On Sukkot, joy is not optional

At Sukkot, joy is not an option, it’s a requirement.

People continue to suffer from natural disasters, repression and genocide, and America is reeling from the unfathonable act of a man who took at least 59 lives and injured several hundred people in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

None of these tragedies can be undone, but our role is not to do nothing.

We can comfort the bereaved and help them rebuild their homes and their lives; members of our communities did more than contribute money to the hurricane victims, many — including students in our day schools — gave of themselves, rushing to Houston to lend a hand and offer a shoulder.

Amidst all of this we are commanded — particularly on Sukkot — to be joyous. And when we sit in our Sukkahs on Wednesday night, that’s exactly what we will be, remembering Hashem’s myriad blessings and believing, as our forebears did while they wandered in the midbar for 40 years, that Hashem will keep his word and that we will, in fact, enter the promised land.

As we await the arrival of Mochiach, we have our marching orders. And we should execute them with joy.