Shavuos and the Currency of Pleasure

The Currency of Pleasure

by Shuli Kleinman

The concept of pleasure in terms of our daily lives does not need description or explanation.  We all comprehend the pleasure of love, respect, acknowledgment, delicious food, intimacy, convenience and comfort.  This pleasure is in the category of gratifications.  We pursue gratifications according to our desires and urges and dreams and perceived needs.

The concept of pleasure in terms of our soul is of an entirely different currency. It is the currency of being enveloped and held in a state of bliss basking in Hashem’s Light – it is the currency of eternal bliss and joy.  The pleasure of being with Hashem is the oneg of Shabbos, a time where we can taste this pleasure by being with Hashem, one with Him.  In order to experience this pleasure on Shabbos, we refrain from the work we do during the week.  Simply put, out of love for Hashem’s Name and fear of Hashem and yearning for Hashem, we subdue our nature and give Hashem delight. 

When the soul overrides the body, this gives Hashem delight in His Creation of Adom.  During the week, we work with the intention of utilizing everything Hashem gifts us – intelligence, health, wealth – with the intention to build our relationship with Hashem.  We build our mind-heart channel into a mishkan,  a dwelling place for Hashem in this world, a channel through which His Compassion flows into our mitzvahs including the mitzvahs to refrain on Shabbos.  We delight in Hashem and He delights in us.

As we approach Shavuous, our wedding, let’s look inside - Is our primary focus gratification or the giving of delight to Hashem? 

To the degree we recognize we are a mixture of this, let us strive to resolve towards giving Hashem delight as our constant intention despite our lapses.  For as Rabbi Moshe Shapiro explains in  Road to Destiny, the giving of good comes only from Hashem, it is not something we can “take” and have it be a blessing.  It is only a blessing when He gives it to us.

Below are some excerpts that show us the wisdom of making this commitment, of “getting married” to Hashem.

Rabbi Moshe Shapiro
Road to Destiny page 10-11

…Essentially the Omer offering accomplishes the same purpose in relation to nourishment in general. Upon our arrival in the Land of Israel, the curse “By the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread,” went into effect.  Nothing grows by itself and nothing develops on its own; much trouble and effort is required.  We toiled, we exerted ourselves, and with the sweat of our brows, there was produce.  Yet instead of harvesting it, we return it to He to whom it really belongs; we declare that our toil and exertion gave us no rights to it.  With the Omer Offering, we acknowledge that everything belongs to the Creator, and unless we receive it from Him, we cannot benefit from it.  If we would take it as if it were our own, as if we deserved it, even a blessing could not help.  Only when He gives it to us can we benefit from it….the Omer offering then, permits us to eat from the new harvest, just as blessings permit us to derive pleasure from anything in the world.  Counting the Omer continues this acknowledgment and therefore its entire fulfillment is the blessing.”

Excerpts from the Introduction to Mesillas Yesharim

“If you seek it as silver and search for it as treasure, then you will understand the fear of G-d”…

For fear of G-d to be understood, it must be sought as silver and searched for as treasure.  All this is part of our heritage ……fear of G-d – this is wisdom” …we see that fear and only  fear is accounted wisdom.  And there is no doubt that what entails no analysis is not considered wisdom.

The truth of the matter is that all of these things require great analysis if they are to be known in truth and not through imagination and deceitful supposition.

All of these principles require extensive interpretation.  The talmud describes these from R. Pinchas ben Yair

Torah leads to watchfulness; watchfulness leads to zeal; zeal leads to cleanliness; cleanliness leads to separation; separation leads to purity; purity leads to saintliness; saintliness leads to humility, humility leads to fear of sin; fear of sin leads to holiness; holiness leads to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit leads to the revival of the dead….

That which the earthiness of nature seeks to remove from our hearts, reading and contemplation will summon to our consciousness and will awaken us to what is incumbent upon us.

Teach me O G-d, Your ways; I shall walk in Your truth.  Make one my heart to fear Your Name.”

Excerpt from Divrei Yaakov Rabbi Yaakov Addes

Although there is a very negligible concept of things created, the ideal level of dveikus is when man chooses not to focus on this at all but rather on the omnipotence of Hashem alone. a level of dveikus can only be achieved by focusing solely on Hashem and regarding those things created [including our bodies and our sense of separate existence] as nothing at all. Another way to explain this is that, unfortunately, man does not perceive Hashem’s Presence in the world, whereas he does constantly perceive the minor forces of the things created—which is why he is barred from attaining that lofty level of thought. Vision often overcomes knowledge, and the sights and scenes to which man is constantly exposed prevent him from perceiving the truth. Hence, in order to overcome this barrier, man must view things created as if they do not exist at all.