WHO WILL ASCEND UPON THE MOUNTAIN OF HASHEM?

I'm still striving to understand what would be the best way to fulfil the dictum of Chazal, "As soon as Adat comes, we increase our simcha!" As I wrote already, I think it's no coincidence that the word "אדר" ("Adar") has the same gematria as "הר" ("a mountain"). Becoming more joyous doesn't come naturally; it's more like a steep mountain that we have to climb.

To be honest, at first I was thinking more along the lines of buying myself a new book, or a new piece of jewelry (and kind of debating with myself which one would work better, or whether perhaps I should go ahead and buy both, so as not to take any chances).

This attitude changed today when I listened to R' Nasan Maimon ZOOM class on "Likutei Halochos". As he was finishing the class, R' Nasan said, "Now, in the month of Adar, we have to increase our simcha. Now is the best time to concentrate on the simcha shel mitzvah!" Well, it may seem obvious, but I'd never thought of that before, and I felt that I was being giving a nudge in the right direction..

Now the next thing I have to figure out is which mitzvos give me particular joy, so that I could capitalize on what I'm already doing right. One thing I know for sure: my favorite mitzvah is hisbodedus. When I'm doing it, scaling the mountain of simcha doesn't seem to be such a formidable task after all!

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