In this week’s Parashah we read the Tochacha. The Tochacha injects a bolt of fear through its readers' bodies. It accomplishes this through a series of  terrifying Pesukim. In explaining one such Pasuk, the Torah concludes with this phrase: ”Tachas Asher Lo Avadta Et Hashem Elokecha BeSimcha UVeTuv Levav Merov” (Devarim 28:47). One possible translation of the Pasuk is that we are being punished for not serving Hashem properly in times of prosperity. Rav Asher Weiss takes a different approach. Rav Asher Weiss understands the Pasuk in its simplest form: we are being punished for not serving Hashem in joy. In a similar vein, the Yerushalmi Sukkah uses this Pasuk to teach that the Shechinah doesn’t rest itself except on those who live BeSimcha. One must understand that in order to access the Kedusha of Hashem he needs to appreciate and enjoy all that Hashem gave him. Included in this is the six hundred and thirteen mitzvot of the Torah. When one does not value the Torah and its supremacy, they inevitably will fail to keep them. A parable to this is a teacher that feels like students are constantly a burden and never enjoys his job. That teacher will not only never reach his full potential, but he will even fail. The message the Torah is driving at is that in order to fully fulfill and be successful in one’s Avodas Hashem he must cherish the commandments. 

It is said about the Ari HaKodesh that he was able to understand the secrets of the Torah because of the Simcha he had. The value of simcha in avodas hashem is so fundamental to every single Jew that the Klausenberger Rebbe would say this Pasuk over and over again in Auschwitz. Even in the darkest place on Earth, the joy the Torah brings lights up the room. Without a loving relationship to the Torah and Hashem, the Nazi’s, might have one the battle; but they didn’t. If the Jews of the last two thousand years could persevere and be fully committed to the Torah, not just because they are commanded to, but because they value it, how much more so us in a generation with, thank God, very little persecution have to fully commit to the Torah. The Gemara in Brachos (16b) defines an Adam Gadol as someone who has Simcha BeMitzvot. We should all strive to be an Adam Gadol who is fully devoted to the Torah and the Tochacha should, with Hahsem’s help, become a mere threat, not a reality. 

Despite the value of simcha BeMitzvot, the Tochacha also stresses the importance of Yirah, fear. These two values are not contradictory (see the Talmidei Rabbeinu Yonah). Tanah DeBei Eliyahu has a beautifully poetic line stressing this point: “Yareis Mitoch Simchati VeSameichti Mitoch Yareisi”. In order to truly love and appreciate God one must fear. The same is true vise versa. The fear one has allows him to understand the power of God on some level or another which inevitably creates a sense of respect and devotion. As Rosh HaShanah is rapidly approaching, there is no greater message than this. The Shofar has two aspects to it, to blow during the festivals and to blow during the fast days. The duality of the Shofar reflects both Yirah and Ahavah and truly they are really one entity, the Shofar. We should all be Zocheh to have only times of Simcha and Ahavah with the effort we extend to be better Jews and people.