The joy in bitterness.

The Baal Shem Tov taught, worry and sadness are the sources and root for all that’s negative in a person’s life. One cannot go about their daily routine and serve G-d properly, without joy. The voice of the evil inclination inside everyone tries to persuade the person to be sad for having failed at the most insignificant and tiniest detail, exaggerating and magnifying the issue as if it were some huge transgression.

A person must give this little evil voice inside, a frank and candid retort, says the Baal Shem Tov. “This is just a trick of yours to disrupt my life and disturb my service of G-d!  For even if I have truly committed a sin of great proportion, at this moment, it is more important to G-d that I serve him in Joy.”

Once, a student came to Rabbi Menachem Mendel seeking advice how to address and deal with the uninvited extraneous thoughts that annoy him. The Rabbi said he should serve G-d in Joy. And the Rabbi explained.

A person’s soul is always seeking expression through enjoyment and pleasure. If it does not find this satisfaction and joy in the positive and spiritual service of G-d which is best for the person, it will always seek it elsewhere, since life can never accept a vacuum.

There is a positive blessing in every current situation. Noticing and celebrating this good becomes the thrust and momentum for even greater growth.

The irony of the matter is that life is compared to olives that are bitter. It is true that inside the olive there is oil that is used for warmth and light, however until then, we first encounter the bitterness of the outside. Oil when extracted from the olive gravitates to the top and always retains its unique characteristics even when in the company of other liquids. Oil will always remain separate and distinguished.

Our sages tell us this metaphor teaches a very important lesson.

Everyone has both a bitter side and deep down inside a spark of light. The bitter represents the temptations and distractions of the body, the shell, the puffed out ego, that is always trying to project itself, superficially and deceptively. I need this, I want this, I made myself, I am attracted and drawn by that, this will make me (my body immediate gratification) feel good.

Like the flesh of the olive which is bitter and from the realm of negativity, all these drives of the body ultimately thrusts a person towards the undesirable and the unhappy. And just like with the olive when it is crushed we draw the deep rooted good from inside. A person who takes control and subdues crushes and presses down on his impulses, this draws out and reveals the oil which represents the deep good, the wisdom and G-dly strength implanted in each and every person.

We would all like to have an easy and enjoyable life. There is a rule in the Bible, only those who sow in tears will reap in joy. To reach joy which is the ultimate in living one’s life in the most expressive manner, one has to welcome the challenges and difficulties G-d places in our way.

By embracing daily challenges with decisive trust, that it is all for the good, we generate the joy necessary to deal with the issues in the most potent fashion. Overcoming our battles, brings out the oil, deeper and greater wisdom, the light and true joy, that comes only as a result of succeeding over the difficulty and reaching the hidden good, G-d implanted inside, waiting, for us to discover.