True Joy vs. False Joy: Finding Lasting Happiness in Faith

Joy is as hard to acquire as golden vessels, yet as easy to lose as glass ones. The verse says (Tehillim 97:11): “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.”

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains on the verse (Kohelet 7:29): “God made man upright, but they sought many calculations.” These “many calculations” are the enemies of joy, inherited by humanity through their own endless reasoning.

There are many enemies of joy. When people do not establish for themselves a path of faith and trust in God, but instead they chase solutions only through natural or random means, their hearts turn away from God.

I once heard from the righteous Rabbi Yeshayah Aryeh Klein, one of the elders of the previous generation, an interpretation of King David’s words (Tehillim 13:2–3): “How long, O Lord, will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I seek counsel within myself?” King David was saying: “Master of the universe, I know what it means for You to ‘forget me’ and I know what it means for You to ‘hide Your face from me.’ What truly causes this is — ‘as long as I seek counsel within myself.’ So long as I keep searching for ways and solutions through worldly means, I feel abandoned. When I decide that I have no counsel other than to cry out to You and recognize that only You can help me, then I know Your anger will turn away from me. You will no longer ‘forget me’ or ‘hide Your face.’”

This reflects God’s way of measure for measure. When a person forgets God, he is in the state of “How long, O Lord, will You forget me?” When he hides his face from God and seeks only his own counsel, he is in the state of “How long will You hide Your face from me?” However, when he removes these self-made counsels from his heart, then sorrow and sighing depart from him.

True Joy vs. False Joy

We have spoken of someone who seeks healing only through natural means, by chasing worldly solutions and turning his heart away from God. Even worse however, is when a person seeks to heal his soul by chasing after foreign fields such as joy of debauchery and immorality, thinking this will bring relief to his pained soul.

The holy books teach that most inner suffering including depression, fears, and lack of peace of mind, stems from a blemish in holiness. Frivolity, improper conversation, and lack of modesty have become traps that rob people of their tranquility and peace of soul.

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 75a) tells of a man who fell sick with desire for a woman. The doctors said the only cure was for him to speak with her. The sages ruled: “Let him die rather than speak with her, even from behind a fence.” The sages knew that such speech is the greatest enemy of the soul. Even if it might appear to bring temporary relief, in the end it would lead to far greater illness of the soul, which is suffering worse than death itself.

Light for the Righteous, Joy for the Upright

Many people go to psychiatrists seeking relief from depression, and sometimes are told to find it in entertainment, movies, or forbidden sights. How can one be healed by swallowing the very germs that caused the illness? These things only deepen spiritual sickness, dulling the soul and mind.

One who truly seeks joy must beware of its imitations, learning to distinguish between genuine joy and false joy that ends in sorrow. True joy comes from mitzvot, acts of kindness, Torah study, faith, repentance, and heartfelt prayer. As it is written: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Tehillim 19:9).

Even when one encounters life’s hardships, if he is truly connected to God, the evil will not affect him beyond moments of forgetfulness or lapse of connection. The deeper and longer the lapse, the greater the suffering. The one who clings to God however, finds that sorrow disappears, and true joy takes its place. (Pri HaAretz, Letter 30)