Rising and Falling Joy

במדרש תנחומא ראה מרע"ה שבהמ"ק עתיד לחרב וביכורים עתידין לפסוק תיקן ג' תפלות נשתחוה ונכרעה נברכה כו' ע"ש

In the Midrash Tanchuma it is taught: Moshe Rabbeinu foresaw that the Beis HaMikdash was destined to be destroyed and that the bringing of bikkurim (first fruits) was destined to cease, so he instituted three tefillos — "let us bow down," "let us kneel," "let us bend the knee," and so forth — see there.

The Midrash teaches that Moshe Rabbeinu, seeing that the Beis HaMikdash and the bikkurim would one day cease, established three expressions of bowing in tefillah to replace them. These remain our avodah in galus.

דאיתא בזוה"ק כ' עבדו את ה' בשמחה וכ' ביראה כאן כד שראן בארעא קדישא כו'

For it is brought down in the Zohar HaKadosh that it is written, "Serve Hashem with joy" (Tehillim 100:2), and it is also written, "with awe" (Tehillim 2:11) — "here" refers to when they dwelled in the Holy Land, and so forth.

The Zohar resolves the apparent contradiction between serving Hashem with joy and serving with awe: joy was the avodah when Bnei Yisrael lived in Eretz Yisrael.

דכ' והי' כי תבא אז השמחה למעלה ולמטה

For it is written, "And it shall be when you come in" (Devarim 26:1) — then there is joy above and below.

The verse introducing bikkurim speaks of "coming in" to the Land, which brings about joy both in the upper worlds and in this world below.

דכ' לו הגדלת השמחה משמע דיש בשמחה קטנות וגדלות

For it is written, "You have increased the joy" (Yeshayahu 9:2), which implies that within joy itself there is a state of smallness (katnus) and a state of greatness (gadlus).

The phrase "increased the joy" shows that joy is not a single fixed thing but has gradations — a lesser state and a greater state.

והוא בחי' מיעוט הירח וחוזרת ומתגדלת

And this corresponds to the aspect of the diminishment of the moon, which then returns and grows great again.

This rising and falling of joy mirrors the moon, which wanes to a small point and then waxes back to fullness.

והכל בעבור בנ"י עשה הקב"ה כן שבכח עבודת בנ"י השמחה מתגדלת ובנ"י משתתפין בשמחה זו בבהמ"ק

And all this the Holy One, Blessed is He, did for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, for through the power of the avodah of Bnei Yisrael the joy is enlarged, and Bnei Yisrael share in this joy in the Beis HaMikdash.

Hashem arranged this cycle for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, because their avodah is what causes the joy to grow, and they partake in that elevated joy in the Beis HaMikdash.

וכמו כן בגלות משתתפין בירידתה

And in the same manner, in galus they share in its descent.

Just as Bnei Yisrael share in the heightened joy, so too when that joy descends in galus, they share in its lowered state as well.

ולכן עתה עיקר פולחנא ביראה נשתחוה נכרעה

Therefore now, in galus, the essence of the avodah is through awe — "let us bow down, let us kneel."

Because we are now in the descended state of galus, our primary avodah is through awe and submission, expressed in bowing and kneeling.

דלפעמים כד כייף אינש דעתי' טפי מעלי

For at times, when a person subdues and bends his mind, it is more elevated.

Sometimes the way a person reaches a higher madreigah is specifically by humbling and lowering his mind in bittul.

ולפעמים כד פשיט דעתי' טפי מעלי כדאיתא בגמ'

And at times, when a person extends and expands his mind, it is more elevated, as is brought down in the Gemara.

At other times, the path to elevation is by expanding and enlarging one's mind — the Gemara teaches that both modes have their place.

ופרש"י משום נשא לבבינו אל כפים והוא עצמו בחי' תרומת ידך אלו הביכורים שהיא כח התרוממות בנ"י

And Rashi explains it on the basis of "let us lift up our hearts to our hands" (Eichah 3:41) — and this itself is the aspect of "the terumah (offering) of your hand" (Devarim 12:17), which refers to these bikkurim, for they are the power of the elevation of Bnei Yisrael.

Rashi connects the avodah of joy and elevation to lifting the heart upward, which parallels the bikkurim called "the terumah of your hand," representing the upward elevation of Bnei Yisrael.

וכמו כן בשבת קודש זמן השמחה כמ"ש ז"ל ביום שמחתכם אלו השבתות ולכן אומרים ישמחו במלכותך שומרי שבת

And in the same manner, on the holy Shabbos, which is a time of joy — as Chazal said, "on the day of your joy" (Bamidbar 10:10), these are the Shabbosos — and therefore we say, "Those who keep Shabbos shall rejoice in Your kingship."

Shabbos is a time of joy and elevation, as Chazal derive from "the day of your joy," which is why we declare that the Shabbos-keepers rejoice in Hashem's kingship.

ובימי המעשה ומכ"ש בגלות כד כייף אינש דעתי' טפי מעלי נשתחוה נכרעה נברכה

And on the weekdays, and all the more so in galus, when a person subdues and bends his mind, it is more elevated — "let us bow down, let us kneel, let us bend the knee."

Weekdays, and even more so galus, are times for the avodah of submission, where a person rises specifically through humbling his mind in bowing.

וב' הבחי' הם עדות על בנ"י דכ' גם בתוכחה והיו בך לאות ולמופת כו'

And these two aspects are a testimony upon Bnei Yisrael, for it is written even within the tochachah (rebuke), "And they shall be upon you as a sign and as a wonder" (Devarim 28:46), and so forth.

Both the state of joy and elevation and the state of lowliness serve as testimony about Bnei Yisrael, for even within the rebuke the Torah calls galus a "sign."

שגם הגלות הוא אות

That even the galus is a sign.

The point is striking: even galus itself, the lowest state, functions as a sign and testimony about the special bond between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem.

וכמו בביכורים הי' מצות מקרא פרשה להתודות לפני הקב"ה ולהעיד כי קיים הבטחתו שנשבע לאבותינו והכניסנו לא"י ובהמ"ק

And just as with bikkurim there was the mitzvah of the recitation of the parshah, to give acknowledgment before the Holy One, Blessed is He, and to testify that He fulfilled His promise that He swore to our forefathers and brought us into Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash —

With bikkurim there was a mitzvah to recite a declaration acknowledging before Hashem that He kept His oath to the Avos and brought us into Eretz Yisrael and the Beis HaMikdash.

כמו כן בגלות צריך להעיד ולהתודות כי קיים בנו כל התראות שהתרה בנו ולקבל העונש באהבה ולהשתוקק לחזור לבית מקדשו

So too in galus one must testify and acknowledge that He fulfilled in us all the warnings with which He warned us, and to accept the punishment with love, and to yearn to return to His holy Beis HaMikdash.

Correspondingly in galus we must acknowledge that Hashem fulfilled His warnings, accept the punishment with love, and yearn to return to the Beis HaMikdash.

ובזמן המקדש היו בנ"י מתרוממים יותר מכל האומות לעדות על ה' וישראל

And in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, Bnei Yisrael were elevated higher than all the nations, as a testimony for Hashem and for Yisrael.

During the time of the Beis HaMikdash, the elevation of Bnei Yisrael above all nations testified to Hashem's bond with them.

ובגלות שפלות בנ"י למטה מכל האומות וגם זה עדות על דבקות בנ"י בהקב"ה

And in galus the lowliness of Bnei Yisrael is beneath all the nations, and this too is a testimony to the dveikus of Bnei Yisrael in the Holy One, Blessed is He.

In galus, the fact that Bnei Yisrael sink lower than all nations is itself a testimony, because their fate is bound up with their connection to Hashem rather than the laws of nature.

ולכן הקב"ה מנהיג בנ"י כפי מעשיהם ולכן עולים ויורדין

And therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, guides Bnei Yisrael according to their deeds, and therefore they rise and descend.

Hashem governs Bnei Yisrael in direct response to their deeds, which is why they rise and fall rather than following a fixed path.

ולכן מונין ללבנה שיש בה עלי' וירידה

And therefore we reckon the calendar by the moon, which has within it ascent and descent.

This is why the Jewish calendar follows the moon, whose waxing and waning mirrors the rising and falling of Bnei Yisrael.

וכל האומות העולם כמנהגו נוהג ע"פ הטבע רק הנהגת בנ"י כפי מעשיהם וזה ברית התוכחה של פרשה זו:

And all the nations of the world, each follows its custom according to nature; only the guidance of Bnei Yisrael is according to their deeds, and this is the covenant of the tochachah of this parshah.

The nations run by fixed nature, but Bnei Yisrael are guided according to their deeds — and this unique providence is the very covenant of the tochachah in this parshah.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that Moshe Rabbeinu instituted the three expressions of bowing in our tefillos to replace the joy of bikkurim and the Beis HaMikdash that would one day cease. Joy has a state of greatness and a state of smallness, mirroring the waxing and waning of the moon, and Bnei Yisrael share in both the heightened joy of the Beis HaMikdash and the descent of galus. Accordingly, the avodah of joy and elevation belongs to the time of the Mikdash and to Shabbos, while the avodah of submission, awe, and bowing belongs to the weekdays and to galus. Both states are a testimony about Bnei Yisrael: just as the declaration over bikkurim acknowledged that Hashem fulfilled His promise to the Avos, so in galus we acknowledge that He fulfilled His warnings, accept the punishment with love, and yearn for the Beis HaMikdash. Ultimately, the very rising and falling of Bnei Yisrael — unlike the nations who run by fixed nature — testifies that the Holy One, Blessed is He, guides them according to their deeds, and this is the covenant of the tochachah.