You, Over There! Be Happy!

So Yom Kippur is over. And whether you spent the day praying in synagogue, praying on your own, contemplating reflectively (or reflectively contemplating), riding your bike down Israel’s car-free streets, or dealing with a sick 3-year-old, it’s done. We have all, hopefully, been inscribed for a year of good things.

 

And now we move on to Sukkot. The holiday of happiness, literally: Sukkot is also known as “Chag simchateinu/The holiday of our rejoicing.”

 

How did Sukkot get to be The Happy One? One reason is because it is also “Chag Ha’asif,” the holiday of gathering. Sukkot was the time when farmers would gather in their crops, just in time for the rainy season to begin; it joyfully represented the culmination of a summer’s hard work.

 

During Sukkot in the time of the Temple, a festive spirit prevailed as Jews from all over gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday together at the Temple. The simchat beit hashoeva/water libation ceremony was held every day, during which the Jews would pray for rain. The excitement that accompanied the ceremony was something to behold. The combination of the gathering of Jews, the joyful ceremonies, the festive feeling, the anticipation of a wet, rainy winter made Sukkot a profoundly jubilant time.

 

Much of that happiness that was so organic to Sukkot is somewhat lost today. No more Temple, no more gathering of Jews to the holy city (although perhaps the hotel bookings in Jerusalem at this time of year would say otherwise), no more water ceremony. It’s easy to get bogged down in the stress of missing more work (again), cooking and going to synagogue (again), and entertaining kids (AGAIN!!)

 

So can we really experience the happy of our Happy Holiday?

 

Yes, you can, says God. The lesson of the Torah’s words “v’samachta b’chagecha/and you should rejoice in your holiday” is in the very fact that we are “commanded” to rejoice.

God knows that it’s not always easy to be happy. On Sukkot, He reminds us that we need to make our own happiness. During this holiday, we put effort into our sukkah, our lulav and etrog and our festive meals. But we also need to invest in recognizing and creating moments of joy.

 

The joys can be small or big, simple or profound, experienced alone or in a group. For example, when you find that perfect etrog, and you marvel at its deep yellow hue and heft that’s just right in your hand, recognize that blissful moment for what it is. Relish the opportunity to color on the walls and create dazzling works of art for your sukkah. (For the record, ours include the classic super-long paper chain, something complicated made of magnets, an abstract art experiment created by mixing the paint colors together to create the ever-popular “Kid Brown,” and a moose head we bought once because we saw it and thought, “This is perfect for the sukkah.”)

 

Sit back and enjoy the sounds of Kiddush and singing coming from the surrounding sukkot on the nights of the holiday. Appreciate that first sitting-in-the-sukkah blessing (leshev basukkah), which means you DID it! The sukkah is standing (for now), the food is cooked, and everyone is enjoying the fruits of their labors.

 

I gave you this holiday, says God, now you need to choose to make it a joyful one.

 

Yes, we’re also stressed. But you know what? [Spoiler alert!] There’s always going to be stress! “V’samachta b’chagecha” reminds us that we have to decide what our approach to life is going to be. Will we let the joy in? Will we go out of our way to find it and create it? Will we obey the commandment to be happy? God, for one, hopes we will.

 

Wishing all of you a happy Sukkot and a happy year.