The holiday month is coming to an end, and from where I live in New York, I get a one-day bonus. An extra holiday.
Evening after evening, the joy of the house of the waterblower is celebrated here, until the wee hours of the night. The men dance in the middle of the street and the music is uplifting, joyful, and arouses the desire to be in Jerusalem, in the Temple, with the Levites.
The rain here comes in thin drizzles or heavy downpours, but no one cares. Everyone continues to dance. The Rebbe said to be joyful, and that is exactly what they do, regardless of the pouring rain (or drizzle).
On the sidewalks stand women, girls. Young and old girls fill the sidewalks beyond the checkpoints. By midnight, many baby strollers could also be seen. In some of the sukkots scattered around the neighborhood, gatherings are taking place. Also for women. A festive atmosphere. Truly a festive day of joy.
And amidst all the overflowing and surging joy, news of Job arrives here from the Holy Land. The news of the murder of the Naama couple and with them God will avenge their blood, and the news of the murder of the two Hasidim on the way to the Western Wall, a remnant of our Temple and the peak of our desires. This is alongside ongoing reports of stone attacks, shootings and Molotov cocktails.
And I ask myself: How can I be happy? How can I remove from my mind the pain, anger, and helplessness in the face of what is happening in the Holy Land and focus on the joy that is today's commandment?
How can one be happy at the same time that a Jewish couple was murdered in the land of the Jews just for being Jews? How can one dance when tender children who have never hurt anyone see their parents bathed in blood before their eyes?!
Water, above reason!
I'm trying to wonder about the compromise and the jug of joy, that joy of the house that is pumped up in the Temple, of which our joy is only a poor imitation. Indeed, the pouring of wine is joyful. Wine will make a human heart glad. But water? What exactly makes it joyful? After all, water is a "basic consumer good," it's so trivial. Water is life. Water is an integral part of our bodies.
About seventy percent of our bodies are actually water – liquids. What is it about water that makes the whole celebration so exciting that it is called the joy of the house of the pump, after the water that was pumped?
But it is precisely at this point that the answer lies.
The pouring of wine, which is by nature joyful, brings with it joy that is related to the nature and qualities of man. However, this joy is limited by its very nature, as it depends on the degree of joy that the wine can bring. However, the pouring of water expresses divine joy, which does not depend on human nature, and therefore it is an unlimited joy.
So it is true that we do not have a Temple and on our Holy Mountain there are foreigners and terrorists. But even in our day, the spiritual work of the wine tasting and the water tasting exists. The wine tasting means the joy of a mitzvah that stems from a person's intellectual awareness. When a Jew contemplates the greatness of the privilege of fulfilling God's will and adhering to it - he is filled with joy. It is joy indeed, but a limited joy.
But, the joy of this holiday, the holiday of Sukkot, is the joy of the pouring out of water, that is, joy in fulfilling the mitzvot that is above intellectual recognition. When a Jew surrenders himself to God, when he hears that God commands him to perform a mitzvah, he does not need intellectual understanding and contemplation; he is filled with immense joy that bursts from the depths of the soul. This is an unlimited joy - the joy of the house of the drawbridge - that whoever has not seen, "has not seen joy in his days.".
A year full of mitzvahs
Two months ago, I was staying at the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. There, in the basement of the synagogue, a Chabad minyan is held, which is part of the local Chabad house. The young messenger, a benefactor with a pronounced Canadian accent, leads the prayers and Torah reading with a firm hand. When he gives the benefactor to those present, you can see that some of them are worshippers of Shabbat and holidays...
He goes through those present and asks for names of blessing, and when he finishes with the men, names of blessing are heard from the women. One says her name and asks for a decent marriage, the other mentions the name of her daughter and asks for a fruit of the womb for her, and the entire audience says Amen.
But what was most touching was that at the end of the Torah reading and the Torah scroll, the messenger/collector passed among all the worshippers and gave everyone the opportunity to kiss the Torah scroll. The Torah belongs to everyone. It was given in the desert, which is a place of no man, so that "anyone who wishes to take it, may come and take it.".
Simchat Torah is not a holiday only for men, but for those who are obligated to study Torah by the command of God. It belongs to all of Israel, just as the mitzvah of the congregation is a mitzvah that is imposed on everyone without exception: men, women, and children. Even those who do not yet observe Torah and mitzvot at this time should rejoice in Simchat Torah.
And this is exactly the way to defeat the enemies who have raised their heads. By unity around the Torah out of the joy of a mitzvah. "And rejoice in your holiday," is a positive mitzvah and we all need to rejoice alongside the immense pain over the murder of the saints, may God avenge their blood.
Let us remember that at the end of this week, or in fact already this coming Monday, we will begin from the beginning. For every end, there is a new beginning. The beginning of a good and blessed year, a year that is all joy, for this is the year of the congregation that from beginning to end is named after the mitzvah that concerns the love of God and the fear of Him in complete unity.
Happy holiday Jews. May you live and rejoice in Simchat Torah!
• Part of the column is based on the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The author is the owner of "My Choice", an event host, lecturer and radio broadcaster: [email protected]
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