Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are in the rearview mirror and now it’s time to embark on the third of the High Holidays. Sukkot is often not thought of as a part of the Jewish Holiday Season but, in fact, it’s the final part. We celebrate Sukkot each year just days after we’ve completed the fast of Yom Kippur. Sukkot will begin this year on Friday Evening (9/29/2023) and will conclude next Friday (10/6/2023) and then we’ll really conclude the season with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah on October seventh and eighth. All of these holidays have a descriptor attached to them called "זמן שמחתינו" which means “the time of our joy”. We begin the holidays by looking within ourselves and celebrating the gift of time that’s so much a part of our lives. We then move into deep introspection and reflection coupled with sincere repentance on Yom Kippur. When we arrive at Sukkot, we’re commanded to be joyful and hence the descriptor of “the time of our joy”.
The question must be asked: how we can be commanded to be “joyful?” In fact, is joy actually the goal of life? Galit has recently started watching the great Disney movie “Inside Out” about an adolescent child and the workings of her mind. The movie is an incredible way of reminding us that sadness is indeed a part of life and a necessary one at that. Many times, we have an impulse to push sadness away because it’s uncomfortable and not fun. This impulse is something that’s second nature to each one of us. We fear that tears of grief and sadness are a sign something’s “wrong with us”. We don’t like to be vulnerable and we don’t like people to see us as anything other than happy people with our lives all figured out. But to truly understand humanity, and life, we need to understand each emotion is a part of a well lived life. We can’t suppress or push aside the feelings we sincerely encounter. Being sad isn’t a crime nor is it a sign of a problem. Being sad is a realization something is amiss in our lives and something is paining us. It’s okay, and in fact one could even argue it’s good. That’s actually the entire message of the movie; we don’t need to be happy and we don’t need to suppress the real hurt and pain we feel. We need to learn to be more comfortable with the adversity we encounter and we need to become more accepting of the difficult path it is to walk as a human. In other words: sadness matters and sadness is good.
So what’s to be done with a command or an imperative to be happy at “the time of our joy”? It’s essential to recognize that our world is filled with much we overlook each day. It’s essential to open our eyes and our minds to a world that contains so many wonders and beauties. Sometimes we allow our sadness to cloud our reality. Sadness is fine, but depression is not. That’s not to say depression is wrong but that it’s something that needs to be helped and addressed. Nobody should feel they have to be depressed or that they shouldn’t ask for or seek out help. Rather a person whose sadness has become overwhelming and unbearable has crossed the threshold and should be embraced by others to help guide them back to a place where hopefully they can experience all the emotions rather than being trapped in just one. Welcome to the world of "זמן שמחתינו" where we are each called upon to see beauty and joy. It’s not that we’re commanded to feel no pain, but to embrace that the world is amazing in spite of all of its problems. Our world is one that needs us to be aware of its multi-faceted reality. On Sukkot we’re called upon to spend some time embracing the world’s greatness, and to see what we often overlook because we’ve become programmed by humanity and life.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
Erev Shabbat Services this week at 6:00 pm will be in person only. Candlelighting time is 7:06 pm.
Limited Space Remaining
Join the conversation about Israeli Democracy during dinner. See details below.
