If you are over age 39 (Jack Benny’s permanent age) you have surely heard the tune “Enjoy Yourself.” It was composed by Carl Sigman and Herbert Magidson (Yidden, of course). The words of the first refrain go like this:
Enjoy yourself; it’s later than you think
Enjoy yourself while you’re still in the pink
The years go by as quickly as a wink
Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself
It’s later than you think
Other stanzas of the tune mention some of the enjoyments of the masses, such as nightclubs and dances. And that is where trivial, passing enjoyment makes a sharp turn from the enjoyment of an observant Jew. A Yid’s enjoyment is a lasting rather than a fleeting one. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point:
Jack Stupinsky worked in a pharmacy called Krankervelt, Inc. He toiled six days a week, Sunday being his free day. On Sundays he hummed the tune “Enjoy Yourself,” and he especially enjoyed the stanza criticizing a non-enjoying person as perceived by the writers of the tune which begins, “You just don’t go to nightclubs and you just don’t care to dance.”
With that thought in mind he went to the Narishkopp (foolish head) night club and imbibed several glasses of beer. Eventually he got as shikur (drunk) as Lot (of the Bible), and after staggering around the parking lot, he finally found his car and headed for home, almost striking a pedestrian.
Upon entering his house, his family was flabbergasted, to put it mildly. After questioning from his exhausted wife, he blurted out, “I went to a nightclub, had a few beers, and ah broch (woe) unto me and to the headache that I am experiencing! The family began shouting at him and shalom bayis (domestic peacefulness) was torn to shreds, so to speak.
Pinchus Bender was also an employee for the Krankervelt firm. He too worked six days a week – but never on a Shabbos, his day of rest.
Occasionally, he too hummed the popular tune “Enjoy Yourself.” However his idea of enjoying himself included being with his mishpacha on Friday night and singing zemiros with his family. He too made a lechayim – but with one cup of wine – the kiddush cup which honored the Ribono Shel Olam (G-d.) Following a delicious meal, his children gave interesting divrei Torah (words of Torah) about the parsha (Torah selection) of the week. The spiritual high elevated his mental optimism for the entire week.
The summer passed, and following the High Holidays the arrival of Sukkos was in the air, so to speak. For an observant Yid, there was excitement in the air, the excitement of joy. It was time to build a sukkah, and this year – oy, this year – he told his family, are we going to build a sukkah! And what a sukkah they built. They decorated it like a Rebbe’s super beautiful sukkah. For this mishpacha, the joy of building and decorating their Sukkah was bursting with the quality of simcha.
The clock kept ticking, and Simchas Torah arrived. The family danced with the Torah scrolls, and the youngsters danced while holding and waving Yiddisher flags. What joy! Love of the Torah and expressing it through dance and song gave Pinchus a spiritual high that lasted for the entire year. Rejuvenation on Shabbat reinforced his enjoyment.
We Yidden have a beautiful religion to enjoy each and every day. Baruch Hashem yom yom!
