Hol Hamoed Sukkot
Sukkot is known as Zman Simchateinu, the Season of Our Joy. Coming up on Tuesday night is Simchat Torah, the Joy of the Torah. Simcha, Joy, is clearly a focus of our Jewish calendar this week. Therefore, it seems important to define joy in order to try to achieve it.
Mussar literature gives us a powerful insight into joy. It teaches that joy and happiness are very different things, even though they both share the same Hebrew word--Simcha. Happiness is seen as fleeting. We feel happy one minute and sad the next. Our mood may be up one day, and we may feel flat the next day.
That is the nature of happiness--it comes and goes, often dependent on our external circumstances.
Joy on the other hand, according to Mussar, is a state of mind. It is a choice. We can practice developing it. Joy is a deep sense of satisfaction and wholeness. It is the ability to see and feel the good, even when there are challenges in our lives. We may feel sad, or hurt or angry, and therefore not feel happy, but we can continue to feel deep joy underneath, at the same time. For example, I may be upset about something, but when I look out the window and see the beauty of nature, I feel a deep sense of being blessed.
Sitting in the Sukkah is a perfect way to cultivate the middah, trait, of joy. No matter what is going on, the minute I sit in the sukkah, and hear the wind in the trees, or feel the raindrops, or notice the sun through the schach, I feel deep gratitude and joy. The more I experience that deep joy, the more I can access it when I need it. We need joy when we are feeling unsettled or disturbed. Joy helps ground us and remind us of the good, so we don’t feel overwhelmed by the negative.
Celebrating Simchat Torah is another opportunity to practice simcha/joy. This Simchat Torah, I invite you to bring your favourite story from the Torah. By sharing our favourite stories, we will be celebrating the Torah as a symbol of continuity, and center of Judaism. We will appreciate the richness of our traditions and our people. When we feel blessed to be part of the Jewish people, we find joy.
This Shabbat, may your sukkahs be filled with light from the sun and stars, and your homes be filled with simcha/joy. May the end of the High Holy Day season bring you wholeness, repentance and deep joy because of the blessings in your life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marcia Plumb
