By Rabbi Elimelech Biderman
The Torah discusses the mitzvah of going to the Beis HaMikdash to proclaim there that you kept all the mitzvos of terumah and maasar etc. At this time, one says, “I did everything You commanded” (26:14). Rashi writes, “I was happy and I made others happy.”
Tzaddikim understand from this Rashi that one of Hashem’s primary desires of Creation is that Yidden should be happy. Therefore, if one “was happy and made others happy,” he can say “I did everything You commanded” for he fulfilled one of the primary purposes of Creation.
There are many ways to bring happiness to others. The most simple and easiest manner is to smile to your fellow man. Chazal (Kesubos 111:) state, “Whoever shows his white teeth to his fellow man [in a smile] is greater than giving him milk to drink.” You can help the poor by giving them a cup of milk, but an even greater merit is to smile to them and to fill their hearts with happiness.
Someone asked Reb Avigdor Miller zt’l how he should prepare for the judgment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Reb Avigdor Miller replied, “Smile.” He explained, “You think that I’m old, and that I’m not speaking coherently, for how does smiling grant someone a good judgment? But actually, this is very good counsel. I will explain with a mashal: Someone owns a chain of stores. At the end of each year, he takes inventory and decides what changes have to be made for the upcoming year. Some stores will need more advertising, some employees will be laid off, and so on. The proprietor’s advisor said, “Even if you let go of some employees, don’t fire Mr. So and-so. He always has a smile on his face, which gives the consumers a good feeling. There are people who come to the store just to meet with him…’ Similarly, keviyachol, at the end of the year Hashem takes inventory, to see how the world is running, and some will be removed from the world, in the upcoming year. But if there is someone who always has a smile on his face, bringing joy to others, he is an asset to the world, and Hashem will therefore grant him life and a good year so he can continue bringing joy to others.
On a similar note, Reb Yisrael Salanter zt’l taught that those who do chesed have a better chance for receiving a good judgment on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, for even if they don’t deserve to live by their own merit, they will be granted life because people need them.