From Zero to One to Double Joy on Holidays

Parshat Re'eh

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The end of Parshat Re’eh is one of the few times in the Torah that the holidays are presented. Quite noticeable is the instruction to be joyous on the holiday, a point noted once for Shavuot (16:11), and twice for Sukkot (16:14-15). Chagiga 1:2 (Jerusalem Talmud) says that this reference to rejoicing refers to the joy over peace offerings – a related note to how the Talmud elsewhere defines joy as the consumption of meat. Shlamim (peace offerings) are not brought on Pesach (Passover) because they include an offering of bread.

Which is all fine and good. But the fact of the matter is that even those who do not eat or who do not prefer meat are instructed to rejoice! So the command to be joyous on the festival should extend to Pesach as well!

I once heard an explanation that all of the preparation for Pesach is a burden, so there is nothing to be joyous about. But this explanation is silly for many reasons. Firstly it is not objectively true. Second, there are many people who love the preparation for Pesach. Third, there is a heavy emphasis on joy in other areas of our Pesach experience.

Certainly God did not take us out of Egypt and smite the biblical Egyptians so that we can spend $50,000 on a Pesach program. But if that’s what makes people happy, no absence of the word “simcha” in the Torah is going to get in anyone’s way of doing just that.

There is an approach to the concept of Simcha on the holidays which is outlined by some of the commentaries. Using the ideas of R’Yosef B’Chor Shor, the Hadar Zekenim and Baal HaTurim, we’ll create a full picture of how to define Simcha relative to the holidays.

The holiday of Pesach is largely focused on remembering the exodus from Egypt and all the miracles associated with that event. However, at Pesach time we do not yet have the joy that comes from bringing in the wheat. Even though there may have been contributions to the poor from the barley crop – a point of joy – the joy remains incomplete.

When Shavuot comes, and the wheat has been harvested, there is an automatic joy which is not present at the incomplete circumstance of Pesach’s work. So God says “now you can rejoice because the winter crop is complete.”

However, the wine is still in the grapes – the completion of one’s crop pre-winter is not yet done. There is still what to look forward to. But once Sukkot is upon us, and the fruits of the trees are ready and already gathered into the home, and one’s work is truly done for the season, then a person can sit back and truly enjoy – doubly enjoy the fruits of one’s labors.

It seems therefore that it isn’t a matter of an inherent simcha associated with one holiday over the other. There is a progression which follows the seasons of the year, the agricultural cycle, and the completion of work, which contribute to a person’s joy.

This experience is lost on we who do not live in an agrarian society. But maybe as the holidays come upon us at their appointed times in our calendar, we can find a way to feel “my work is done. I can enjoy the holiday.” Joy should not be a feeling we reach or achieve only because we have a commandment. Though, perhaps for some, the only way they can come to joy on a holiday, through all the stress of life, is because there is a commandment.

Remember that in 28:47, in the big rebuke of Parshat Ki Tavo, we are told that one of the main reasons for the curses to come upon us is “on account of your not having served God with joy.”

Whether we are bringing in harvests, big cash payouts, or simply a steady and adequate paycheck, we should be able to find joy at every holiday because “my work is done” and I can enjoy the holiday with my family, and with those in my life that help make every day meaningful and special.