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Q:

Now that the judgment is coming, what can we do in order to find happiness as we approach the Day of Judgment?

A:

What can we do to find happiness as we face the Day of Judgment?

The truth is I’m not interested in making people happy in facing the Day of Judgment. I’d like to make them afraid.  Happiness is something that you’ll get if you’ll go to a doctor who wants to give you some pills in order to distract you.  But we want you to face it.  We want you to be very much afraid and that’s the best thing that I can give you right now – eimas hadin.

That’s why I started out the lecture tonight with these pesukim, סמר מפחדך בשרי וממשפטך יראתי – I shudder at the fear of Your judgment. That’s the healthiest thing you can do.  And that’s going to give you a good start in the year ahead.

Only that in the rest of the words that I said, there was some advice for how to plan the year ahead and the years ahead with happiness in order eventually to be zocheh in din and in all the dinim.  But don’t look for any ways of being happy tomorrow (the Rav was speaking the night of Erev Rosh Hashana).

Of course you can eat meals tomorrow if you want. Some people don’t.  You can eat meals if you wish.  You can sleep soundly tonight.  I don’t think my words will make you lose any sleep.  I’m sure you won’t tremble that much.  But if once in a while you can give yourself a little artificial shudder, it pays to try it; it pays to shudder a little bit when you think of the Yom Hadin.

בראש השנה כמה דכפיף איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי – On Rosh Hashana, the more your mind is bent over and humbled, the better off you are. Because Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Oh, this man is humbled before Me; there’s some chance that he might make a change in his lifestyle.” But if a man breezes through Rosh Hashana with a happy mind, then I’m afraid he has no intention of changing.

TAPE # 425 (September 1982)

Rav Avigdor Miller on Fearing the Day of Judgement

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Q:

Now that the judgment is coming, what can we do in order to find happiness as we approach the Day of Judgment?

A:

What can we do to find happiness as we face the Day of Judgment?

The truth is I’m not interested in making people happy in facing the Day of Judgment. I’d like to make them afraid.  Happiness is something that you’ll get if you’ll go to a doctor who wants to give you some pills in order to distract you.  But we want you to face it.  We want you to be very much afraid and that’s the best thing that I can give you right now – eimas hadin.

That’s why I started out the lecture tonight with these pesukim, סמר מפחדך בשרי וממשפטך יראתי – I shudder at the fear of Your judgment. That’s the healthiest thing you can do.  And that’s going to give you a good start in the year ahead.

Only that in the rest of the words that I said, there was some advice for how to plan the year ahead and the years ahead with happiness in order eventually to be zocheh in din and in all the dinim.  But don’t look for any ways of being happy tomorrow (the Rav was speaking the night of Erev Rosh Hashana).

Of course you can eat meals tomorrow if you want. Some people don’t.  You can eat meals if you wish.  You can sleep soundly tonight.  I don’t think my words will make you lose any sleep.  I’m sure you won’t tremble that much.  But if once in a while you can give yourself a little artificial shudder, it pays to try it; it pays to shudder a little bit when you think of the Yom Hadin.

בראש השנה כמה דכפיף איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי – On Rosh Hashana, the more your mind is bent over and humbled, the better off you are. Because Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Oh, this man is humbled before Me; there’s some chance that he might make a change in his lifestyle.” But if a man breezes through Rosh Hashana with a happy mind, then I’m afraid he has no intention of changing.

TAPE # 425 (September 1982)

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