Q:
What was the reason for the happiness at the Simchas Beis Hashoeivah celebrations in the Beis Hamikdash (Sukkah 51a-51b)?
A:
The Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. So first we have to realize that it took place during Sukkos. It’s the whole yomtiv of Sukkos that is an especial occasion of simchah; it’s Zman Simchaseinu, and we have to analyze that. What is it about?
You know that every yomtiv has a name to it. Pesach is Zman Cheiruseinu, the yomtiv of our freedom. Shavuos is Zman Matan Toraseinu, the yomtiv of the giving of the Torah. What is Sukkos? Sukkos is just Zman Simchaseinu, the yomtiv of our happiness. But we have to know, what is the happiness about?
So you might say the simchah is that when they went out of Mitzrayim they were protected by Hashem in the Midbar for forty years. Very good. But if that’s right, if that’s all it is, we should say that. We don’t say that; we say ‘Zman Simchaseinu’.
And therefore we have to realize that Sukkos is the celebration of the great joy that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is our Father who provides us with all the happiness of life. That’s what Sukkos is for. That’s why the Torah calls it Chag Ha’Asif, ‘The Festival of The Bringing in of the Crops’ (Shemos 23:16). Because when the Israelite, the original Jew, brought in the produce from his fields he looked at the blessings that Hakadosh Baruch Hu bestowed on him and he felt that he had to express his gratitude to Him. It welled up in his heart and he just had to express his happiness and gratitude.
And so Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave them one festival just for that purpose; to be happy in Hashem, to be happy that He is the One who sustains us always. He is the זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לַכֹּל. He is the One who gave us this harvest and He is the One who always gives us our sustenance and all the needs of life. That’s Chag Ha’Asif.
Now, together with that is tied in also the general recognition of Hashem not only as our Provider but also as the Protector of His people. Like it says, ‘You should live in the sukkah for seven days in order to remember כִּי בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי אוֹתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם – that you dwelt in sukkos in the Wilderness for forty years (Vayikra 23:43). It means that you didn’t have fortified cities to protect you; you were as unprotected as could be when you were in the wilderness, and yet for those forty years you were more secure than any subsequent period in our history. Because Hashem, not only is He our Provider but He’s our Sukkah, our Protector.
And so Sukkos is the season when we thank Hashem. That’s the simchah of Sukkos – gratitude; gratitude for everything! And they utilized the occasion in the Beis Hamikdash to come together and to express the heart, the core of that simchah. What’s the center of the whole simchah? The center is that we love Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Not only gratitude but love. Only that the ahavas Hashem is stimulated by gratitude. The jumping-off point, the beginning of love of Hashem, is the feeling that Hashem has given us life and all the needs of life.
And so they came together, all the chachmei hatorah and the Jewish people, to express their love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That’s what Simchas Beis Hashoeiva was; it was ahavas Hashem. And they sang songs of love for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. אִם אֲנִי כַּאן – If Hashem is here, הַכֹּל כַּאן – then everything is here (Sukkah 53a). Because everything we have is from Him.
Now, the highest madreigah, the highest pinnacle of achievement for a Jew is when he reaches the love of Hashem. That’s why it’s the very last shaar, the last section, of the Chovos Halevovos. The Rambam too, he puts the subject of ahavas Hashem at the end of Hilchos Teshuva because he says that it’s the highest of all degrees; the Rambam says it b’feirush. And so the climax of Chag Ha’Asif and Zman Simchaseinu was Simchas Beis Hashoeiva, an especial celebration in the Beis Hamikdash where the nation expressed their love of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
And because of that they were able to draw forth ruach hakodesh just like people draw forth water with buckets. וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן. They drew forth waters with joy. Which water? The waters of the spirit that Hakadosh Baruch Hu showered upon them because of their love for Him.
That’s why the greatest men, the chassidim and anshei maaseh, the ones who loved Hashem most dearly, came together and they served as a model for the people by expressing their ahavas Hashem. And הַבִּיטוּ עֲלֵיהֶם וְנָהֳרוּ, the people looked at these great men and they were inspired (see Tehillim 34:6); they were exhilarated when they saw how these great men were intoxicated with His love. And it made an impression on all the spectators; the spectators departed feeling that they had drawn buckets full of ruach hakodesh that lasted them for the rest of their lives.
That was the heart, the core, the purpose, of Simchas Beis Hashoeiva; the happiness in Hashem and the love of Hashem.
(September 1981)
