לרפואת חנה גיטל בת עליזה נעמי ויוכבד פייגע בת מיכל יהודית בתיה בתוך שח"י!!!
SHAAAAAAAAAAAALOOOOOOOOM SWEEEEEEEETEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The pasuk says אור זרוע לצדיק ולישרי לב שמחה. Tzadikim have light while Yesharim ["straight" people] have Simcha. Why is it that Yesharim merit Simcha? This explanation is based on the Torah of Maran Rosh HaYeshiva ztz"l.
A Yashar is a person who is like a straight line that keeps going as opposed to those who get crooked over time.
Let us take an example from modern science in order to explain: Neuroscientist David ["Duvie"] Creswell from Carnegie [Water]Mellon wanted to explore what happens in the brain when people tackle problems that are too big for their conscious mind to solve. He had people think about purchasing an imaginary car, based on multiple wants and needs. One group had to choose immediately. These people didn’t do great at optimizing their decision. A second group had time to try to consciously solve the problem. Their choices weren’t much better. A third group were given the problem, then given a distracter task – something that lightly held their conscious attention but allowed their non-conscious to keep working. This group did significantly better than the other groups at selecting the optimum car for their overall needs.
To put it plainly - people who were distracted did better on a complex problem-solving task than people who put in conscious effort. This isn’t so surprising –the problem-solving resources of the non-conscious are millions if not billions of times larger than that of the conscious. What’s surprising is how fast this effect kicked in – the third group were distracted for only a few minutes. This wasn’t the ‘sleep on it’ effect, or about quieting the mind. It was something more accessible to all of us every day, in many small ways.
What did the geometry teacher say when the class had trouble solving a problem?
Let’s try a different angle.
An idea incubates and then a solution is found. [On a personal level I will say that on those rare occasions when a profound insight suddenly appears in my brain it is when I am NOT THINKING about the topic!! Just... BOOOM!! LIGHT!!!!]. A Tzadik is a person who serves Hashem when he is "on duty" but at other times he is off duty. A Yashar is a person whose Avoda is expressed even when he is "off duty", even in the "down times". The Yashar's Avodah "incubates" even when the outward Avoda is not evident. אך צדיקים יודו לשמך ישבו ישרים את פניך - The Tzadikim thank Hashem while the Yesharim continue appreciating Hashem even after they have "sat" and retired from active duty. A continuous straight line.
We see this in davening. In Birkas Krias Shema we talk about how the angels accept the yoke of Heaven and say "קדוש קודש קודש". Then in Kedusha we equate ourselves with the angels "נקדש את שמך בעולם כשם שמקדישים אותו בשמי מרום". We sanctify Hashem as the angels do! Then in Uva Litzion we go even further and say "ואתה קדוש יושב תהילות ישראל" - Hashem "sits" on OUR praise and not on that of the angels. Our praise is greater b/c we are busy with Hashem even when we are not actively serving, even when we our Avoda is "incubated". This is said AFTER the central feature of our davening which is Shmoneh Esrei. By Uva Litzion a lot of good Yidden are already out the door... But still, the Avoda continues!!!! ישבו ישרים את פניך!!!
The Tzadikim have light but the Yesharim do better - they have Simcha b/c their light continues after "work hours".
What is "Shmini Atzeres/Simchas Torah"? Chazal say that it is hard for Hashem to separate from us so He says "stay around for one more day". How do this help? It is just pushing off the inevitable???
Sukkos was seven days of joy and there is concern that this Simcha will dissipate - Chas Vi-shalom!!!!!!!!!!! There are ENOUGH depressed people in the world!!! I know a few myself!!!!!!!!
On the eighth day the Simcha incubates and gets deeply rooted in our psyche. During the seven days we were busy DOING. So many mitzvos BARUCH HASHEM!!!!! Now on the 8th day there are no special mitzvos - just let the Simcha of preceding days to sink in! A Yashar continues even after the hard work is over.
The word "Atzeres" means according to the Targum "כנש" - absorb, gather in.
עצרת - כנש!!!!
NOT NORRRRRMAALLLL!!!
I think that there is another important lesson here. Sometimes, people make big changes for the better in their lives. Does this happen overnight? If it does then it is not healthy and won't last. The change is a result of a deep internal process that the person him/herself wasn't aware of. If we know people whom we want to change [like ourselves!!!] and it isn't happening fast enough for us, it is worthwhile remember that change is predicated on a slowly evolving process. It doesn't happen overnight. We need it to incubate. There are many people who went to Israel for the year and the messages only sank in years later.
May we all have the capacity to allow the incredible positive energy of Sukkos sink in and be in the category of the ישרים who live in a perpetual state of satisfaction and Simcha!!!!
BI-AHAVA RABBA!!!!!!!!!
