On an overly crowded train making its way to Jerusalem, I share a couple of stairs, the last seat to be found, with three kids (sadly, not my own) indeed, every spot is taken and people are standing everywhere. There are strollers, bags, suitcases; it’s noisy with every joyful sound imaginable. It’s a mess, and yet, I have tears in my eyes. It’s Sukkot and I can’t help but remember the words of the prophets, telling us how one day, once again, on the shalosh regalim (Sukkot, Pesach, Shavuot), we will join from everywhere, coming up to gather in Jerusalem.

Sukkot has several mitzvot. The most famous are dwelling in the sukkah and taking the Four Species. In recent decades, we have seen the “come-back” of Hak’hel – a huge “gathering” at the Kotel, traditionally held during Sukkot and possibly serving as a small reminder of the huge celebrations held long ago at the Temple.

But Sukkot holds another mitzvah, possibly among the most difficult mitzvot we have, and that is the mitzvah of being joyful. Twice says the Torah, first in Leviticus and then in Deuteronomy:

On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you (pl.) shall rejoice before Hashem your God seven days. (Lev. 23:40)

Similarly:

After the ingathering from your threshing floor and your vat, you shall hold the Feast of Booths for seven days.

You shall rejoice (singular) in your festival, with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the [family of the] Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow in your communities.

You shall hold a festival for Hashem your God seven days, in the place that Hashem will choose; for Hashem your God will bless all your crops and all your undertakings, and you shall have nothing but joy… (Deut. 16: 14-15)

How can we be told to be happy? How can we be commanded to be joyful?

The culture most of us live in has taught us that in order to be happy, we have to do things, get things, or have certain things happen. We learn to think that, one day, when everything is exactly how we want it, then we will be happy. The Torah on the other hand, shares a radical idea: that joy is not a result or an achievement, but rather a choice. It is the ticket we take with us when we embark on the journey, not a conditional destination we arrive at.

True, it is not always clear how to be “nothing but joyful” and it’s definitely not easy, but we also know that the Torah does not command us to do things that are impossible or beyond our reach. And while we’re not given a precise recipe, we are told that more of our happiness is in our own hands; and that after the High Holy Days with their seriousness and weight, we are now invited to God’s “summer house,” where we can set aside our worries and concerns, celebrate, and enjoy.

In Tractate Sukkah 48b, we come across a very strange short story, describing a discussion between two “minim” (heretics), one named Sasson (gladness) and one named Simcha (joy), who argue with each other over which of them is better:

Apropos this verse, the Gemara relates: There were these two heretics, one named Sasson and one named Simcha. Sasson said to Simcha: I am superior to you, as it is written: “They shall obtain joy [sasson] and happiness [simcha], and sorrow and sighing shall flee” (Isaiah 35:10). The verse mentions joy first.

Simcha said to Sasson: On the contrary, I am superior to you, as it is written: “There was happiness [simcha] and joy [sasson] for the Jews” (Esther 8:17).

Sasson said to Simcha: One day they will dismiss you and render you a messenger [parvanka], as it is written: “For you shall go out with happiness [simcha]” (Isaiah 55:12).

Simcha said to Sasson: One day they will dismiss you and draw water with you, as it is written: “With joy [sasson] you shall draw water.”

What’s the point of this?

Perhaps we should start by understanding the difference between sasson (gladness) and simcha (joy). While they might seem like synonyms, they express different aspects of being happy. For example, possibly simcha – joy – refers to happiness due to the physical things in our lives, while sasson – gladness – refers to the spiritual things.

Another explanation suggests that simcha and sasson are two different aspects of the joy in our life: Simcha is joy in the sense of “being,” that is, just feeling good and happy about where we are here and now. Sasson, on the other hand, is the good feeling we have when we’re in the process of becoming happy, as we might feel when working hard and noticing some progress on our way to reaching our goal.

Either way, those sound like two very valid ways of experiencing happiness in life. Why is the gemara calling them “minim,” heretics?

Possibly the issue is in the argument between them, each thinking that it is better than the other. We cannot and should not live only on a completely physical plain, or a completely spiritual one; and we cannot just “be” without participating in the process and the ventures that life offers us, propelling us forward, with all the challenges those bring. It is as if the text here is upset with their argument, not realizing how valuable each, and its counterpart, both are.

After Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which moved us to think about judgment and atonement, Sukkot is very much about our feeling unity in and with  the world: the sukkah that blends and invites our insides out (and outsides in); holding the Four Species together as one; the ancient Water Libation that mixed the water from above and water from below; and the People of Israel in their Land coming together as one for Hak’hel.

Sasson and Simcha, tells us the gemara, are “heretics” because they think one is better than the other, when in reality, especially on Sukkot, we ought to seek oneness; a place without divisions, strife and competition; where everything comes together as One – our physical gladness and our spiritual joy; the place we’re going to and where we are already at. No wonder that we will end this holiday with “Simchat Torah.”

Wishing you and yours a wonderful and joyful Sukkot!