{"id":45002,"date":"2026-11-04T07:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?p=45002"},"modified":"2026-11-04T07:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T07:39:11","slug":"article-20102-en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?p=45002&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Joy in serving God \u2014 from reciting the Shema to the work of the heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.es-site{--ink:#483320;--paper:#fbf8f2;--gold:#a78349;background:var(--paper);color:var(--ink);font:18px\/1.85 Arial,sans-serif;overflow-wrap:break-word}\n.es-site *{box-sizing:border-box}.es-site a{color:#6b5036;text-underline-offset:4px}.es-site h1,.es-site h2,.es-site h3{color:#483320;line-height:1.35;font-weight:600}.es-site h1{font-size:clamp(36px,5vw,64px);margin:12px 0}.es-site h2{font-size:clamp(28px,3vw,40px);margin:0 0 24px}.es-site h3{font-size:23px;margin:0 0 16px}.es-site p{margin:0 0 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href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=1052&#038;lang=en#amulets\">Amulets<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=1052&#038;lang=en#contact\">Contact the office<\/a><\/nav>\n<style>.es-site img{max-width:100%;height:auto}.es-site iframe{max-width:100%}.es-site .es-archive-body{max-width:1100px}.es-site .es-archive-body h1{font-size:clamp(28px,4vw,44px)}.es-site .es-archive-body table{max-width:100%;overflow-wrap:anywhere}<\/style>\n<p><main class=\"es-wrap es-archive-body\"><\/p>\n<h1>Joy in serving God \u2014 from reciting the Shema to the work of the heart<\/h1>\n<figure style=\"margin:0 0 28px\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/article-joy-faith.webp\" alt=\"Sacred books in morning light \u2014 joy in serving God\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:12px\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"emanuel-editorial\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Joy in serving God does not require hiding pain or pretending that everything is easy. It is the ability to find a point of faith and meaning even when reality is complex. Some joy comes from a happy event; a quieter joy arises from gratitude and a sense of closeness to the Creator.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018I will rejoice in the LORD\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Psalms 104:34 connects a person\u2019s meditation with joy in the Creator. Its words invite us to consider the quality of our inner conversation: alongside requests and worries, do we leave room for thanks, hope and an awareness of what is good?<\/p>\n<p>A symbolic reading forms the Hebrew word esmach (\u2018I will rejoice\u2019) from letters of Shema (\u2018hear\u2019) and echad (\u2018one\u2019): shin and mem from Shema, aleph and het from echad. The remaining letters, ayin and dalet, form ed (\u2018witness\u2019). This is an invitation to spiritual reflection; it does not change the wording of the Shema or replace understanding its words.<\/p>\n<h2>Simple intention comes before symbolism<\/h2>\n<p>The Shema centers on God\u2019s oneness and acceptance of his sovereignty. Even without expertise in books of mystical intentions, one can read calmly and direct the heart toward the meaning. Symbolic readings are meant to deepen devotion, not burden it or imply that simple prayer is unworthy.<\/p>\n<h2>How can we nurture joy in daily life?<\/h2>\n<p>Set aside a short time for study, give thanks for a particular kindness, do a small good deed or speak with someone close. Sometimes a simple act of giving opens a space in the heart that thoughts alone cannot open. Inner work grows through persistence and patience with ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>A person\u2019s faith should not be measured by their mood, and no one should be blamed for their suffering. When worry becomes heavy, seeking support is permitted and appropriate. The joy we seek is truthful: acknowledging difficulty while keeping a door open to hope, connection and prayer.<\/p>\n<p><small>Verse source: Psalms 104:34. The letter combination is presented here as a symbolic reading, without attributing it to an unverified source.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<footer class=\"es-footer\">\n<p>Rabbi Emanuel Shahar \u00b7 Tiferet Malchut Shlomo<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=20352&#038;lang=en\">About the Rabbi<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=50002&#038;lang=en\">Terms of use<\/a><\/p>\n<nav class=\"es-langs\" aria-label=\"Language\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=22&#038;lang=he\" hreflang=\"he\" lang=\"he\">\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=1052&#038;lang=en\" hreflang=\"en\" lang=\"en\" aria-current=\"page\">English<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=1053&#038;lang=fr\" hreflang=\"fr\" lang=\"fr\">Fran\u00e7ais<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=1054&#038;lang=ar\" hreflang=\"ar\" lang=\"ar\">\u0627\u0644\u0639\u0631\u0628\u064a\u0629<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=20074&#038;lang=es\" hreflang=\"es\" lang=\"es\">Espa\u00f1ol<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=20369&#038;lang=fa\" hreflang=\"fa\" lang=\"fa\">\u0641\u0627\u0631\u0633\u06cc<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/?page_id=20374&#038;lang=tr\" hreflang=\"tr\" lang=\"tr\">T\u00fcrk\u00e7e<\/a><\/nav>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joy in serving God does not require hiding pain or pretending that everything is easy. It is the ability to find a point of faith and meaning even when reality is complex. Some joy comes from a happy\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20115,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50464,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions\/50464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emanuelshahar.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}