MARCH 12, ‘25 // Questions & Answers from Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt”l’s Thursday Night Lecture Rav Avigdor Miller on Gratitude for Every Breath Q. There is a statement quoted in some seforim that even for one gift from Hashem we must serve Him forever. Why is this so? Adar Q. “Mishenichnas Adar marbim b’simchah — when Adar comes in we increase joy.” Does it apply even after Purim? A. ISo we’ll take an example so that it shouldn’t be an abstraction. כל הנשמה תהלל י-ה – Every neshama should praise Hashem (Tehillim 150:6). So the Midrash (Bereishis Rabah 14:9) says that the words neshama here means ‘a breath’: על כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל י-ה – For every breath you have to praise Hashem. I was once in Slabodka when this was being spoken about and one of the rebbis, zichrono levracha, said, “Think how many breaths we took since we were born; and we have to say Hallel for each one. So you see we are behind in Hallels. We owe yet a lot of Hallels.” Now, how is this so? Suppose a man needed that one breath and he couldn’t make it. Let’s say, as I illustrated many times here – it’s an experiment anybody can carry out at home. Take a bucket full of water and put your head into it and remain there for about three minutes. And then before you pull your head out think how good it would be just to have one breath. Don’t breathe under the water though. Pull your head out. Ahh! A breath of air! It’s so delicious! So for every breath that’s it; because each breath is that. It’s only because you have so many breaths they become cheap to you and therefore you begin ignoring that. And every one of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s gifts, everything that He gives you is essential to you only you don’t realize it. Let’s say, suppose you walk out into the street one bright morning and as you are on your way to the subway you discover that one shoelace is broken. Now the shoelace is broken so the shoe starts becoming loose and you have to walk very slowly because if you run across the street you will leave your shoe in the street. So now you are limping and you’re thinking, “Where can I get a shoelace?” You see big stores but nobody sells shoelaces. Fruit stores, stores that sell radios, videos… “I’d give everything for one shoelace!” It’s because it’s so cheap to us so we don’t realize the blessings of Hashem. Now everything in the world is like that. It’s because it’s available, that we disregard it. But if we didn’t have it then we would realize how necessary it is for our existence. And therefore when Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives anything, it’s not just gomel chassodim, that He gives kindness; He’s gomel chassodim tovim – He’s giving good kindliness. It’s only because we are obtuse, we are spoiled because of habit and ingratitude, that we fail to notice them. And therefore for every benefit a person should feel he is obligated without end. A. It applies all year around, until next Erev Purim. Now I will explain that. When Adar comes in, you are expected to stockpile simchah. You have to gain so much happiness, so much optimism, so much fire of enthusiasm in your blood, that it’s going to last you until next year’s Adar. It doesn’t mean that you have to stop simchah. Truth is, if you try to create simchah, at first it’s easier. As the days go by, the effort finally weakens and subsides, because the gevuras hanefesh, a person’s willpower, finally weakens. So eventually people again slip back into the humdrum of everyday life, and forget about simchah. Every year we renew the effort. But it doesn’t mean that it stops at a certain time. Mishenichnas Adar, we renew the effort to gain simchah. Adar — it’s Purim and it’s Pesach, we should continue all year round, like they sing in the yeshivos on Purim, “A gantz yohr freiliech — all year you should be happy.” And that’s why the Rama, at the end of hilchos Purim, says, “V’tov lev mishteh tamid — a man of a merry heart is always at a party” (Rema, Orach Chaim 697:1) That’s how he concludes the laws of Purim. So when people see the laws of Purim, and they come to the end, they might be sad; when it’s over, there ends the period of joy. No, he says, it’s just the beginning. You have a tov lev, it’s dei’ah, you will learn the truth of Hashem, the truths of the Torah. You will learn how to live properly, then you’l be happy all the days of your life. Reprinted with permission from “Ask Rabbi Miller”, compiled by Avrohom Tikotzky. Copyright 2019, Simchas Hachaim Publishing 718-258-7400 x103 To receive Mr. Tikotsky’s weekly email: tikotzky@gmail.com or www.rmillerqa.com Ask Rabbi Miller 70
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