Joy is Required

A chassid visited his Rebbe before Pesach. The Rebbe noticed that the chassid was sad. “What’s wrong?” the Rebbe asked. The chassid told the Rebbe that to bake matzos he had set aside wheat which had been watched from the time of the harvest, and it had completely disappeared. Now he would only be able to prepare matzos from wheat which had not been watched from the time of its harvest.

The Rebbe answered, “I understand that you want to fulfill the mitzva of matzah in the best way, but don’t forget - the mitzvah of simcha during the chag is also a mitzva from the Torah!”