"You shall rejoice!"
(Deuteronomy 16:14)
Tishrei 14, 5782/September 20, 2021
"You shall rejoice in your festival..." (Deuteronomy 16:14) And that's an order! (Actually, it's a commandment.)
"You shall hold a festival for HaShem your G-d seven days, in the place that HaShem will choose; for HaShem your G-d will bless you in all your crops and all your undertakings, and you shall have nothing but joy." (ibid 16:15)
There is nothing better than being happy! Who doesn't want to be happy? But can we really be commanded to be happy? Is happiness something that you can just conjure up? The Torah insists that the answer is yes, but in order to fulfill the commandment to be joyful, one must first tap into its true source: gratitude, appreciation and satisfaction with all that you have, right now, today, this moment.
The seven day festival of Sukkot occurs during the season of the autumn harvest, a natural time for feeling thanks for the bounty that you have just gathered, the product of long summer hours of intense labor - the work of your own hands, with the benevolent blessing of HaShem, Creator and Master of our universe.
When we work in tandem with G-d, when the efforts of our hearts and hands enable us to attain a goal that we share with HaShem, the thanks, the gratitude and the praise come naturally and freely. Following the spiritual and soulful efforts of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, we have so much to be thankful for. And with thanks comes joy. The holiday of Sukkot is a celebration of joy, froms its opening moments to its grand conclusion on Hoshanna Rabbah, followed by Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth Day Assembly, more familiarly known as, what else - Simchat Torah - the Joy of Torah!
Torah insists that the most surefire and direct route to attaching our souls to HaShem is through happiness born of gratitude and our awareness of HaShem's presence in every aspect of our lives. As the psalmist says, we may begin our journey in lamentation and sackcloth, but we will conclude our journey in dancing and joy. The Simchat Beit HaShoeva (Joy of the Water Drawing Ceremony) which takes place every night, all night long, throughout the seven days of Sukkot, a celebration of song and dance, is the highlight of the annual pilgrimage festivals - the peak of ecstatic joy. It is said that the joy was so intense and so infectious that unwitting Sukkot celebrants would return from celebrating Sukkot in the Holy Temple imbued with the gift of prophecy - the prophet Jonah being the most famous example!
The all-night festivities were followed each morning by a dawn procession to the Shiloach Spring in the City of David, where kohanim would gather up the pure waters into a golden flask. From there the gathered assembly would return to the Holy Temple where the kohanim would perform the water libation, trickling water and wine down the side of the great stone altar, while psalms of praise and songs of thanks were uttered accompanied by prayers for all manners of blessing for the upcoming year, with a special emphasis on abundant rains.
This Sukkot may we all connect with the many things we can be grateful for and be uplifted by the pure joy of conveying our thanks to HaShem our G-d, whose great love for His children is endless, expressed in His abundant blessings, too many to number and too great to fully comprehend. When we sit in our Sukkot and look upward toward the heavens let us remember that life is precious, G-d's love for us is great, and gratitude is the key to true happiness. Be happy! That's a commandment!
Chag Sukkot Sameach - Have a Very Happy Sukkot!
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