Rejoicing on Sukkot

Chag ha’Sukkot: the Sukkah has been built and the decorations laminated and hung up; the challahs are baked and the aroma of Yom Tov foods wafts through the kitchen; the salads and fruit have been prepared and cut, while the cakes and cookies are waiting to be eaten (or maybe some of the goodies have already been eaten!). After much shopping, preparation, cooking and baking, we are ready to light the candles and usher in Chag ha’Sukkot. Tired but happy, we are ready to sit down to our Yom Tov table.

Tired, but happy….Which might make us pause and wonder: why do we associate happiness, שמחה, with our chagim, particularly with Chag ha’Sukkot? What is the source for this rejoicing and why should we rejoice?

The Torah tells us that you shall celebrate the festival of Sukkot when you gather in your produce from the fields, ושמחת בחגיך – you shall rejoice on your festival, you and your family, for seven days, for Hashem will have blessed you in all your crops and in all your handiwork, והיית אך שמח – and you will only be joyous!

It’s interesting. When the Torah discusses the shalosh regalim in Parshat Re’eh, it does not use the word שמחה regarding Pesach, it uses it only once regarding Shavuot, but regarding Sukkot, it uses the word not once, but twice, as quoted in the series of Pasukim above! What is unique about the holiday of Sukkot that it merits a double term of happiness in the Torah?

The Ba’al Ha’Turim points out that the Torah does not use the word “happiness” regarding Pesach for the crops are still in the fields, and it uses the term only once regarding Shavout for the crops have been harvested and the wine is still in the grapes, but regarding Sukkot, when all the produce has been gathered and all the bounty of the land has been brought into the house, the Torah uses the word “happiness” twice.

This is amazing, really. Are we to understand that our simchat Yom Tov is dependent on whether or not the crops have been harvested and gathered into our homes; that the more bounty we have in our homes, the greater our level of שמחה and rejoicing on the festival?

Perhaps the Ba’al Ha’Turim is teaching us that when we reap the rewards of our work and the goodness of the fields, when our Yom Tov table is generously set with an assortment of tasty delicacies to excite the senses and palate, when the family gathers around and sits down together to enjoy the meal, then that is true שמחה, happiness. Why? Because while we can – and should - take pleasure in all that we have gathered into our home, we must stop and consider Who has granted us all of this goodness.

The more we have, the easier it is to forget Who has bestowed all this goodness upon us. The Torah uses a double language of happiness regarding Chag ha’Sukkot, for when all is in the home, and the bounty is set before us, we need to remember – exactly then with the lavish spread on the Yom Tov table – that it is only by Divine grace that we have reaped these gifts, and for that realization our happiness and joy must be doubled.

ושמחת בחגיך – We rejoice for all the goodness that we have brought into our houses; והיית אך שמח – and then we rejoice even more when we appreciate and understand that all our gifts are from The One Above.

On the verse “And they saw G-d, and they ate and they drank” , R’ Dov Ber of Mezritch would say, “Even when you eat and drink, and engage in physical matters, still keep G-d in your vision.”

It happened one time that a talmid of R’ Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt’l, came to the Rosh Yeshiva for encouragement while going through a difficult time. “How does the Rosh Yeshiva learn mitoch yissurim (amidst suffering)?” he asked. “I don’t learn mitoch yissurim,” replied R’ Nosson Tzvi, “I learn mitoch simcha (amidst joy)!”

In all that we do, we must strive to do it with happiness. When we sit down on chag ha’Sukkot, the Sukkah decorated, the table laden with delicious foods, the family and guests gathered around, and we enjoy all the bounty that has been brought into our homes, our rejoicing is two-fold – simcha for all the blessings in our lives, and a deeper level of simcha for our gratitude to Hashem Who has bestowed His blessings upon us. והיית אך שמח ושמחת בחגיך.

Wishing you all a chag sa’mayach.