ושמחת בחגך אתה ובנך ובתך ועבדך ואמתך והגר והיתום והאלמנה אשר בשעריך
(Debarim 16:13-15)
“You shall rejoice [= enjoy] in your festival, you, your children, your servants, the stranger, the orphan and the widow who live in your city.”
SHEMINI ATSERET
During Sukkot we live in the Sukka and take the four species (etrog, lulav, hadas and arava) for seven days. Sukkot also has a third mitzvah, called simcha, which means “to celebrate” or “to be joyful.” It is the only one of the three mitzvot of Sukkot that carries over into the holiday that begins tonight, Friday, October 2: Shemini Atseret, followed by Simchat Torah, which begins Saturday night, October 3, and ends Sunday night.
Because Shemini Atseret is a separate holiday from Sukkot, the mitzvah of lulav and etrog no longer applies. In Israel, the Sukka is no longer used on Shemini Atseret. In the Diaspora, because the rules of the ancient rabbinic calendar are still in force, we keep using the Sukka on the first day of Shemini Atseret, but without a berakha.
ENJOYING THE TORAH
Outside the Land of Israel, as with every other Yom Tov, the holiday lasts two days in a row (Shabbat and Sunday). The second day of Shemini Atseret is called Simchat Torah. On that day we celebrate finishing the yearly cycle of Torah reading and, without a pause, start the new cycle from Bereshit. We sing and dance with the Torah, rejoicing that we are part of the people God chose to study and keep His Torah.
ENJOYING YOM TOV
The Torah tells us to be joyful and to show our happiness on these holidays. Physical enjoyment is part of the celebration too. During Yom Tov we share several festive meals with the people we love. The meals are prepared with care, and there is plenty of food. We eat, we drink, we honor the day, and we make it as pleasant as Shabbat (Shulchan Arukh OC 529:1).
We also dress up in honor of Yom Tov, the way we would for a wedding. According to the Shulchan Arukh, on Yom Tov we should dress even “better” than on Shabbat (ibid.).
ENJOYING, WITHIN YOUR BUDGET
The Chakhamim also explained that each person enjoys things differently. Before Yom Tov, they said, parents should give their children “roasted grains [to eat] and nuts [to play with].” Today that would be candy and small toys (not electronics!). A husband should buy his wife clothes or jewelry (“Happy wife, happy life”), always within his means. The woman of the house, for her part, makes sure her husband and family eat and drink well, within what each family can afford. Wine and meat are standard on the Yom Tov menu.
ENJOYING AND SHARING
Consumer society has taught us that happiness comes from success, and that success means having more, earning more and showing off more. The Jewish view of happiness is a little different. On Yom Tov we learn to be happy with what we have, however much or little that is. The materialistic world defines success as having what you want. We need to learn that happiness is not having everything you want, but wanting what you have, and above all sharing what Boreh Olam has given us with others: inviting people to our meals, especially orphans and widows (SH”A 529:2), and anyone who needs company, whether for material or “emotional” reasons.
Maimonides had this to say on this very important point: “One who locks the doors of his home [to the needy] and eats and drinks with his wife and children, and does not share with the poor, is not fulfilling the joy of this mitzvah. He is enjoying his own stomach…” (MT Yom Tov 6:18).
SIMCHAT TORAH AND ALCOHOL: ENJOYMENT WITHOUT EXCESS
Finally, physical enjoyment calls for moderation: “On Yom Tov [and this includes Simchat Torah, Y.B.] a person should not drink too much [alcohol]… because drunkenness and frivolity are not part of the mitzvah of rejoicing. They are vulgarity and foolishness… and [the Torah commanded us] to reach a level of joy that expresses our service of HaShem… A person cannot serve God through frivolity, light-headedness or drunkenness” (ibid., 6:19). “The highest way to serve HaShem is to be happy that one can fulfill [His will by keeping] His commandments…” (Maimonides, MT Hilkhot Sukka veLulav 8:15).
As Maimonides explained, a Jew does not need to get drunk to be happy. A person who needs to get drunk to feel happy does it to “forget” his misery. He shuts off his reason and his awareness to escape his present, a life without meaning. We, Am Israel, are the chosen people. On Simchat Torah we do NOT drink too much, because we should embrace and celebrate the privilege of belonging to God’s people sober and fully aware.