THE TRUE SOURCE OF SIMCHA - KI SAVO

A great deal of Parshas Ki Savo outlines the devastating punishments that would befall the Jewish people if they do not follow the Torah. In the midst of the tochacha the Torah gives us a deeper insight into the cause of all the terrible punishments enumerated here; “Since you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with joy and goodness of heart, from rov kol (the abundance of everything). ” The simple understanding of this passuk is that the Jewish people did not perform mitzvos with happiness despite the fact that they were blessed with the abundance of everything .

The Arizal explains the passuk according to the Kabbala in a slightly different way. He says that the Torah is saying that we may have performed mitzvos with a certain degree of happiness, however our ikar joy did not derive from shemiras hamitzvos, rather from the simcha of ‘rov kol’ which refers to all other sources of happiness . Thus, Hashem is telling the Jewish people that the simcha of Avodas Hashem must be far greater than the pleasure derived from other endeavors, and that this is an essential part of one’s Avoda. This is a lesson that is of great relevance to Rosh Hashana: The main avoda of Rosh Hashana is to make Hashem King. A significant aspect of this is to recognize that Hashem is the only source of meaning, all other ‘sources’ of pleasure are meaningless. This is also a prerequisite to the teshuva process leading up to Yom Kippur. because if a person’s sheifus (desires) are not purely towards Avodas Hashem, then he will find it almost impossible to avoid sin. There will be times when his desires clash with Ratson Hashem and his shemiras hamitzvos will inevitably suffer. Thus, any teshuva he does on Yom Kippur will be tainted by his outlook on life - that Hashem is not the only source of meaning and joy.

It is important to note that even if a person somehow avoids sinning whilst pursuing his other desires he will still face unpleasant consequences. Rav Yissochor Frand Shlita tells a frightening story that illustrates this point. The Chiddushei Harim zt”l once travelled with a man on his carriage that was pulled by two horses. After a few miles, one of the horses died, causing great distress to its owner. A few miles later, the other horse also died. The owner was so distressed at the loss of his horses that meant so much to him that he sat crying for a long time until he cried so much that he died. That night, the Chiddushei Harim had a dream; in that dream he saw that the man who had died, received Olam Haba. But what was his Olam Haba? A lovely carriage with two beautiful horses. This story teaches us that our Olam Haba is created by what we value in Olam Hazeh - for this man, the most important thing in his life was his horses and carriage, therefore, that was what he got for eternity.

One may ask, it does not seem to be so bad for a person to receive in Olam Haba that which he cherishes so much in Olam Hazeh. Rav Frand answers this question. He says that when he was a young child he always wanted a slingshot with which to play with but his parents refused. Imagine if, at the time of his wedding, his parents would come to him and say, “here is the slingshot that you always wanted!” As a child, the slingshot was valuable to him, but now he has grown out of it. So too, we may strive to acquire various pleasures in Olam Hazeh, such as money or kavod, believing that they will provide us with contentment. But when we arrive in Olam Haba we will see the truth of the words of Mesillas Yesharim: “everything else [apart from closeness to Hashem] that people believe are good is nothing but emptiness. ” In the Olam Haemes, we will see with perfect clarity, how meaningless are those things that we put so much energy into acquiring in this world.

The tochacha of Ki Savo is a stark reminder that it is not enough to merely observe the mitzvos, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives. Kavod, power, money, food and any other ‘pleasure’ are all illusionary sources of meaning - making Hashem King means realizing that He is the only source of true simcha.

THE WRONG KIND OF JOY - VAYEISHEV

“And Yosef dreamt a dream, which he told to his brothers, and they hated him even more. And he said to them, ‘please hear the dream that I dreamt: ‘Behold, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, when, behold, my sheaf arose and also stood; then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
The beginning of the Parsha relates the sequence of events that led to the sale of Yosef. The Torah tells us that the brothers hated Yosef because they saw that Yaakov loved him more than all of them. When Yosef related the contents of his first dream to his brothers, their hatred of him increased. The Torah states: “And they hated him more, because of his dreams and because of his words.” The commentaries ask that since the Torah already stated that they hated him because of his dreams, what does the clause, “because of his words”, refer to?
Rav Moshe Sternbuch shlita answers this by quoting the Meshech Chachma. The Meshech Chachma writes that three times in Yosef’s account of the dream, he says, ‘Behold!’ ’ He brings a Sifri that when the word’ ’Behold’ is used in the Torah, it is associated with joy. Yosef expressed joy at every stage of the dream, and because of this joy at the events of the dream, the brothers hated him even more. Thus, the clause, “because of his words” does not refer to the actual content of the dream, rather the way in which he told it over to them – with such joy. It still remains unclear why the brothers should hate him for being happy about having success – that would seem to be quite understandable. Rav Sternbuch explains that the brothers perceived that Yosef’s joy was not only because of his own success that was predicted in the dream, rather also the fact that they would not achieve the same success. It was this perceived attitude of joy at their expense that caused them to hate him even more. Rav Sternbuch continues to discuss the Torah approach to this form of joy – joy at the failings of one’s fellow. He writes, “It is a fundamental tenet that when HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives power, wealth, or honor to a person, he should thank HaShem, but if he is only happy because he got it and his fellow did not – this is a forbidden form of joy.”
Whether Yosef really felt this forbidden type of joy is unclear, however, the Netsiv writes that even Yaakov Avinu was susceptible to this challenge: In the episode at the end of Parshas Toldos, Yaakov tricked his father into giving him the blessings. The Netsiv explains that this was a kind of ‘aveiro lishma’- a sin that was done purely for the right reasons, and thus was the correct way to act in these specific circumstances. The Netsiv notes, however, that Yaakov was punished for the pain that his trickery caused Esav; when Esav heard that Yaakov had taken the blessings, he let out a tremendous cry of pain. Chazal say that measure for measure, Yaakov’s descendant, Mordechai, let out a similar kind of cry when Haman, Esav’s descendant, decreed the destruction of the Jewish people. The Netsiv notes that Yitzchak Avinu also endured great pain when he heard that he had been tricked – he trembled greatly when he realized what had happened. Why, then was Yaakov not punished for the pain he caused Yitzchak, whilst he was punished for that which he inflicted on Esav? He answers that Yaakov had absolutely no pleasure at the pain that he caused Yitzchak in deceiving him, therefore he was not punished for the pain that Yitzchak experienced. However, he felt some measure of happiness at Esav’s distress. Accordingly, he was punished for that element of joy he felt at Esav’s loss. Thus, we see, according to the Netsiv, that even Yaakov Avinu, on some slight level, was subject to the feeling of joy at success at the expense of someone else.
Rav Sternbuch’s lesson; that joy at someone else’s expense, lies at the very centre of the Torah attitude to interpersonal relationships. It is well-known that the most fundamental Mitzvo in this realm is that of, “Love your neighbor like yourself”. One of the most basic aspects of this Mitzvo is that one should develop a desire for his fellow man to succeed just as much as he wants that for himself. It seems that an attitude of joy at one’s fellow’s failures represents the antithesis of the essence of the Mitzvo. Indeed, the Rambam seems to express this point in his discussion of this Mitzvo: He ends by saying that a person who feels joy at the failure or degradation of his fellow has no place in the World to Come.
It seems that the secular attitude and the Torah outlook clash greatly in this area. In the secular world, there is a strong emphasis on competition, and the idea of “each man for himself”. Sports, in particular ingrain a desire to “beat” the other person. It is very common for sports fans to be as happy at the defeat of their rival, as they are joyous at their own victory. Moreover, in many areas of life, there is a great stress on succeeding, and this often involves, overcoming or defeating others. The Torah outlook also emphasizes succeeding in life, but the Torah’s definition of success does not include ‘defeating’ other people. In fact, a large aspect of a Torah Jew’s success is his ability to work as a unit with his fellow Jews. This is based on a recognition that all Jews are part of one spiritual entity, and therefore the success of one part of that entity, means success for all the other parts as well. This concept is applied to Jewish law. For example, on joyous occasions, the prayer of Tachanun is omitted. This is not limited to one’s own happy occasions, rather if there is a single person in the Minyan who is celebrating a happy event , then the whole Minyan is exempt from Tachanun – this is because his joy is shared by everyone else present. This is even the case, when the other members of the Minyan do not know the person! This teaches us how we should view such events.
We learn from the explanations of the Meshech Chachma and Rav Sternuch that having joy because of the downfall of one’s fellow, is something worthy of disdain. May we all merit to avoid this attitude, and fulfill the Mitzvo to love our neighbor to the fullest extent.

THE TIME OF OUR JOY - SUKKOS

All the festivals in the Jewish calendar are joyous occasions. However, only one is actually described as ‘the time of our joy’ - Sukkos. Why is Sukkos associated with happiness more than any other time of year? To answer this question we must first understand why we celebrate Sukkos at all. In fact this is not as straightforward as it seems, because Sukkos is unlike Pesach and Shavuot in one significant way. On both of these two festivals major events occurred; on Pesach the Jews left Egypt and on Shavuot the Torah was given, whereas there was no single event that happened at the time of year that we celebrate Sukkos. Rather Sukkos is a remembrance of how the Jews lived in huts throughout the forty years that they were in the desert which is why we build sukkos and dwell in them for the duration of the festival. This begs the question - why is this cause for such major festivity?! Moreover, the focus of a festival is normally on Hashem’s greatness such as His power and His kindness - this is not immediately apparent in the fact that the Jewish people dwelled in huts in the desert.

To solve these problems we must first try to imagine what living in a desert must be like. The desert is an extremely inhospitable place - it is unbearably hot in the daytime and freezing in the night. There are often very strong winds which cause devastating sandstorms, and there are dangerous animals such as snakes and scorpions. With this in mind it is hard to understand how simple wooden huts could offer the Jews even the scantest protection from this hostile environment. Indeed this is the key to a genuine understanding of what Sukkot commemorates. The huts did indeed offer almost no protection of the Jews in the desert - so why were they not swiftly obliterated by the perils of the desert? The answer is that Hashem protected them - their physical shelter was a mere façade, ultimately it was very clear to them that their survival in the desert was beyond the laws of nature. We too build huts for the week of Sukkos - The halacho requires that they must be made in a temporary manner with a weak roof which does not fully shelter from the sun and rain. This is to remind us of the fact that all the security that we enjoy throughout the year in our strong homes with sturdy roofs is also really a façade. It is only Hashem that can offer true protection.

It is this awareness that we are constantly being looked after that is the cause of the joy of Sukkos. But why is this joy considered more significant to that of the other holidays to the extent that only Sukkos is called ‘the time of our joy’? It seems that there are two basic types of joy. There is the joy of a one-off event and there is the joy of a more constant kind Pesach and Shavuot represent major events that were cause of great happiness. However, the impact of such events, no matter how momentous, inevitably wears out. Whereas Sukkos represents a happiness of an ongoing kind - there was no particular event that symbolised Sukkos, rather it is a remembrance of how Hashem provided the Jews with long-lasting, consistent protection - this teaches us that He is also constantly doing the same for us. The happiness that comes from Hashem’s constant overseeing is not dependent upon any external events, rather it simply requires an internal recognition that whatever happens is under Hashem’s benevolent supervision.

A key to attaining such an awareness is realizing that whatever a person has is exactly what he needs. This is expressed in the Avos: “Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion.” Each person is allotted a ‘portion’ in life - this entails exactly what is best for him in his situation in life. And this portion is perfectly measured to enable him to achieve his fullest potential. With this recognition one is saved from the feeling that life would be so much better if he had more money, a bigger house, or a nicer car. The very fact that we do not have more, shows that Hashem has deemed that it is better for us that way. We often think that if only we were millionaires then everything in life would be rosy.

Sukkos teaches us that Hashem is constantly overseeing us and providing us with exactly what we need to live a successful life. If we can internalize this idea then we can be begin to understand how wonderful true happiness is.

KOHELES AND SUKKOS

On many holidays, it is customary to read one of the five megillos. There is always a connection between the festival and its megillah. On Sukkos we read Koheles. This megillah was written by Shlomo HaMelech and focuses on how he experienced every pleasure in this world (within the parameters of Jewish law) but discovered that it was all hevel havalim, the ultimate emptiness.

The commentaries observe that the message of Koheles seems to contradict the very essence of Sukkos. This holiday is described as zman simchaseinu, even more joyous than the other festivals. Koheles, in contrast, seems anything but joyous in its stress on the meaningless of this world. What connects Sukkos and Koheles?
In Darchei Mussar, Rav Yaakov Neiman, ztz”l, notes that a primary feature of Sukkos is the command to leave our permanent abode and live in a temporary dwelling. He points out that this move hardly seems conducive to joy. Leaving one’s secure, comfortable home for a flimsy, sparse sukkah sounds downright depressing. Rav Neiman explains, however, that a person can reach true happiness only when he recognizes that the pleasures of this world are illusory and provide no genuine joy or fulfillment. Exchanging the comforts of home for a sukkah facilitates this recognition.

Yet why can one never attain true happiness through this-worldly pleasures? A fundamental tenet of Judaism is that a human being is composed of body and soul. Both demand satisfaction: The body seeks the physical delights of this world, whereas the soul aspires to connect to Hashem, which is possible mainly in the next world. The soul can elevate the body to the point that the body becomes subservient to the soul and facilitates its connection to Hashem. For example, if one says a blessing when he eats, he elevates this mundane, physical act to a spiritual one. However, if a person focuses on this-worldly pleasures, his soul receives no satisfaction, since its aspirations are being ignored. It follows that over- attachment to the physical world excludes the soul and therefore precludes true joy.
We can now understand the connection between the joy of Sukkos and the apparent pessimism of Koheles. Shlomo HaMelech is saying that life is meaningless only when aimed at this-worldly pleasures. We see this idea in the Gemara’s discussion of a contradiction within Koheles. In the second chapter, Shlomo writes, “Joy, what does it do?” suggesting the futility of happiness. However, in the eighth chapter, he tells us, “I praised joy.” The Gemara explains that joy is praiseworthy when it involves a mitzvah and futile when it does not. In other words, happiness rooted in this world is meaningless, but the joy of spirituality is to be praised.
Accordingly, Sukkos and Koheles go hand in hand. Both teach us that the only way to attain true happiness is by recognizing that this-worldly pleasures will never satisfy the soul’s yearning for Hashem. May we apply these lessons to our lives and experience the joy of Sukkos.

THE TRUE SOURCE OF SIMCHA - KI SAVO

A great deal of Parshas Ki Savo outlines the devastating punishments that would befall the Jewish people if they do not follow the Torah. In the midst of the tochacha the Torah gives us a deeper insight into the cause of all the terrible punishments enumerated here; “Since you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with joy and goodness of heart, from rov kol (the abundance of everything). ” The simple understanding of this passuk is that the Jewish people did not perform mitzvos with happiness despite the fact that they were blessed with the abundance of everything .

The Arizal explains the passuk according to the Kabbala in a slightly different way. He says that the Torah is saying that we may have performed mitzvos with a certain degree of happiness, however our ikar joy did not derive from shemiras hamitzvos, rather from the simcha of ‘rov kol’ which refers to all other sources of happiness . Thus, Hashem is telling the Jewish people that the simcha of Avodas Hashem must be far greater than the pleasure derived from other endeavors. This is a lesson that is of great relevance to Rosh Hashana: The main avoda of Rosh Hashana is to make Hashem King. A significant aspect of this is to recognize that Hashem is the only source of meaning, all other ‘sources’ of pleasure are meaningless. This is also a prerequisite to the teshuva process leading up to Yom Kippur. because if a person’s sheifus (desires) are not purely towards Avodas Hashem, then he will find it almost impossible to avoid sin. There will be times when his desires clash with Ratson Hashem and his shemiras hamitzvos will inevitably suffer. Thus, any teshuva he does on Yom Kippur will be tainted by his outlook on life - that Hashem is not the only source of meaning and joy.

It is important to note that even if a person somehow avoids sinning whilst pursuing his other desires he will still face unpleasant consequences. Rav Yissochor Frand Shlita tells a frightening story that illustrates this point. The Chiddushei Harim zt”l once travelled with a man on his carriage that was pulled by two horses. After a few miles, one of the horses died, causing great distress to its owner. A few miles later, the other horse also died. The owner was so distressed at the loss of his horses that meant so much to him that he sat crying for a long time until he cried so much that he died. That night, the Chiddushei Harim had a dream; in that dream he saw that the man who had died, received Olam Haba. But what was his Olam Haba? A lovely carriage with two beautiful horses. This story teaches us that our Olam Haba is created by what we value in Olam Hazeh - for this man, the most important thing in his life was his horses and carriage, therefore, that was what he got for eternity.

One may ask, it does not seem to be so bad for a person to receive in Olam Haba that which he cherishes so much in Olam Hazeh. Rav Frand answers this question. He says that when he was a young child he always wanted a slingshot with which to play with but his parents refused. Imagine if, at the time of his wedding, his parents would come to him and say, “here is the slingshot that you always wanted!” As a child, the slingshot was valuable to him, but now he has grown out of it. So too, we may strive to acquire various pleasures in Olam Hazeh, such as money or kavod, believing that they will provide us with contentment. But when we arrive in Olam Haba we will see the truth of the words of Mesillas Yesharim: “everything else [apart from closeness to Hashem] that people believe are good is nothing but emptiness. ” In the Olam Haemes, we will see with perfect clarity, how meaningless are those things that we put so much energy into acquiring in this world.

The tochacha of Ki Savo is a stark reminder that it is not enough to merely observe the mitzvos, but that it must be the sole driving force in our lives. Kavod, power, money, food and any other ‘pleasure’ are all illusionary sources of meaning - making Hashem King means realizing that He is the only source of true simcha.

SHEMINI ATZERES AND SIMCHAS TORAH

The chagim of Tishei culminate with Shemini Atseres. Chazal enacted that we also celebrate Simchas Torah on this day by completing the annual cycle of reading the Torah. The commentaries ask why Chazal chose to coincide the completion of the Torah with Shemini Atseres in particular, as opposed to the other chagim. In order to explain this, it is first necessary to understand the essence of Shemini Atseres.

Chazal bring an analogy to explain the difference between Sukkos and Shemini Atseres. They compare Sukkos to a large feast, in which all the King's servants are invited. After the feast ends, the King invites his closest friend to join him for a small meal one last time. Similarly, on Sukkos we offer up 70 paros to Hashem on behalf of the 70 nations, whereas on Shemini Atseres we only bring one, on behalf of the Jewish nation to demonstrate our unique relationship with Hashem.. In giving these instructions, Hashem tells the Jewish people, "it is difficult for Me that you are separating from me, stay one more day." Shemini Atseres is that extra day dedicated purely to the relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people. Rav Chaim Friedlander zt"l asks a very strong question on this Chazal: The reason that Hashem makes this extra day of Shemini Atseres is because it is difficult for Him to separate from the Jewish people. How does this allay the pain of separation, all it achieves is to prolong the festivities for one more day, and then the separation will take place. Indeed this the extra day will likely make the ultimate parting even more painful.

In order to explain this, the Sifsei Chaim outlines the difference between Sukkos and Shemini Atseres. He brings the Sefer HaChinuch who tells us that Sukkos is a time of natural joy because it is when we gather in the produce and bring it into our homes. Hashem wants us to direct that joy to spirituality by providing us with numerous mitzvos, such as holding the arba minim (four species), and dwelling in a Sukkah. By engaging in physical actions dedicated to Hashem, we are supposed to direct our natural physical joy to connection to Him. However, on Shemini Atseres there is no mitzvo of arba minim or sukkah, because there is no need for all these 'tools' for bringing us close to Hashem, the connection is intrinsic. After the holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and then the 7 days of Sukkos, a person is supposed to have brought himself so close to Hashem that there is no necessity for external tools in developing that connection. Accordingly, there is no need for extra mitzvos on Shemini Atseres. This helps understand how the extra day of Shemini Atseres allays the pain of Hashem's separation from the Jewish people. The Sifsei Chaim explains that the extra day without any external tools teaches us that there is in fact no separation at all. By spending that extra day alone with the Jewish people, Hashem shows us that we don't need the mitzvos of arba minim and sukkah on a permanent basis in order to have a relationship with Him, He is constantly involved in our lives and desires that we come close to Him.

There is one 'tool' that we do need to maintain that connection with Him - that of the Torah. Without the Torah it is impossible to build a relationship with Hashem. This is because the Torah is Hashem's means of communicating with us. Without the Torah, one can have no understanding of what Hashem wants from us, or how He views the world. We can now understand why Chazal saw fit to celebrate the completion of the Torah on Shemini Atseres. Shemini Atseres is the day that teaches us that there is never any separation from Hashem. We can permanently be connected to Him, but only through the means of the Torah. Accordingly, we express our joy at the Torah on this day, to remind us that by continuing to study it, we can maintain our closeness to Him through the long winter days.

We now understand the relevance of Torah to Shemini Atseres. However, one may ask why there is such an emphasis on expressing our joy through dancing with the Torah. Would it not make more sense to spend the entire day engrossed in the actual study of Torah? It seems that the emphasis on expressing our joy at the Torah teaches us a fundamental lesson about our relationship to Torah. It is of course, essential that a person learn Torah as much as possible, however it is also essential that he develop a sense of joy through his learning Torah. There would seem to be a lacking for a person who spends all his time learning Torah and never appreciating the actual Torah that he is learning. There are a number of reasons for this: One is that if a person doesn't truly enjoy his learning as a spiritually uplifting experience, then there is always the risk that other, more temporal pleasures may draw him away from his learning. It is well-known that young men who truly love learning Torah, are far less likely to be lured by the temptations of the secular world. A second reason for the importance of feeling joy at learning Torah is that a person's learning will be far more effective when he enjoys it.

A third, key reason for feeling the joy of learning Torah is demonstrated by the following story involving two Gedolim, Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzensky zt"l and Rav Elazar Shach zt"l. Rav Shach tragically lost his eldest daughter to illness when she was only 14 year of age. Soon after her death, Rav Shach went to visit Rav Chaim Ozer. Rav Chaim Ozer quoted to him a passuk from Tehillim, "Were your Torah not my delight, I would have perished in my affliction." Rav Chaim Ozer then told Rav Shach, "without Torah, there would be no meaning to my life." From that time on, Rav Chaim Ozer would repeat that verse every time he saw Rav Shach.

Many years later, Rav Shach offered an explanation of what Rav Chaim Ozer had said: He gave an analogy of two prisoners both sitting in jail in a state of utter humiliation, their heads shaved, wearing prison uniforms. However, despite their identical appearance, their is a difference between them. One smiles and says a friendly word to someone now and then, whereas the other is always grim and silent. The difference between the two prisoners is that one knows that his present situation is temporary, soon he'll be released and allowed to go home. The other has been sentenced to life imprisonment and so there is nothing for him to look forward to. In a similar way, two people can endure tragic situations and react in very different ways. One who has no Torah has nothing to hold on to, nothing to comfort him. Accordingly, he may well be unable to recover from such a blow. Rav Shach pointed out that this was, in fact the case with many people who were not connected to Torah and suffered tragedies. In contrast, one who has love of Torah, can cling to the realization that he can continue to learn and grow closer to Hashem through the Torah. This attachment to Torah, Rav Chaim Ozer was telling Rav Shach, can keep a person sane whilst enduring terrible pain. Thus, the joy of learning Torah enables a person has the vital benefit that it enables a person to withstand great suffering.

We have seen how Shemini Atseres is a day of great connection to Hashem, and that the Torah is the means to achieving this connection. It is essential that we bring this lesson with us into the long winter. One possible way of developing one's love of Torah is discovering which areas of Torah and styles of learning most appeal to him. Three Gedolim were once asked what was the correct way of learning. They all answered that there is no single 'correct' way', rather a person must find what his heart desires and learn in that way. This is because a person will not be able to thrive if he derives no enjoyment from his style of learning. It is instructive, with the advice of one's Rav, to find areas of Torah that he relates to.
Simchas Torah is a time of great joy at the gift of Torah. May we take this joy and apply it throughout the year.