Breaking Through Barriers

The maamar translated in the pages that follow, Margela bePumei deRava, delivered in the year 5746 (1986), serves as a manifesto for our generation. In it, the Rebbe declares:
Thus [when our people's spiritual stature is seen in the context of their recent history, it is apparent] that the higher rung of teshuvah ? teshuvah characterized by joy ? is relevant to them.
There is a further point. As explained in Iggeres HaTeshuvah, [it is desirable to experience] the lower rung of teshuvah, teshuvah that stems from bitterness, [at least] once a week, [and the optimum time for this experience is] before Shabbos, i.e., on Thursday night. Now, [within the context of the history of the world as a whole,] we are now close to the end of the sixth millennium. [Following the conception that "the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a millennium,"] we are drawing close to the end of Friday. It is not merely early on Friday ? and it is [certainly] not Thursday night. It is late on Friday, near the end of the day, very close to Shabbos. If so, it is obvious that one"s Divine service in this era must be carried out in the spirit of happiness that accompanies the higher rung of teshuvah.
Happiness has always been an integral element of the chassidic tradition. With the above-quoted call, the Rebbe highlights how happiness lies at the very core of our Divine service. For Chassidus emphasizes that the meaning of teshuvah is "return", coming back to one's true inner self, identifying with the G-dly spark that lies at the core of our being. Simchah brings a person into contact with that essential G-dly potential and enables it to surface.