Ross Gay, "Inciting Joy"
But what happens if joy is not separate from pain? What if joy and pain are fundamentally tangled up with one another? Or even more to the point, what if joy is not only entangled with pain, or suffering, or sorrow, but is also what emerges from how we care for each other through those things? What if joy, instead of refuge or relief from heartbreak, is what effloresces from us as we help each other carry our heartbreaks? Which is to say, what if joy needs sorrow, or what Zadie Smith in her essay “Joy” calls “the intolerable,” for its existence?
(א) מִצְוָה גְּדוֹלָה לִהְיוֹת בְּשִׂמְחָה תָּמִיד, וּלְהִתְגַּבֵּר לְהַרְחִיק הָעַצְבוּת וְהַמָּרָה שְׁחֹרָה בְּכָל כֹּחוֹ.
(1) It is a great mitzvah to always be happy, and to make every effort to determinedly keep depression and gloom at bay.
Rebbe Nachman says l'hiyot *b* simcha, not "l'hiyot sameach". Is there a difference from "being in/with happiness" and "being happy"? Is Rebbe Nachman's specific framing more possible in challenging times?
(ב) עַל־פִּי מָשָׁל, שֶׁלִּפְעָמִים כְּשֶׁבְּנֵי־אָדָם שְׂמֵחִים וּמְרַקְּדִים, אֲזַי חוֹטְפִים אִישׁ אֶחָד מִבַּחוּץ, שֶׁהוּא בְּעַצְבוּת וּמָרָה שְׁחֹרָה, וּמַכְנִיסִים אוֹתוֹ בְּעַל־כָּרְחוֹ לְתוֹךְ מְחוֹל הַמְרַקְּדִים, וּמַכְרִיחִים אוֹתוֹ בְּעַל־כָּרְחוֹ שֶׁיִּהְיֶה שָׂמֵחַ עִמָּהֶם גַם־כֵּן;
(2) An analogy: Sometimes, when people are happy and dance, they grab someone standing outside [the circle] who is depressed and gloomy. Against his will they bring him into the circle of dancers; against his will, they force him to be happy along with them.
Business Engagement in Building Healthy Communities, Roundtable on Population Health Improvement; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Institute of Medicine., "Lessons from the Blue Zones"
Stress is part of the human condition, Buettner said, and people in blue zones suffer the same stresses that others do. However, the people living in blue zones have daily rituals that reduce stress and reverse the inflammation associated with stress. Rituals varied and included activities such as prayer, ancestor veneration, napping, and happy hour.
In the blue zones, people have vocabulary for purpose. Buettner described a recent study from Canada that followed 6,000 people for 14 years and found that those people who could articulate their sense of purpose had a 15 percent lower risk of dying. Another study, this one from the National Institute on Aging, found that people who could articulate their sense of purpose were living up to 7 years longer.
How is this related to the Rebbe Nachman quote immediate previous?
-In Blue Zones, people do not "have" less stress--in fact, it may be the opposite: many live in remote locations with challenging geology and limited access to medical care. The big difference is that they have an above-average ability to cope with stress.
-Dr. Archelle Georgiou, in a Ted Talk on her research in blue zones, describes how in Ikaria, every night at dinner people would spontaneously break out into dance. How is this like what Rebbe Nachman said? How does this enable people to literally live longer?
(א) תנן בשלהי תענית (כו ב): משנכנס אב ממעטין בשמחה. ולא פירש לנו התנא במה ממעטין. וכן העתיק הרמב"ם בפרק חמישי מתענית, וכן כתבו הרי"ף והרא"ש. והכוונה ד"ממעטין" כלומר: שלא יעסקו בענייני שמחה כלל.
The following statement appears at the end of the tractate Ta'anit (26b): "From the beginning of the month of Av, one decreases in joy." The tanna does not specify how joy should be diminished. Similarly, the Rambam in Chapter 5 of Hilchot Ta'anit, as well as the Rif and the Rosh, also mention this concept. The intention behind "decreasing" is that one should not engage in any matters of joy during this time.
"The Arukh HaShulchan (“The Table is Set”) is a comprehensive halakhic digest following the order of the Shulchan Arukh, first published in 1884. It traces the origins of laws and customs to their source and discusses the views of legal authorities who wrote after the Shulchan Arukh. It is known for its lenient rulings and is considered an authoritative work; some later authorities give the work preference because its author, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein, was the rabbi of a congregation and therefore was able to combine abstract considerations with a practical understanding of human needs."
This is in the middle of a discussion about Tisha b'Av.
When we have to reduce simcha, we do so by refraining from engaging in ‘matters of simcha’--> what are matters of simcha? How do outside things and the choices we make around them impact our relationship to simcha?
There are times where we are commanded to reduce our simcha…the fact that we have the power to choose to reduce simcha implies that it is also in our power to increase it, and that it functions differently than the emotions of happiness and sadness
Both this text and Rebbe Nachman don't talk about simcha in the sense of "being happy" or "having simcha". They both use language that indicates a relationship to simcha. Why is this difference so important?
(ג) כֵּן יֵשׁ בְּעִנְיַן הַשִּׂמְחָה. כִּי כְּשֶׁאָדָם שָׂמֵחַ, אֲזַי הַמָּרָה שְׁחֹרָה וְיִסּוּרִים נִסְתַּלְּקִים מִן הַצַּד.
(3) It is the same with happiness. When a person is happy, gloom and suffering stand aside.
(ד) אֲבָל מַעְלָה יְתֵרָה – לְהִתְאַמֵּץ לִרְדֹּף אַחַר הַמָּרָה שְׁחֹרָה דַּוְקָא, לְהַכְנִיס אוֹתָהּ גַם־כֵּן בְּתוֹךְ הַשִּׂמְחָה, בְּאֹפֶן שֶׁהַמָּרָה שְׁחוֹרָה בְּעַצְמָהּ תִּתְהַפֵּךְ לְשִׂמְחָה. שֶׁיְּהַפֵּךְ הַמָּרָה שְׁחֹרָה וְכָל הַיִּסּוּרִין לְשִׂמְחָה, כְּדֶרֶךְ הַבָּא לְתוֹךְ הַשִּׂמְחָה, שֶׁאָז מִגֹּדֶל הַשִּׂמְחָה וְהַחֶדְוָה מְהַפֵּךְ כָּל הַדְּאָגוֹת וְהָעַצְבוּת וְהַמָּרָה שְׁחוֹרוֹת שֶׁלּוֹ לְשִׂמְחָה. נִמְצָא שֶׁחוֹטֵף הַמָּרָה שְׁחֹרָה וּמַכְנִיס אוֹתָהּ בְּעַל־כָּרְחָהּ לְתוֹךְ הַשִּׂמְחָה, כַּמָּשָׁל הַנַּ"ל.
(4) Yet greater still is to gather courage to actually pursue gloom, and to introduce it into the joy, such that the gloom itself turns into joy. A person should transform gloom and all suffering into joy. It is like a person who comes to a celebration. The abundant joy and happiness then, transforms all his worries, depression and gloom into joy. We find that he has grabbed the gloom and introduced it, against its will, into the joy, as in the aforementioned analogy.
It's important to see that Rebbe Nachman doesn't minimize the realities of suffering or pretend that it's avoidable. In another part of this text, he says that "every human being is filled with suffering". But he understands that all of these things: joy, gloom, light, darkness, suffering--they're movable pieces. Not only that, but Simcha isn’t about escaping or sidestepping the bad and the ugly to find happiness and joy, but finding meaning and joy right in the mist of the hard. Choosing simcha is choosing to look at wreckage and dare to find beauty.
Is joy accessed, chosen, or found?
עַל הַגְּשָׁמִים, וְעַל בְּשׂוֹרוֹת טוֹבוֹת אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ הַטּוֹב וְהַמֵּטִיב״. עַל בְּשׂוֹרוֹת רָעוֹת אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ דַּיַּין הָאֱמֶת״. בָּנָה בַּיִת חָדָשׁ, וְקָנָה כֵּלִים חֲדָשִׁים, אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרוּךְ … שֶׁהֶחֱיָינוּ וְקִיְּימָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה״. מְבָרֵךְ עַל הָרָעָה מֵעֵין עַל הַטּוֹבָה, וְעַל הַטּוֹבָה מֵעֵין עַל הָרָעָה.
For rain and other good tidings, one recites the special blessing: Blessed…Who is good and Who does good. Even for bad tidings, one recites a special blessing: Blessed…the true Judge. Similarly, when one built a new house or purchased new vessels, he recites: Blessed…Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time. The mishna articulates a general principle: One recites a blessing for the bad that befalls him just as he does for the good. In other words, one recites the appropriate blessing for the trouble that he is experiencing at present despite the fact that it may conceal some positive element in the future. Similarly, one must recite a blessing for the good that befalls him just as for the bad.
Susannah Cahalan, "Brain on Fire"
“Someone once asked, ‘If you could take it all back, would you?’ At the time I didn't know. Now I do. I wouldn't take that terrible experience back for anything in the world. Too much light has come out of my darkness”
וְאַמַּאי קָרוּ לֵיהּ נַחוּם אִישׁ גַּם זוֹ — דְּכׇל מִילְּתָא דַּהֲוָה סָלְקָא לֵיהּ, אֲמַר: גַּם זוֹ לְטוֹבָה. זִימְנָא חֲדָא בְּעוֹ לְשַׁדּוֹרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל דּוֹרוֹן לְבֵי קֵיסָר, אָמְרוּ: מַאן יֵיזִיל — יֵיזִיל נַחוּם אִישׁ גַּם זוֹ, דִּמְלוּמָּד בְּנִיסִּין הוּא. שַׁדַּרוּ בִּידֵיהּ מְלֵא סִיפְטָא דַּאֲבָנִים טוֹבוֹת וּמַרְגָּלִיּוֹת. אֲזַל, בָּת בְּהָהוּא דִּירָא. בְּלֵילְיָא קָמוּ הָנָךְ דָּיוֹרָאֵי וְשַׁקְלִינְהוּ לְסִיפְטֵיהּ וּמְלוֹנְהוּ עַפְרָא.
The Gemara inquires: And why did they call him Naḥum of Gam Zu? The reason is that with regard to any matter that occurred to him, he would say: This too is for the good [gam zu letova]. Once, the Jews wished to send a gift [doron] to the house of the emperor. They said: Who should go and present this gift? Let Naḥum of Gam Zu go, as he is accustomed to miracles. They sent with him a chest [sifta] full of jewels and pearls, and he went and spent the night in a certain inn. During the night, these residents of the inn arose and took all of the precious jewels and pearls from the chest, and filled it with earth. The next day, when he saw what had happened, Naḥum of Gam Zu said: This too is for the good.
-Kelipat Nogah, tie back to earlier thoughts on Nachman: finding joy isn't about setting aside the material of our sadness and suffering to construct joy, it is about using the malleable forces around us to create joy. Joy that is totally unconnected to our suffering is not authentic. Joy comes directly from sorrow and suffering: we don't ignore the suffering, we transform it into joy.
-It can seem impossible, but all we need to make something possible is to believe that it is (Roger Bannister 4-minute mile in 1954)
-What interplay have you noticed between light and darkness in these texts? Also bring in Rabba Tamar's connection between Torah/oraita and Or, and Leonard Cohen's "there are cracks in everything, that's how the light gets in". Thinking about how the light and dark of the sun are directly connected to each other. "Don't take darkness for granted, without it light can't exist" Elizabeth and the Catapult song.
Kierkegaard once wrote: “It takes moral courage to grieve; it takes religious courage to rejoice