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the trait of joy. Help me always remember that Himself guards the covenant for him, and he is rescued
it is a great mitzvah to be joyful. May the evil from the pollution of a nocturnal emission.
inclination never persuade me to be depressed,
whatever may be. May I always remember that When a person is joyful, he emerges from exile to
when a person is joyful he succeeds in everything. freedom, and he can settle his mind and return easily to
Most important, he succeeds in his prayer so that Hashem.
it is accepted, and he attains faith and everything
good in the world. Therefore, advise me and teach When a person is joyful, he revives other people, and
me how to be joyful. Help me keep every piece of by doing so he performs a very great mitzvah.
advice on how to be joyful. Help me see only the Also, he has children and they do not die.
good in my life and rejoice in every good point in
myself. Give me the proper awareness with which When a person is joyful and sings, he is able to speak to
I can be joyful always. Help me engage in a great Hashem and pour forth his heart like water in hitbodedut.
deal of prayer and pleading on this topic every
day. And he sweetens judgments.

This is an excellent and straightforward demonstration of the fact 3. The losses suffered by not mastering that
that when we learn and then contemplate what we have learned, topic—in this case, a propensity to depression.
we are inspired to do the work of the will. And the more clear and
vivid our learning, the more we arouse our will and we approach When a person is depressed, Hashem is not with him.
the work of the will with enthusiasm. That is expressed physically and spiritually, so that he
suffers illnesses in his body and soul.
We Learn and We Achieve
He experiences weakness.
When a person does the work of the will using this approach,
with daily learning and prayer, he will certainly see changes and He experiences mourning.
improvement in himself. As time passes and he continues to
learn more deeply, to study more texts and to attain a deeper He experiences suffering.
understanding, he will gain an inner sense of faith, upon which all
joy depends. That is because, besides all other advice, the core He experiences judgments.
advice to attain constant joy is to believe with complete faith that
everything is for the good (as explained in In the Garden of He experiences arguments.
Wisdom). At times, a person undergoes difficult tests. The only
approach that illuminates and helps him is the faith that everything He experiences fears, including the terror of death.
is for the good, in its simple sense: that everything is for the good.
He believes and knows that every experience that he goes through He experiences fires.
comes to him from Hashem with love and for his good, with the