The Importance of Joy in Mitzvos
The Arizal (Shaar HaKavanos, Tefilas HaShachar) teaches, "Tefillah should be said with a lot of joy, as much as possible, like a servant who serves his master with a lot of joy. If he serves his master with sadness, the service will disgust the master." The same applies in all aspects of avodas Hashem, we should serve Hashem with immense joy.
The Rambam (Hilchos Lulav 8:15) writes, "The happiness that a person feels when he performs a mitzvah, with love to Hashem Who commanded him, is a great avodah." The Chareidim writes, "Reb Yitzchak Ashkenazi zt'l (the Arizal) revealed to a close friend that everything he attained, the gates of wisdom and his ruach hakodesh, was his reward for performing mitzvos with unlimited joy."
The Arizal (Shaar HaKavanos) writes, "The ultimate perfection and ruach hakodesh is almost entirely dependent on this." Reb Chaim Vital (Introduction to Shaar HaMitzvos) writes, "Many people perform mitzvos, and we don't see that they receive reward for the mitzvos, not even the rewards that should come to them in this world. This is because when performing a mitzvah, it shouldn't be like a yoke that one wants to finish quickly. When performing the mitzvos, one should understand that it is like he is earning millions of gold coins. He should be extremely and endlessly joyous with the mitzvos. It should be to him as if he received millions of gold coins for keeping just one mitzvah."
The Chareidim (Introduction) says that the Arizal taught this lesson when learning the words (Devarim 28:47) אלקיך 'ה את עבדת לא אשר תחת כל מרוב לבב ובטוב בשמחה, "Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when [you had an] abundance of everything." The Arizal says כל מרוב means "more than all pleasures of the world, more than gold and precious diamonds and gems." The pasuk is saying that a person must be happy with the mitzvos, even happier than a person who receives כל רוב, all the wealth and pleasures of the world.
The pasuk is saying that the galus and yesurim came because we didn't serve Hashem joyfully. The Sfas Emes (5643, Ki Savo, בפסוק ה"ד) writes, "We should learn from this that certainly when Bnei Yisrael serve Hashem in galus with joy, although they lack so much, this will bring the geulah closer, with Hashem's help. The pasuk tells us the reason for the galus, so we can know how to rectify it – by doing the opposite. So be strong and serve Hashem with joy, even when one suffers yesurim."
Once, the Chafetz Chaim zt'l returned home from the mikvah on erev Shabbos and danced joyously. His family didn't know what it was about. He explained to them that he had just paid for the taxi (who drove him to his home in his horse and buggy), and by paying him, he had fulfilled the mitzvah of תתן ביומו שכרו, paying a worker on the day the service was performed. The Chofetz Chaim rejoiced that he was able to perform this mitzvah. Grandchildren of the Chofetz Chaim once heard their grandfather making a cheshbon hanefesh. He said, "Yisrael Meir, it is true that you learn Torah and that you daven and keep the mitzvos, but where is your joy for the mitzvos?" He repeated this several times, and then the Chofetz Chaim said, "Yisrael Meir, you are still alive, and you can still keep the mitzvos with joy. Make a kabbalah that now you will begin serving Hashem with joy."
