"IT'S A GREAT MITZVAH..."

 Everyone knows the famous phrase of Rabbeinu, "It's a great mitzvah to always be happy!" It's appears in Torah 24 in the second part of "Likutei Moharan". Yet there are two more "great mitzvahs" in "Likutei Moharan": developing the mind to the fullest (Torah 62) and making the Shabbos meals plentiful (Torah 277).

Why did Rabbeinu choose these things? I think the answer is that he wanted every level of our being - intellectual, emotional, and physical - to have its own great mitzvah.

And why is the phrase about being happy so much more famous than the other two? Perhaps this shows that the main challenge in our generation is being connected to Hashem not only in what we're doing and what we're thinking, but also in what we're feeling. And all we need to do to rise to this challenge is heed Rabbeinu's advice.