Overflowing with Simchah

The first night of Succos is my favorite time of the year — the one when my inner sense of well-being is most consonant with that commanded by the halachah. Assuming that it does not rain, the temperature is almost always perfect, neither too hot nor too cold. And with only a few lights illuminating the darkness, this is as close as we ever get to eating by candlelight.

Simchah often connotes expansion beyond one’s individual boundaries and the joinder with a larger unit or something beyond oneself. And my mood on Leil Succos is certainly overflowing with love for my family gathered around the table and a feeling of being connected to the Ribbono shel Olam, as I glance upward to see the stars through the sechach.

When our ancestors farmed the land, Succos was a joyous time because it marked the end of the agricultural cycle. The farmer could contemplate his grain now safely stored for the winter with both satisfaction and gratitude. Most of us are no longer tied to the agricultural cycle of sowing, reaping, and gathering, and thus do not experience the farmer’s rejoicing at the time of the harvest.

And yet by the time Succos arrives, we too feel that we have been engaged in an arduous process of teshuvah from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur and are prepared to savor the fruits of our efforts.