In this week’s parsha, Parshas Re’eh, the Torah commands us regarding the shalosh regalim: Pesach, Shavuos and Succos (Devarim 16:1-17).  It is these three festivals that shape our calendar year and together, they form the foundations of our nation.  Pesach commemorates the miraculous Exodus from Egypt, and all the judgements and wonders G-d brought upon the Egyptians; Shavuos commemorates the time of the giving of the Torah at Har Sinai, seven weeks after Yetzias Mitzrayim; and Succos commemorates G-d’s Divine Protection as we walked into the barren desert, the future unknown, save for our faith and trust in Hashem, and the Clouds of Glory in which Hashem ensconced us during our desert wanderings.  

The calendar year of 5784 is almost behind us.  Pesach and Shavuos have both passed, and as we prepare to move into Chodesh Elul, our minds and hearts look ahead towards the final of these three festivals, Chag ha’Succos, in the new year of 5785.    

Regarding Chag Ha’Succos, the pasuk commands us to rejoice - to experience simchas yomtov - in a double lashon of rejoicing.  “The festival of Succos you shall make for yourself for seven days, when you gather in (your produce) from the threshing floor and the wine pit; וְשָֽׂמַחְתָּ֖ בְּחַגֶּ֑ךָ אַתָּ֨ה וּבִנְךָ֤ וּבִתֶּ֨ךָ֙ וְעַבְדְּךָ֣ וַֽאֲמָתֶ֔ךָ וְהַלֵּוִ֗י וְהַגֵּ֛ר וְהַיָּת֥וֹם וְהָֽאַלְמָנָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בִּשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ - and you shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and your daughter, and your man and maid servant, and the Levi, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow that is in your cities; For seven days you shall celebrate the festival to Hashem your G-d… וְהָיִ֖יתָ אַ֥ךְ שָׂמֵֽחַ, and you shall only rejoice (Devarim 16:13-15).  

When we are commanded regarding the yomtov of Succos earlier in the Chumash, the mitzvah of simcha is related to us there as well: וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים, וַעֲנַף עֵץ-עָבֹת, וְעַרְבֵי-נָחַל; וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם, לִפְנֵי ה’ אֱלֹקיכֶם—שִׁבְעַת יָמִים - and you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the tree of splendor (the esrog), the palm frond (the lulav), the hadassim and aravos, and you shall rejoice before Hashem your G-d for seven days (Vayikra 23:40).  

We have a specific mitzvah to rejoice on Chag ha’Succos.  And yet… this year, looking ahead to the yomtov season which is fast approaching, we may wonder: In a year that is different than all other previous years, how can we fulfill the Biblical dictum to rejoice on the festival?  On the concluding days of the yomtov that is the yarzheit of 1,200 holy, precious Jewish neshamos, HY”D - as well as the beginning of the year that launched events that we could not possibly have fathomed or foreseen - does the Torah expect us to rejoice and be happy?  

In a shiur delivered in 1977, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt’l related: “The Torah requires of the Jew that he emulate the concept of tzimtzum, or withdrawal and self-limitation.  At times he must even be capable of withdrawing from himself [from his own emotional state].  Let me give you some examples from my own experience.

“My wife died on the Fast of Esther.  It was a Thursday.  She was buried on Friday.  I was very attached to her and part of myself went into the grave with her.  I came home, took off my shoes, and sat down on the floor.  I began to observe the seven days of mourning.  This observance was therapeutic for me.  The fact that I could sit down on the floor and cry was redemptive and cathartic.

“Suddenly it was Sunday and Purim had arrived.  I had to get up from shivah observance, put on my shoes, and celebrate Purim.  Did I have the strength to do this?  No.  But the halacha required it.  This is tzimtzum… (emphasis added).  

“… I will tell you a story about an esrog that will also illustrate the principle of tzimtzum, of withdrawal and self-limitation.  It was the first year my father (Rav Moshe Soloveitchik zt’l, son of Rav Chaim Brisker zy’a) came to Warsaw.  I believe it was in 1921.  There was a shortage of esrogim in Warsaw that year, and my father spent a small fortune to buy a mehudar esrog.  We did not have too much at the time, and it was a real expense.  My father treated the esrog like a firstborn child, with much tenderness and love.  He placed it in a silver case.

“This is a true story and not a legend.  The first night, my sister Shulamith…apparently inspected the esrog and dropped it.  The pitom (tip) fell off and its beauty was impaired.  My father did not say one word.  My sister became hysterical.  My father calmed her down and said: ‘Do not be hysterical.  You did not want to drop it.  It was a mistake.  An esrog without a pitom may also have value on Succos under certain circumstances.’  Is this not tzimtzum?  To spend the five or ten dollars at that time was one thing.  But to contain oneself and not get angry was withdrawal par excellence and a perfect example of tzimtzum.  This is not a chasidesher maaseh.  This is a true story” (The Rav, by Rabbi A. Rakeffet-Rothkoff, v. 2, p.7-9).

While this year we may feel that our natural emotion of simchas yomtov may be diminished, we must delve deeply into ourselves and our faith, reach out to our communities, and connect to all of Am Yisrael, and recognize that even in such a year, simcha remains an imperative and an integral part of the yomtov experience.  If we must ‘withdraw’ from our natural emotions of bewilderment and pain, from longing and tears, then so we must strive to do; for this is what the Torah demands of us, as we embody the middah of simcha on yomtov.  

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks notes that simcha is not a private emotion.  Simcha means communal happiness, happiness that is shared.  “It is a social state, a predicate of ‘we,’ not ‘I.’  There is no such thing as feeling simcha alone” (Covenant & Conversation, Deuteronomy, p.127).

When we reflect upon the blessings that we do have, the protection that HKB”H affords us as a nation and a State, when we contemplate the blessings of family, friends and community, then despite our terrible national pain, confusion, and mourning, perhaps we will be able to joyously fulfill the dictum of v’samachta b’chagecha, v’ha’yisa ach samayach.  

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום