“Seven days you will celebrate (the festival of Sukkos)… and (on Simchas Torah) you will be only happy” [1]. The word “only” (ach) indicates an exclusion of all else [2], and if so what it coming to exclude in this verse?
Last Sukkos, we went on a trip to Park Aneva in Modiin, where we rented a boat for 15 minutes. After the allotted time they began calling the boats in, but for some reason they didn’t call ours.
Ten minutes later I received a phone call from a friend requesting that I help him in about half an hour time. I apologised that I was busy, but that I would be happy to help when I return, which would probably be closer to about an hour time. But little did I know…
Concerned that we were stealing extra boat time, we went to ‘own up’ that we had been on the boat much longer than we paid for, but we were informed that they know but did not mind.
And so we enjoyed out boat for somewhat longer that the allotted 15 minutes. In fact we stayed on the boat for about two hours!
But eventually it was getting late and so we decided to take the boat back.
We received a special welcome: “You are the first customers in the history of the park who have ever returned their boat of their own volition before we had to call them!”
But in retrospect did we really enjoy the boat ride? After about forty minutes or so the first complaint of “I am bored” was heard. And from then on, every few minutes there was another “I want to get off now” or “let’s go back home already”. In fact these complaints continued throughout the entire two hours!
When it comes to physicality, ‘the law of diminishing marginal returns’ dictates that ‘all good things must come to an end’ (as the old saying goes). Why is this true? Because when it comes to physicality, the more we indulge in them, we begin to enjoy them less and less until eventually they completely cease to be good!
But when it comes to spirituality, since spirituality is eternal, so too our happiness in indulging in it is eternal. Not only are there no diminishing marginal returns, but on the contrary there are ever-increasing returns: the more we indulge, the happier we will become!
This is what it means to be “only happy”: to experience the type of happiness that is always only happiness i.e. constantly, rather than physical happiness that eventually diminishes… and is even likely to lead to the opposite of true happiness (to put it mildly).
The quintessential time for true happiness is Sukkos and Simchas Torah. We have been taught that a person who has never experienced such happiness has never truly experienced happiness in his life [3]. Celebrations continued all week long, barely sleeping, but experiencing happiness the entire time [4] – without it diminishing.
In his state of happiness, the great sage Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel managed to achieve the near-impossible feat of juggling eight fire torches [4]. And this was just a physical expression of his inner spiritual happiness! [5]
Indeed this lesson is what we are supposed to learn from the book of Koheles that we read during this festive period. Perhaps it also serves to understand why the evil inclination had to fight extra hard during this period of elated spiritual happiness [6].
Perhaps now we can shed light on our obligation to perform our Divine service each day ‘chadashim’ – anew with the same freshness [7]. This is of course impossible when it comes to physicality because our happiness diminishes with each passing day, but when it comes to spirituality there is indeed equal, or greater happiness each day. So much so in fact, that even the world to come – the ultimate happiness – is also referred to as “that day” [8]. And indeed the word ‘chadashim’ even contains the letters ‘somayach’ (happiness).
This is the secret behind our Divine service. It stays fresh intrinsically, so long as we perform it for the right reasons and prepare accordingly. The more effort we put in, the fresher it will be and in turn the happier we will be!
Have an eternally happy Simchas Torah,
Dan.
Additional sources:
[1] Devarim 16:15 [2] Bereshis Rabba 1:14 [3] Sukkah 51a [4] Ibid. 53a [5] See Yerushalmi, Sukkah 22b (5:1) [6] See Sukkah 51, 52a [7] E.g. Rashi, Devraim 11:13 [8] E.g. Yeshayahu 27:13