Chag Ha’Succos - Chag ha’Assif, Shemini Atzeres - Simchas Torah 5785.  The culmination of the annual cycle of the shalosh regalim (the three yearly festivals - Pesach, Shavuos, and Succos), the end of all of our avodah b’teshuva that began on Rosh Chodesh Elul, through the Yamim Noraim. The days when we leave our permanent dwelling and move into the Succah - the temporary dwelling, which reminds us that all of this world is only temporary, and our true security and everlasting stability is only found in the Shelter of HKB”H.  

Only in regard to Chag Ha’Succos does the Torah highlight the intense measure of simcha that is required when celebrating the chag.  The pasukim tell us:

וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים, וַעֲנַף עֵץ-עָבֹת, וְעַרְבֵי-נָחַל; וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם, לִפְנֵי ה’ אֱלֹקַיכֶם--שִׁבְעַת יָמִים - And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the hadar tree (the esrog), date palm fronds (the lulav), a branch of a braided tree (hadassim), and willows of the brook (and aravos), and you shall rejoice before Hashem your G-d for seven days (Vayikra 23:40);

חַג הַסֻּכֹּת תַּעֲשֶׂה לְךָ, שִׁבְעַת יָמִים:  בְּאָסְפְּךָ--מִגָּרְנְךָ, וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ - the festival of Succos you shall make for yourself for seven days, when you gather in from your threshing floor and your wine pit; וְשָׂמַחְתָּ, בְּחַגֶּךָ אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ, וְעַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ, וְהַלֵּוִי וְהַגֵּר וְהַיָּתוֹם וְהָאַלְמָנָה, אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ - and you shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and your daughter and your man-and-maidservant, and the Levi and the convert and the orphan and widow, that are in your cities; שִׁבְעַת יָמִים, תָּחֹג לַה’ אֱלֹקַיךָ, בַּמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר-יִבְחַר ה’ כִּי יְבָרֶכְךָ ה’ אֱלֹקַיךָ, בְּכֹל תְּבוּאָתְךָ וּבְכֹל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ, וְהָיִיתָ, אַךְ שָׂמֵחַ - for seven days you shall celebrate to Hashem your G-d, in the place that Hashem has chosen, for Hashem your G-d will bless you in all your produce and the work of your hands, and you shall only rejoice (Devarim 16:13-15).  

This double measure of simcha is found only in regard to Succos, and not in regard to Pesach or Shavuos.  And at the end of Succos, when we celebrate Shimini Atzeres (Vayikra 23:36), we simultaneously celebrate Simchas Torah - the completion of the annual Torah cycle, which is a time of great rejoicing, exultation, and an expression of love for our Torah ha’Kedosha.  

This entire yomtov - from the days of Succos to the final day of Shimini Atzeres/Simchas Torah - is known as zman simcha’seinu - the time of our rejoicing.

Aside from all the mitzvos ha’yom - arabah minim, yeshiva ba’Succah, Ushpizin and orchim, noy Succah, Hallel, Simchos Beis Sho’eivah - perhaps the greatest source of this simcha stems from the last day - Shmini Atzeres-Simchas Torah.  As its name indicates, the only true simcha that exists in this finite world is the infinite wisdom and Divine gift of Torah.  The celebration of Torah is what infuses this entire yomtov with tremendous simcha.  Without Torah in one’s life, there can be no simcha, and with Torah as one’s ever-present companion, there is always simcha.  

Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm z’l writes, “The more a society is in a state of change, the more it needs some anchor of permanence to give it a sense of stability.  When I don my tallit or tefillin, when I hold my lulav and etrog, I suddenly am aware of myself as standing in the grand tradition  of my parents and my grandparents and their grandparents before them.  I perceive myself as part of a great and noble historical continuum which emerges unshaken from the vicissitudes of the various ages.  These observances are both symbol and essence of my roots.  And, indeed, in performance of the mitzvot, I am aware of my roots such that no matter what winds may buffet my branches, no matter what storms may swirl about me, I remain firm and stable.  I feel like a tree, not a mushroom which appears out of nowhere and disappears into nothing. (Perhaps) Thus, the tallit and tefillin, the lulav and etrog, kashrut and Shabbat, are more important here and today than they were in Volozhin or Pressburg or Hamburg of a hundred years ago… 

“Considering the proliferation of the various new media in our times (author’s note: Rabbi Lamm wrote these words in 1967!), our minds are bombarded by all kinds of novel and evanescent (vanishing) messages, so that the timeless verities (eternal truths) are displaced from our consciousness.  We have become the generation of the spiritually dispossessed, and our own permanent values have turned unstable and illusory…

“In a society of this kind, we need Torah more than ever before.  We need a religion which does not (italics in the original) change with the times, but which offers the permanence and stability we crave.  Religion should not be a mirror that reflects that crazy whirl of life’s mad currents.  It should be a rudder that keeps us afloat, that tells us where we are going and guides us there, that helps us attain perspective and prevents us from being overwhelmed by the empty foam of life.  Were religion to change with the times, it would not be worth the effort to stay religious!  

“… While Torah is changeless, it must always be relevant to a changing society.  It must not be so changeless that it has nothing to do with man, who is always in a state of change.  Judaism must address man in his changing conditions; it must speak to man of values and faith, of loyalty and honor and meaning, as they apply to his times and his society… Torah must not be a sealed book written in an ancient and undecipherable language… It must be the Sefer ha’Chaim, the Book of Life.  It must be permanent, yet relevant; changeless, yet germane (relevant, appropriate).  It means that while affirming the unchanging nature of Halacha, we must be able to explain it in terms of a changing society; that while teaching the timeless truths of Torah, we must relate them to issues that are timely” (Festivals of Faith, p.122-125).

Dovid ha’Melech thus reminds us that: לוּלֵי תוֹרָתְךָ, שַׁעֲשֻׁעָי אָז, אָבַדְתִּי בְעָנְיִי - if not for Your Torah which is my delight, I would have perished in my affliction (Tehilim 119:92); and מָה-אָהַבְתִּי תוֹרָתֶךָ כָּל-הַיּוֹם, הִיא שִׂיחָתִי - how much I love Your Torah, all day it is my conversation (ibid, v.97).  

As we celebrate zman simcha’seinu this year, and we emotionally remember and poignantly reflect upon the full year that has now passed since Simchas Torah/Shimini Atzeres 5784, let us recommit ourselves to true simcha.  Let us rededicate ourselves to Torah learning, living, and loving.  As we read in the Haftorah of Simchas Torah: 

לֹא-יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ, וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה, לְמַעַן תִּשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת, כְּכָל-הַכָּתוּב בּוֹ:  כִּי-אָז תַּצְלִיחַ אֶת-דְּרָכֶךָ, וְאָז תַּשְׂכִּיל - these words of Torah shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall contemplate Torah day and night, so that you shall guard to do all that is written in it, for then your ways will be successful and then you will be wise (Yehoshua 1:8). 

LZ”N ha’kedoshim v’ha’tehorim she’masru nafsham al kiddush Hashem, ha’am, va’haretz, b’yom ha’kadosh Shmini Atzeres/Simchas Torah 5784, te’hey nishmasam tz’ror b’tzror ha’chaim, v’Hashem yikom damam.

הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכות דוד הנפלת

בברכת חג סוכות שמח, 

Michal