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Jewish World Review Sept. 27, 1999 / 17 Tishrei, 5760
Jonathan Rosenblum
True Jewish rejoicing
Yom Kippur is the most joyous day on the Jewish calendar. Reflecting on
our actions of the past year, we find ourselves amazed at how alien they
seem to us, how little they comport with our vision of ourselves as
essentially good people. That sense of alienation from our own actions
paradoxically makes us aware of something higher within us -- a godly
essence that is belied by our deeds.
Our horror at the disparity between deeds and essence fills us with a
determination to live our lives in closer conformity with our true essence
and a feeling of confidence that we have the power to do so. That
determination leaves us feeling uplifted and once again worthy of
sustaining a relationship with G-d.
Five days later, on Succos, we give concrete expression to that newfound
feeling of closeness to G-d by leaving our permanent dwellings to sleep
under the stars. The makeshift sukkah inspires a feeling of intimacy with
G-d by reminding us His protection and of the Clouds of Glory that
sheltered our ancestors during forty years of wandering in an inhospitable
desert.
All the festivals entail rejoicing, but only Succos is called "zman
simchaseinu -- the season of our rejoicing.'' No other holiday creates the
same feeling of intimate connection with G-d.
When the Temple stood, the height of the celebrations during Succos was
the pouring of the water libation on the Altar every morning. Today Jews
still join together during Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of the holy day) to dance together until the early
morning, in memory of the Simchas Beis HaShoeva, the festivities connected
to the drawing of the water for the libation.
The water libation too expressed this idea of connection. When G-d
separated the upper and lower waters during the six days of creation, the
Midrash says, lower waters rebelled and threatened to destroy the world in
their efforts to be rejoined to the upper waters. Only when they were
promised that they would be poured on the Altar in the Temple as part of
the Divine service, were they placated.
Interestingly, every event that Jews colloquially refer to as a simha marks the
joining of an individual to something outside of him- or herself. Bris mila
celebrates the entry of the infant boy into a covenant extending back over
4,000 years to our forefather Avraham. At the age of mitzvos, we rejoice
that another young Jew has become a full-fledged member of the Jewish
community, with all the mutual responsibilities that entails. And at weddings
we join in the happiness of two formerly discrete individuals who become
bound to one another in a union that allows for the fullest realization of their
potential.
The world was created in such a way that people experience some degree of
mutual dependency and are forced to interact with one another. But the
nature of that interaction is not determined. It can be grudging, something
forced upon us by external necessity. At best, relationships thus created
are narrowly legalistic, contractual, based on an ongoing assessment of the
quid pro quo for everything we do for someone else.
At worst, other human beings are seen primarily as competitors for
limited pieces of the pie. Temporary bonds of mutual advantage may be
formed, but exploitation of others for the attainment of personal pleasures
is more often the rule.
Judaism, however, offers another model -- one which recognizes our
essential connectedness to others. It is a model based on being a giver and
not a taker in the world. A taker experiences life as hunger, and convinces
himself that his hunger can be sated by the acquisition of more and more
material goods and pleasures. He seeks to expand his personal space, but he
can never lose consciousness of his boundaries and all that divides him
from others.
That sense of relationship, of overflowing the narrow confines of oneself,
is the essence of Jewish happiness. Not by accident to our Sages designate
a large measure -- a heaping tablespoon, for instance -- as a "laughing''
measure.
"The soul that blesses grows fat,'' reads the verse (Proverbs 11:25).
The Vilna Gaon explains: One who brings joy to others and shares in their
success, without jealousy, swells with joy whereas "envy causes the bones
to rot'' (Proverbs 14:30).
On Yom Kippur, we achieve a heightened awareness of the divine spark
within us, even as we are shamed by the recognition of all that we have
done to dim the light and betray the gift bestowed upon us. Once we
recognize that spark within us, we are prepared to see it in our fellow
human beings as well, and to connect with them and G-d over Succos -- zman
simchaseinu.
"LAST NIGHT HE WAS HATED by G-d, digusting, distant, abominable [in His
eyes]. . . . Today he is beloved, a delight, close, a dear friend.'' So
does Maimonides describe the great power of teshuva (repentance) to transform a person and his relationship with G-d.
The Midrash teaches us the necessity of connecting the lower, physical
world to the higher world of spirit. The world of spirit is unitary,
reflecting the unity of its source. Only through an awareness of the
essential unity underlying all of existence is any real connection possible
--whether it be to our fellow man or G-d. To the extent that we perceive
ourselves as purely physical beings, we become conscious of our own
boundaries and separation from others.
The giver, by contrast, is someone who overflows his boundaries. By giving
to others, he comes to love them and view them as an extension of himself.
One wise woman noted ironically: "Nothing I acquired endured; everything I
gave away lasted forever.'' What we attain is consumed and gone; even the
pleasure of consumption is quickly forgotten. But what we give to another,
even a smile on the street, endures, for it forms a bond between us.
JWR contributor Jonathan Rosenblum is a columnist for the Jerusalem Post.
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