Everyone wants happiness. Many spend their whole lives in search of it. But the emotion we call happiness is beyond our control: It descends upon us whimsically; dependent on something outside of ourselves‹a kind look from a loved one, a successful deal made in business, a pound less on the scale. Remove the circumstances and our mood quickly changes. In the worst case, we become sad or depressed.

   So what is it we really want? For most of us, it is not the outward trappings of happiness that we seek, but inner happiness, or joy, for joy is the self-contained feeling that one is complete and full, while the feelings that accompany an emotional high are fleeting and superficial.

   The lasting experience of joy is something we can control, in fact, we can create it, for attaining joy is merely a process of understanding and internalizing the dynamics of Creation: why we were put here, Who made us, and what is the nature of our Creator. In our quest for joy, we erroneously yearn for a feeling, when what we really desire is knowledge. We come to learn that what we are seeking is not an emotion, but a state of mind.

   Chassidim have always been characterized as being full of joy. For more than two centuries, the mystical teachings of Chassidism have produced individuals who have been recognized for their joy and inspiration. Their radiant life and energy stems from their profound spiritual awareness and absolute clarity of direction. These are people who live for a purpose and derive vitality from it.

   Images abound of chassidim dancing joyously at weddings or boisterously sharing "l'chaim's" over a Shabbat table. But this is not all there is to joy. Joy can be solemn. Joy can be quiet.

   The most profound expression of a true chassid is that he is happy with his lot‹with whatever comes his way. A story is told of a person who came to Rabbi DovBer, the Maggid of Mezeritch and asked him, "Rebbe, our Sages tell us that we must bless G-d when something good happens, and in the same way, we should bless G-d when something negative happens. How can this be?"

   The Maggid of Mezeritch told him, "Go to my student, Reb Zushya. He will explain it to you."

   When he found Reb Zushya, looking at his face and his clothing, he could easily see that he had not had much to eat, and that he did not have the money to buy decent clothing. Everything about himbespoke poverty and struggle, but his face radiated happiness. "This is surely a person who can answer my question," he said to himself. So he told Reb Zushya that the Maggid had sent him to him to explain how a person could bless G-d in the face of adversity.

   Reb Zushya looked at him in puzzlement. "I do not know how to answer this question," he replied. "This question should be answered by someone who has suffered. I have never experienced suffering in my life."

   In the reality of this world, we think possessions and security bring happiness, yet they never do. We think that by controlling our environment, we will have everything we need. Yet as hard as we work to gain this mastery over our world, things can change in the blink of an eye. Security from our own efforts is only an illusion. The secret that chassidim have long known is that joy does not lie in material wealth, nor in controlling oneís world. The recipe for lasting joy lies in shifting the way we view reality‹from material to spiritual, from the profane to the G-dly.

   Chassidut comes to teach us that everything comes from G-d, that G-d is involved in every aspect of creation, and that G-d is all (and only) good. Since everything that happens comes from G-d and G-d is completely good, then everything that happens is good. Reb Zushya never experienced any suffering in his life because he knew in his soul that his life was the way G-d wanted it to be, and everything that happened was for his ultimate benefit. Although this level of faith is higher than most of us generally experience, it is well within our grasp. By understanding and internalizing these principles, a person comes to feel safe and secure‹and ultimately joyful‹knowing that Someone higher than himself, Someone who can be totally trusted, is in command.

   But why does life often seem to belie G-d's true role in our lives? Because G-d has hidden Himself in the hope that we should seek Him. Only something worked for is deserved and the reward for hard work is sweet. And so, as we look for G-d, we gain knowledge, and when we find Him, we feel joy. The work that goes into the search is commensurate with the reward. The more we develop our awareness of G-d, the more we can be happy in all situations. But even the most developed person cannot know G-d completely, and so, with our limited vision, we cannot always see or understand how every situation is good.

   The Chassidic Approach to Joy is the first book of its type written in easy and accessible language for the layman and scholar alike. It follows a step-by-step approach, giving readers of all backgrounds the tools they need to begin their journey toward a lifelong experience of joy. In every chapter we find wonderful stories from the Talmud, the Midrash, or of Chassidic Rebbe's past and present: we find famous tales of Rabbi Akiva, Nachum Ish Gam Zu, and Eliyahu HaNavi illustrating the great faith and trust of our Sages in G-d and the great joy they exuded as a result.

   The book's author, Rabbi Shloma Majeski, dean of the Women Yeshiva in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, is a living example of one who lives with joy, and has spent the last twenty years educating women from all walks of life in the basics of Torah and Chassidic thought. As he explains in his Foreword, "Throughout the country, I have observed the positive effects of extending the teachings of Chassidism to people with contemporary values and little Jewish background. With eagerness and enthusiasm, many men and women are able to apply these truths to their lives and begin their journey on the well-traveled path to The bookís twelve chapters proceed in orderly fashion, beginning with a discussion of G-d's presence in our lives, important Chassidic concepts such as Divine Providence, and how everything happens for the good." Rabbi Majeski goes on to discuss the concept of two worlds‹this world and the World to Come, the reason for G-d's concealment in the world, the meaning of challenges and their purpose in our lives and how we can grow from pain. Finally, he gives us tangible and systematic steps for achieving and creating a life of joy.

   The Lubavitcher Rebbe's approach to everything in life emphasize the positive. His famous phrase "Tracht gut vet zein gut" (Think good and it will be good) epitomizes his outlook and the service that today's generation must embrace. On the fourteenth of Elul, in 1988, the Rebbe discussed joy in a classic talk (excerpted below) as one of the fundamental actions that will hasten the Redemption. The concept of joy (simcha), says the Rebbe, "shares a connection to the Future Redemption. For it is in the Era of the Redemption that we will experience the consummate level of joy. At that time, all undesirable influences will be negated as reflected in the verse, And G-d will wipe away tears from every face. Indeed, all the negative influences will be transformed into good."

   This will greatly increase the joy we will experience, enabling it to reach consummate perfection. Therefore, the returnees to the land of Israel are described as being "crowned with eternal joy." The relation between the concepts of joy and the Redemption is alluded to in the fact that the roots of the words simcha and Moshiach share the same three Hebrew letters, therefore, offer the following suggestion and request: that we increase our rejoicing with the intent of actually bringing Moshiach and the true and ultimate Redemption...

   And this simcha will surely lead to the ultimate simcha, the rejoicing of the Redemption, when "then our mouths will be filled with joy."

by Rochel Chana Schilder

Rochel Chana Schilder is a freelance writer/editor living in Brooklyn, NY. The Chassidic Approach to Joy is available in book and tape from Sichos in English. To order or for more information, call or write Sichos in English, 788 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213, (718) 778-5436.

   At first glance, it may be hard to see what relevance our biblical matriarch Rebecca, dutifully hauling a jug from the well, has for nineties woman who is schlepping home a gallon of spring water from Pathmark. But according to Rivka Zakutinsky, in her latest book, "Finding The Woman of Valor", the trails and tribulations of our ancient ancestors provide us with valuable lessons for tackling the dilemmas of contemporary life.

   "How can we, immersed and struggling in a most definitely non-biblical world, hope to find out more about ourselves though distant historical figures?...all the character traits mastered by these exemplary Jewish woman are "genetic" spiritual possibilities for every one of their descendants. With help from above we can activate all the potential for successful Jewish womanhood that is already within each of us, no matter what our age, experience, level of education or budget."

   Drawing on King Solomon's lyrical tribute to Jewish womanhood. "The Woman of Valor," Rivka Zakutinsky elegantly weaves together the inspiring stories of the matriarchs with poems, prayers and essays by modern woman of valor. A chapter on Yael, the unlikely warrior who destroyed the enemy general of the Philistines ensuring the Israelites' victory, is followed by a contemporary poem,"Between The Braids," by Bracha Druss Goetz. The mundane task of mixing flour and water becomes meaningful when we uplift the raw materials with which we have been blessed in order to create challah. For Zakutinsky, "the thread of events in our lives are also raw material. It is how we apply our thoughts to these events struggling with them, refining them and uplifting them that determines their true value".

   Just as our mothers knew exactly who they were and achieved the ability to be at "home with themselves," so too, Rivka Zakutinsky was aware even as a young girl growing up in New Haven Connecticut what path she would follow in life. The proud descendent of a family of strong women, she was named after her grandmother whose father was the rav of a Yeshiva in Poland. As a child, her grandmother would position herself outside the doorway listening and learning from the rebbe's words of wisdom. "My grandmother insisted that her own daughter learn to read and write Yiddish and Hebrew, therefore my mother had the same expectations of me," Rivka explained. " So I always had a strong sense of who I was and what was expected of me." Her path led her to the Bais Yaakov Seminary in Brooklyn, New York, a place that nurtured her love of learning and where she also met her husband Rabbi Moshe Zakutinsky.

   After going on to receive her degree in education from Hofstra University, Rivka was anxious to share what she had learned especially when she discovered that mothers with little formal Jewish background had few educational tools available to them. So she began to write to fill the void and the result was a series of popular children's books including "Judah and Yoni," "We're Really Going Home," "The Case of the Missing Baseball Cards" and "The House That Shlomo Built." She is also the author of the acclaimed, "A Voice From the Heart: Women's Techinas," a compilationand translationof women's prayers.

   "Finding The Woman of Valor" is a book Rivka Zakutinsky has been writing all of her life. A renowned lecturer and educator, she is the proud mother of three sons who are all rabbis and a daughter who is a teacher, her four brachas. Rivka draws on her expertise as a wife, mother, and educator as she celebrates the efforts of all righteous women, biblical and modern, to bring about the final redemption which will benefit not only the Jewish people but all the nations on earth.

   This is a task we are not only supremely qualified for but it is also our destiny Rivka discovered on a recent trip to Israel when she visited the town of Hebron. The brave optimistic women she encountered who had beautified a once dismal terrain and chose to raise their children there were literally holding the fort. "There may be 600 Jews there", Rivka suggested, "but they represent the millions of Jews all over the world. They are there for all of us." Moved and inspired by the love and connectedness of one Jew for another, in Hebron Rivka Zakutinsky found many reflections of the women of valor she writes about in her extraordinary new book.

Helen Zegerman Schimmer

Helen Zegerman Schwimmer is the writer and producer of the video "A Taste of Shabbos with Rebbetzin Esther Winner"