From an email:
SHALLLOOOMMMMM SWWWEEETEST FRIENDSSSSS!!!!
How NOT NORMAL is this!!! Succos is about to descend upon us!!!! How INCREDIBLY exciting! Literally - the HAPPIEST time of the year!!
But WAIT!!!
I am NOOOOOOTTTT happy. Not in the mood. I am in more of a Tisha B'av mood.... Vat do I do?? [An old Jewish man was learning English and was asked to use "cultivate" in a sentence. He said sure. "I vas vaiting for de bus on a vinter-dige tog but it vas to cultivate so I took de subvay"].
So there are 2 basic ways to live your life. 1] The way most people live. 2] The way the Torah wants you to live.
Most people's moods and feelings are determined by their circumstances. When life if good - they are happy. A person is healthy, his [or "her", of course] family is healthy, he is married to a beautiful Tzadekes-Eishes-Chayil who just ADORES him and they live in bliss. He has nachas from his children - all of whom honor him and are going on the derech in which he raised them. The money situation is great. A well paying job he loves. A house in NY/NJ all paid off. A house in Florida [during this pandemic I learned how many of my brothers and sisters own a second home. BARUCH HASHEM!!!]. For the cold months and when he and his wife feel like it. A diversified investment portfolio. A few hundred thou in the stock market, a few hundred thou in some multi family units in Montana and Seattle, a few hundred thou in the bank etc. etc. and a father in law who owns a few banks and a few buildings on west end avenue [just in case his own investments go sour - there is always a backup:-)]. He has a good group of friends. Feels good about his learning - daf yomi and semichas chaver. Also, once a week a deep Gemara shiur from a local Talmid Chochom. Season tickets to the Knicks. Life is GOOD. Except for the Knicks part.
So he is HAPPY!!
But when things aren't going his way - he is not so happy. He doesn't have a job. [What is the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is when you lose your job. A depression is when I lose MY job]. Or his Shalom Bayit is not what he wants. [The secret to Shalom Bayit? If you want Shalom - buy it...]. Or the kids are causing him anguish. [There is usually at least one who will "cause trouble"]. Or the money is super tight. Maybe the health is causing trouble. High blood pressure and other related stress caused ailments. The list goes on.
He is NOT happy.
That is one way to live life. Let circumstances determine your emotional state.
Then there is the Torah way. You are happy NO MATTER WHAT. You are happy to be alive. The gemara expounds the pasuk in Iyov - מה יתאונן אדם חי - How can a person complain - he is ALIIIIVEEEEE!!!!!!
You are happy b/c you are Jewish!! What a MERIT to be a member of this INCREDIBLY special nation. We have contributed so much to the world in SO MANY WAYS!!! We have overcome a MIND-BOGGLING amount of adversity. We control Hollywood and run the worlds banks.
We have returned to our land just three years after the worst catastrophe in world history and are THRIVING [until China-virus Coronavirus came].
We can breathe unaided. Our kidneys work. Modern technology makes life AMAZING!! Indoor plumbing, electricity, net-flix, smartphones. ZOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! The list goes on and on. There is SOOOOO MUCH to be happy about. We have clothing to wear!! Imagine if we didn't.... BARUCH MALBISH ARUMIM!!! Our mind works. If you reading this you probably don't have Alzheimers. BARUCH CHONEN LI-ADAM DAAS!!!! You have family members?? SOOOOO FORTUNATE!!! [The Chiddushei HaRim lost all 13 of his children in his lifetime. The Klausenberger Rebbe lost his wife and ten children in the Holocaust. To lose one parent is a tragedy. To lose two is flat out irresponsible. Make sure they have a phone to text if they get lost. I once got lost in the zoo when I was about three. My father was frantic. I wonder if in retrospect he thinks that maybe it would have been better if he never found me. They found me trying to teach the monkeys to sing Adon Olam].
In 2004 the New York Times interviewed Stephen Hawking, the late scientist whose incurable motor-neuron disease left him paralyzed and unable to talk since age 21.
“Are you always this cheerful?” the Times asked.
“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21,” Hawking said. “Everything since then has been a bonus,” he replied.
I could go on and on and on - but I will leave the rest to your ideas of things you are grateful for.
So we are happy because we MUST be happy. We look for reasons and "excuses" to be happy.
So comes Succos. A person isn't in the "mood". Says the Torah - SO WHAT!!! Mood shmood. One has a special mitzva to be happy for 8-9 days REGARDLESS. He does whatever he can to facilitate a good mood. He eats meat and drinks wine. She buys herself new clothing. They play music. They zoom with Bubbe and Zeide. Instead of the usual chol hamoed trip, they put the kids in the car in the driveway for 2 hours and let them fight. Whatever works.
The Rambam [in Hilchos Succah] says that to be happy when fulfilling mitzvos is "עבודה גדולה היא" - a BIG job . This year might be more challenging than normal. We are living on an island of uncertainty [אי של אי ודאות]. Who knows what will be.
If Trump wins, many people say OOOYYYYYY - SCARRRRYYYYY [including those who will vote for him]. If Biden wins people are worried that he will destroy the country and will be no friend to Israel and the Jewish people. Like - do we have a third option? Ronald Reagan perhaps? WHAT WILL BE???!!!!
The economy? Oyyyyyyy vey to the hundreth power. Will we sink into a horrific depression-recession [see above]?
Will Corona ever end?? Will our kids ever get to live a normal life again?? The questions weigh heavily upon us!!
So when Succos comes around - we must DECIDE with great RESOLVE that we will be happy. והיית אך שמח. JUST happy. No worry. No fear. No doomsaying. We will enter the shadow of G-d's glory, the shade of faith [as called by the Zohar] and REJOICE.
REGARDLESS.
Because we are Jews and that is our mandate.
CHAG SAMEACH BELOVED FRIENDS!!!!!😀
BI-AHAVA RABBA,
ME
PS - For those interested in hearing shiurim from me relating to Succos, you can go to YUTORAH where there are well over 100 recorded shiurim. If you would like me to give a shiur in someone's honor you may contact me .
