As we anticipate with great excitement and concern yet another new year ה'תש"ע, we experience mixed emotions. We have to deal with the Days of Awe with all the serious soul searching and future undertaking, with תשובה, repentance, while being filled with joy, looking forward to the celebration of the holidays dominating the seventh month תשרי, Tishrei.
The Torah, in Parshat Re’eh, describes the מצוה, Mitzvah, of joy:
“You shall make the festival of Succoth for a seven-day period, when you gather in from your threshing floor and from your wine cellar. You shall rejoice on your festival – you, your son, your daughter, your slave, your maidservant, the Levite, the convert, the orphan and the widow who are in your cities. A seven-day period shall you celebrate to HaShem, your God, in the place that HaShem your God will choose, for HaShem will have blessed you in all your crop and in all your hard-work, and you will be completely joyous.”
The Torah, teaches us in these words, that true and complete joy is achieved not only by enjoying the fruit of our labor, but by sharing our blessing with others, who are in need of sustenance and friendship.
It is not only סכות , Succoth, which is celebrated with joy. The very serious days of ראש השנה , the Days of Judgment, יום הדין, and יום הכפורים , The Day of Atonement are ימים טובים, when we greet each other with חג שמח .
What is the joy, שמחה on these solemn days?
רמב"ם Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, in his הלכות תשובה (Laws of Repentance) (פרק ז' פ'ו), says,
"גדולה תשובה שמקרבת את האדם לשכינה"
“great is the power of repentance; it brings the person close to the Holy presence.
תשובה brings close those who are distant; yesterday this person (the sinner) was disliked, distant and despised – but today he is beloved, dear, near and cherished.” Is it not a source of joy to understand that a person is able to change and so change his relationship to the Almighty?
Rav Yitzchak Hutner in "פחד יצחק" (מאמרים כ"ז – כ"ט) stresses the capacity of the human being to renew himself. ראש השנה celebrates the creation of מעשה בראשית . In nature we see a constant renewal of the בריאה, creation. A human being is a miniature world; עולם קטן: parallel to the universe; so he contains in a small measure the mighty force of renewal.
This ability to self renewal is the source of תשובה , repentance.
Is it not a good reason to be filled with joy, knowing that we possess the strength to renew our life?
And יום הכפורים when the Day itself contains the power of כפרה, atonement, the cleansing of the sinner and endowing him again with spiritual purity.
Certainly a source of joy!
May we all merit a
כתיבה וחתימה טובה ומועדים לשמחה
Miriam Hauer
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