This past week the sounds of chatter and laughter reverberated through the Sha'arei Bina hallways again. It has been six months since the building closed due to the Covid pandemic. School, however, continued and even during the summer months education was not over. Nevertheless, the joy felt by the closeness of human contact was felt by everyone as we began the 20/21 school year. We had to hold ourselves back from giving high fives or hugs, but we could see everyone smiling through their masks. We are becoming adept at reading body language through the eyes.
In this week's Parsha, Ki Tavo, we read about the blessings and the curses that will befall us, Jews, depending on whether or not we fulfill G-d's commandments, the mitzvot. Yet, it is not the transgressing, doing evil, that bring the calamities upon us, but it is rather, as it is written in Devraim 28:47 תַּ֗חַת אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹא־עָבַ֙דְתָּ֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּשִׂמְחָ֖ה וּבְט֣וּב לֵבָ֑ב מֵרֹ֖ב כֹּֽל׃
Because you would not serve the L-RD your G-d in joy and gladness over the abundance of everything,
The curses come because we did not serve Hashem B'simcha, with joy. There are a few different interpretations of "מֵרֹ֖ב כֹּֽל"-, is it due to the abundance or for the abundance? Is it because you have so much in your life that has caused you not to be happy or is it simply that we did not recognize that all that we have in life comes directly from Hashem. Nevertheless, our downfall comes from lack of joy.
What is happiness and how can we be commanded to be happy? Is there a difference between Joy and Happiness? (Osher and Simcha). Happiness may be defined as the positive emotional feeling or sense of wellbeing that derives primarily from external favorable circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is a deep, soul-level positive emotion that is a result of beholding by faith the beauty and wonders of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains that "joy lives not in thoughts of tomorrow, but in the grateful acceptance and celebration of today." If we appreciate the moment allowing ourselves to contemplate goodness, recognize the positive things we have in life, smile and give thanks, that is an expression of joy. When we fulfill the commandments, celebrate the holidays, care about our communities, do chessed, not for any reward, but when we do things for their own sake then there is joy.
Rabbi Sacks posits that we can survive the failures and defeats if we never lose the capacity for joy. We can survive this terrible pandemic that has swept our nation, our neighborhood, our families, if we retain the capacity to feel Simcha. On Sukkot, we leave the security and comfort of our houses and live in a temporary booth exposed to the elements. Yet we call it zeman simchatenu, our season of joy.
It is Moshe's insistence on inculcating within our national and personal psyche the capacity for joy that gives the Jewish people the strength to endure. "Without it, we become vulnerable to the multiple disasters set out in the curses in our parsha. Celebrating together binds us as a people: that and the gratitude and humility that come from seeing our achievements not as self-made but as the blessings of G-d."
If we indulge in only our own pursuit of happiness, although that is a freedom guaranteed by the Constitution, we may lose sight of what true joy is. Yes, rich or poor it is good to have money...but it is not the money that brings happiness. It is what one does with their accumulation of "wealth." We must understand that "the abundance of everything" is a gift from G-d. The pursuit of happiness can lead, ultimately, to self-regard and indifference to the sufferings of others. Not so, joy. Rabbi Sacks continues, "Joy connects us to others and to G-d. Joy is the ability to celebrate life as such, knowing that whatever tomorrow may bring, we are here today, under G-d's heaven, in the universe He made, to which He has invited us as His guests."
As we return to school, and prepare ourselves for the New Year, may our sense of joy sustain us through the vicissitudes of the current situation. May we begin a year filled with Joy and Wealth, Peace and Health. אושר ועושר שלום ובריאות
Welcome back and Shabbat Shalom!
Rochelle Brand, Ed.D
Head of School