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How Can we Celebrate with Tragedy Around
Us?
by Simon Jacobson
October 5, 2001
Praise G-d all you nations, extol Him all
you peoples, because His kindness was mighty over us and the
truth of G-d is everlasting – Psalms 117 – Sukkot
Hallel prayer
What did G-d do for the nations of the world
that they are praising Him? They praise Him for all the might
and wonders that He did in the world; how much more so do
we [the Jewish people] have to praise Him – Talmud, Pesachim
118b
The seventy Sukkot offerings correspond
to and protect the seventy nations – Sukkot 55b. Rashi
Pinchat 29:35
All seventy nations are subcategories of
Esau and Ishmael – Nitzutzei Orot, Zohar III 227b
The last birur [refinement] before the Geulah
is that of kelipat [husk of] Ishmael –
R’ Dovber of Lubavitch, Shaarei Teshuvah II 17a. See
Zohar II 32a. Rambam, Iggeret Teiman ch. 3
On Sukkot is the work of refining kelipat
Ishmael… which prevents the Geulah –
Sfat Emet, drush l’Sukkot
As we try to regain some composure following
the attack of September 11th, we also enter the
joyous holiday season of Sukkot. Among all ‘festivals
of joy,’ Sukkot is specifically designated as the “time
of our joy,” and its celebration is greater than that
of other holidays. Song and dance permeate each day of this
holiday, growing in intensity with each passing day.
Is there room for joy when we are just beginning
to bury our dead? How can we celebrate when we are so uncertain
of what the future holds?
The trembling Days of Awe seem appropriate to
these difficult times; but joyous Sukkot?!… And just
plain joy, a joy that is so great that the Talmud says “one
who has nor seen Simchat Beit Hashoavah (the celebration accompanying
the drawing of water for the altar on Sukkot) has not seen
joy in his life”!
Penetrating into the personality of Sukkot gives
us deeper insight into the very nature of joy itself.
Joy (simcha) is a revealed expression
of the soul’s innate celebration of life. Being aware
of your indispensable purpose in life, by being connected
to your Divine mission, is true cause for natural celebration.
Conversely, lack of this awareness is the root of insecurity,
fear, uncertainty, and the inevitable resulting despondency.
The joy of Sukkot is the revelation and celebration
of the essential connection with our Divine mission established
on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Chassidic masters tell us
that you can accomplish with simcha on Shemini Atzeret and
Simchat Torah that which you can accomplish with tears on
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
There is a time to weep and there is a time
to celebrate. Just as healthy tears are not mere resignation
and fear, but release and catharsis that sow the seeds of
growth; so healthy joy is not escape and denial, but the celebration
of what makes life worth living, and makes those that tragically
died worth remembering. “Those that sow with tears, will
reap in joy.”
On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we stand in awe
before our Maker. We stand stripped naked of our illusionary
security blankets. We may even be shaken up and frightened
for losing the comforts of our past. But we learn to connect
to G-d, to embrace our only true source of security –
our purpose in this world. And we learn to instill this higher
purpose into our daily lives.
On Sukkot we celebrate this connection. We dance
and sing in unadulterated joy. It is not frivolous nor superficial
joy. It is not jittery not distracting joy. It is the expression
of genuine happiness from the essence of your being. We celebrate
not because we are oblivious, but because we know that we
will prevail. A joy that at once knows of the tragic realities
facing us while embracing the reason to fight on and triumph.
The joy is an expression of our commitment to
good, the celebration of hope following loss (the hope that
was born on Yom Kippur). As we defiantly take the four species
in our hand on Sukkot we declare our victory in the battle
of good over evil (See Midrash Rabba Vayikra, 30:2).
Some armies once had a custom to sing a victory
song as they went to war. Why? They hadn’t even begun
the first battle, how can they sing a victory song? Because
they are completely and absolutely confident that they will
win. This conviction lifts the morale and infuses the soldiers
with the absolute surety of victory. You then fight differently.
When you go to war with doubt and apprehension whether you
will win, you cannot fight with absolute conviction. Doubt
is demoralizing.
Sukkot is this victory song. We march with the
four species, armed with our spiritual arsenal – spiritual
weapons – resolute to fight any battle, because we have
cause to fight.
This message of Sukkot’s victory is universal.
We are taught that the Sukkot celebration has a profound effect
on the nations of the world. The seventy offerings brought
in the Holy Temple on Sukkot – and recreated through
our prayers today – corresponds to and protects the seventy
nations of the world. Thus our joy and service during Sukkot
has cosmic impact on the destiny of the world. The fate of
the nations that was determined on Rosh Hashana begins to
manifest in the days of Sukkot.
As enter these joyous days, we are given power
to transcend our uncertainty, our fears and vulnerabilities.
We can access a greater strength that gives us the reason
and the power (cause) to celebrate. “The time of our
rejoicing” – us together with G-d. We celebrate
with G-d our Maker, G-d celebrates with us, His creatures.
Joy has some special energy that can help us
now, more than ever. Joy has the power to transcend barriers
(“simcha poretz geder”). When you dance with
joy you break down walls and all forms of limits and constraints.
Joy unites people. Indeed, because joy cannot
be celebrated alone, we are obligated to invite guests to
our tables on Sukkot. We all sit together in one unifying
Sukkah. We bind together the four species – Lulav (Palm
branch), Etrog (Citron), Haddasim (Myrtle branches), Arovot
(Willow branches) – representing all different personalities,
teaching us that our diversity is our strength, it feeds our
unity, each of us with our unique contribution to the greater
good.
Let us gather together during these upcoming
days of Sukkot and celebrate. Celebrate our lives and the
gift we have been given today: To be strong and fight for
our true beliefs of freedom.
Such gatherings are especially appropriate this
Sukkot and throughout the year, being that this year is a
Hakhel (gathering) year. [During a Hakhel year
in the time of the Holy Temple, men, women and children would
gather together on Sukkot to “hear and learn” Torah
and stand in “awe of G-d”].
This message of hope, joy and unity is needed
now more than ever in the aftermath of September 11th
and its shattering effects. It is the ultimate fuel to be
able to forge ahead, rebuild and come out even greater.
Let us not forget the great opportunity before
us to use this shakeup as a wake up call to reclaim our purpose.
This is the season to ask yourself: What gives
me true joy? What blessings do I have in my life? With all
this pain and loss around us, with all the uncertainty hanging
over us, what is worth celebrating?
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