Be Joyous on Sukkot

Shabbat Chol Moed Sukkot
Exodus 33:12-34:26,
Ex. 34:6-7 –“Adonai, Adonai, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”

On the Shabbat which takes place during Sukkot, we read passages from Exodus, with the action taking place just after the Israelites had danced before the Golden Calf and Moses had shattered the tablets. Moses goes back up the Mountain, prays for the People, and returns 40 days later with a second set of tablets. When he returns, he brings not only a second set of tablets but also the Thirteen Attributes of God quoted here.

The Torah reading includes these verses so shortly after we have repeated them countless times one week ago during the Neilah service. I find this a profoundly hopeful concept: no matter how often we fall short of the mark, we can be forgiven.

But in addition to being hopeful, we must also be joyous. This is a holiday when we are commanded to be happy: (the Hebrew phrase is “u’smach-tem”). While all holidays have commandments associated with them, this is the only one for which happiness is mandated. Why Sukkot?

Part of the answer is that this is a harvest festival. Coming soon after Yom Kippur, a bountiful harvest was viewed as a tangible manifestation of God’s forgiveness and mercy, and a reason for joy. Second, when we live or eat in flimsy booths, we recognize that we can be happy with very little, and that we can rejoice with what we have. I contend that u’smach-tem is aimed squarely at the “woulda-shoulda-coulda” attitude that overtakes all too many of us. “I would have acted differently ...things should have been different… If only I could do this or that….” This attitude can overtake us when we forget the blessings we experience every day of our lives. U’smach-tem stands in stark contrast to a backward-looking, regret-filled point of view and insists that we be happy with what we have.