In our Yom Tov prayer text, Sukkot is called זמן שמחתנו – “our festival of joy.” The primary theme of Sukkot is שמחה – joy.
What exactly is the connection between Sukkot and joy?
A number of weeks ago, we read in Parashat Ki-Tavo the section of the “curses,” a description of the various calamities which Hashem warns would befall Beneh Yisrael if they disobey His laws. One of these “curses” is והיו חייך תלואים לך מנגד, which means, “Your life will be hanging” – referring to a sense of insecurity and fear, the feeling that one’s life is “hanging” and unstable. Specifically, the Gemara explains this warning to mean that a person will not be certain about their income for the following year. He will experience the anxiety of uncertainty, feeling as though his life hangs in the balance.
This interpretation of the pasuk seems to directly contradict the Gemara’s comments elsewhere that the manna – the miraculous food which Beneh Yisrael ate in the desert – was a great, precious blessing, a priceless gift that came down from heaven each day. Each person received just one portion that was enough for just that day. If somebody would leave some over for the next day, it would spoil. And so each night, Beneh Yisrael went to sleep without a single morsel of food in their tent, literally.
Is this a blessing or a curse? On the one hand, the Rabbis talk about the manna as a wonderful gift. On the other hand, they say that it is a curse to be uncertain about one’s livelihood a year from now – let alone tomorrow!!
The answer is that the situation of the manna can be the greatest blessing or the greatest curse. It all depends on a person’s mindset.
If a person does not know where his livelihood is coming from tomorrow, but, like Beneh Yisrael in the desert, he fully trusts in Hashem, then he is truly blessed. But if a person does not live with this mindset, and he is anxious and worried, then it doesn’t matter how much money he has. He is not going to be happy. He is always going to feel that his life is “hanging.”
Before the section of curses, we read the section of berachot, blessings, in which the Torah promises great rewards for properly observing the mitzvot. It introduces this section by telling us that if we fulfill the mitzvot, ובאו אליך כל הברכות האלה והשיגוך – “all these blessings will come to you and reach you.” It is not enough for the blessings to “come” – they have to “reach” us. Many people receive great blessings but they do not enjoy them, because they are beset by worry and anxiety. If we place our trust in Hashem, then the blessings will “reach” us – we will enjoy them, and we will truly be blessed.
On Sukkot, we leave the comfort of our homes, and live in simple shacks. And this is precisely why Sukkot is זמן שמחתנו. On Sukkot, we show that true joy comes not from our material assets, but from our trust in Hashem. We show that the greatest joy is living under Hashem’s protection.
There is nothing wrong with having a large, comfortable home. But on Sukkot, we make the statement that our happiness does not come from our large, comfortable homes, but from our emunah, having faith in Hashem.
There was a man in the 1950s who owned a successful store in Philadelphia, selling curtains and linens. His son, who worked with him in the store, urged him to expand, to open outlets all over the country. The father declined, saying he didn’t want to have all that pressure. His son urged him to at least have a chain throughout Pennsylvania, or, at very least, throughout the Philadelphia area. But the man still refused. He felt he had enough hard work and pressure managing his store, which provided him with enough income.
This ambitious son, whose name is Steven Schwartzman, eventually founded what became Blackstone, one of the largest investment companies in the world. He is now a multibillionaire, who has donated millions to charity.
So, who was right – the father or the son?
Instinctively, everyone would say that the son was right. But in my view, it depends on their mindset and attitude. Wealth can be a wonderful blessing and great source of joy, but only if one lives with the “manna” mindset, living with peace of mind knowing that he is cared for by Hashem. It may very well be that the son was right – but there’s no guarantee. The only guarantee to happiness is one’s mindset and attitude.
This is the special שמחה of Sukkot – the joy of living under Hashem’s care, of acknowledging that the true source of joy is not our material assets, but the comfort we experience placing out trust in our Creator.