yetzer hara – the evil inclination – has deadly weapons like iPhones and Facebook. Yet, there are simple people in this generation who not only overcome the yetzer, but guard their eyes and implement The Garden of Purity. These people are on a higher level than the Tannaim! Our sages of the Gemara said that they were afraid to contend with the things that they knew our generation would have to deal with. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward.

Never in all of history has there been a generation of such yearning for Hashem. Every Baal Teshuva of today is a Rebbe Akiva!

Here’s the big secret: how can anyone overcome the evil inclination of lust, Facebook, iPhones and the internet? The answer is that you can’t overcome them on your own, but you can have the desire to do so. With desire, you earn the brightest light.

The Gemara gives us a an unbending spiritual law: the path in which a person desires to go is the path in which Hashem takes him. If you seek good, Hashem is more than happy to help. Deep down, everyone wants to do teshuva and to be close to Hashem, but they don’t know where to begin. Here’s where to begin: set aside daily time to desire Hashem. “Hashem, I want to get close to You,” Repeat this over and over until you feel the desire like a glow in your heart. Hashem will not only give you wisdom and understanding, but He’ll help you overcome the evil inclination.

You have tremendous power! Even if a person finds himself in an abyss of darkness, he has two great powers – desire and emuna! The easiest way to activate those powers is by saying “Thank You” to Hashem. How do you know if you really have desire and emuna? The more you want to pray, the greater are your desire and emuna – that’s the indication. No one said that prayer is easy – it’s work. That’s exactly what our sages called it – avodat hatefilla – the work of prayer. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says that prayer is the manifestation of desire. Let’s all fuel our desires, and let’s spread emuna far and wide, amen!