The Yom Tov of joy is upon us. After a month of Elul followed by the uplifting Days of Awe, we are ready to celebrate and explode with happiness for the lot in life we have each been fortunate to have been granted.
The question remains, "Is everybody happy?"
The Tur famously quotes his brother Rav Yehuda who alleged that the three holidays we celebrate each year, correspond to the Patriarchs.
Pesach aligns with Avraham, Shavuos to Yitzchok, and Sukkos to Yaakov.
When the three angels famously visited Avraham, the Torah reports he directed Sarah to 'knead and make cakes' alluding to Matzo. The horn from the ram that substituted for the sacrificing of Yitzchok, was the Shofar that blew at Mount Sinai on Shavuos. Yaakov built 'shelters for his cattle' calling the location Sukkos.
The holiday of Pesach, 'the time of our freedom', is appropriate to Avraham who freed mankind from the shackles of idolatry to a belief in One G-d.
The complete allegiance to the 'will of G-d', the Torah, celebrating 'the time of giving of our Torah', finds no better embodiment than in Yitzchok who submitting willingly to G-d's dictate to be sacrificed.
Sukkos, however, glorifying 'the time of our joy', finds no obvious counterpart in the life and times of Yaakov. He certainly endured through many travails yet nowhere is there any depiction of his emoting any joy.
The Torah asserts three times the imperative to rejoice specifically on Sukkos, only once on Shavuos, and no open mention in verse at all by Pesach.
Strikingly, in the history of Yaakov, there were three moments he rejoiced.
When Yaakov chances upon Rachel at the well the Torah describes how there was a stone situated on the well lacking sufficient manpower to collectively remove it. Yaakov comes valiantly to the rescue, וַיַָגֶל — and rolled, את האבן — the stone, off the mouth of the well.
The Baal HaTurim points out there is only one other use of this exact word and vowelization as ויגל in the entire Torah.
King David expresses in Tehillim the following sentiment:
I have placed the Lord before me constantly; because [He is] at my right hand, I will not falter. Therefore, שמח לבי — my heart rejoiced, וַיַָגֶל כבודי — and my soul was glad; even my flesh shall dwell in safety. (תהלים טז ח-ט)
The Baal HaTurim adds: when will my 'soul be glad', when there will be fulfilled the 'rolling of the stone' — the removal of the evil inclination, which is likened to a stone.
It seems evident that when one senses G-d at one's 'right hand' the ability to overcome the weighty barriers life presents, i.e. proverbially heavy stones, we can move mountains. Yaakov Avinu had mastered his conquest over the evil inclination by living with a joyous consciousness of G-d's presence in his every breath and moment and was thus able to easily flick the physical weight of an earthly rock that stood in his way.
When Yaakov subsequently commits to shepherding Lot's flocks for an additional seven years in exchange for Rachel's hand in marriage the Torah tells us that those seven long years of waiting seemed to him כימים אחדים — like a few days because of his love for her.
Rashi tells us that the appropriate description of the bond of love between a husband and wife stems from שמחה וחדוה — joy and gladness. (כתובות ז.)
The word חדוה is a combination of חד — one, and וה the two letters when added to the י from the word איש — man, and the ה from the word אשה — woman, complete the Name of G-d, י-ה-ו-ה.
When the connection between man and woman is viewed from the perspective of G-d's being ever-present and the glue that creates a healthy marriage, that is חדוה!
When occupied in a goal-oriented mission of value and higher purpose one defies the constraint of time and its limitations and appears as if 'time is flying when you're having fun'. It is because in that elevated moment we are touching on a bond that is truly eternal.
The peak of Yaakov's joy was when he discovers Yosef's still alive.
After first nearly passing out and being revived upon hearing the news, the Torah states, And Yisroel said, “Rav! My son Yosef still lives; I shall go see him before I die.”
His initial expression רַב! is a peculiar one. Literally it means ‘much’. But much of what?
Who is Yaakov speaking to? To himself or perhaps to his sons?
Rashi, seemingly based on the Targum, explains it to mean that he had much שמחה וחדוה — happiness and joy since his son Yosef was still alive.
So why doesn’t the Torah report his full emotional expression of having experienced ‘much joy’ and chose to merely state, ‘much’, without any intimation of what he felt much of?
The great nineteenth century Hungarian rabbinic figure and educator, Rav Moshe Greenwald, popularly known as the Arugas HaBosem, explains that there are two levels of joy, the initial external reaction to the event that provoked the joy that is fleeting, and then there is the deeper appreciation of that moment and its implication on a spiritual level that etches itself into our soul and is lasting.
Yaakov’s first ‘reviving of his spirit’ denotes the instinct of relief and reveling over his happy discovery. The רב — the ‘much’ happiness, represents the realization that Yosef not only physically survived but remained intact with all his spiritual accomplishments — despite the ordeal — and deserving of being referred to as ‘my son Yosef who is still alive’, in testament to his allegiance to his father’s legacy.
Simcha is the external expression of joy one experiences upon an event that promotes happiness.
Chedvah alludes to deeper more spiritual and lasting sensation of joy. (משנת יוסף ויגש)
Perhaps Yaakov intentionally intimated this notion of ‘much happiness’ and its connotation of an abundant and increasing genuine joy, in the context of calling out to Esav the 'רב'.
When Yaakov offers a gift to Esav, he declines with the argument, יש לי רב — I have much.
Yaakov on the other hand insists that Esav accept the gift telling him not to worry about diminishing his resources since יש לי כל — I have everything.
Esav intimates he has ‘much’ but not all, still aspiring for more. Yaakov though asserts he has no interest in more possessions since he has everything he needs.
This is the crux of the formula for genuine happiness. In the physical realm being satisfied with what we have can make us happy, as opposed to those who pursue ‘more’, who will never pacify the craving.
In the realm of spirituality, it is exactly the opposite.
The more we pine the happier we are. Complacency leaves us hungry.
We begin to see that Yaakov Avinu, perhaps more than Avrohom and Yitzchok, is portrayed as one who has mastered true inner happiness that lasts and continually grows.
This is just the beginning of our journey.
Please join us at Ohel Moshe in this season of joy to discover the depths of Simcha and its critical role in our lives as Ovdei Hashem and its connection to Sukkos!
באהבה ובשמחה,
חג שמח
צבי יהודה טייכמאן