Simcha Through The Neshamah

ושמחתם שם לפני ה"א

"And you shall rejoice there before Hashem your God" (Devarim 12:7).

The piece opens with the pasuk that commands Bnei Yisrael to rejoice before Hashem, setting the theme of simcha as the focus of the avodah.

כבר כתבנו כי עיקר השמחה בהארת הנשמה דעיקר השמחה בג"ע שהשמחה במעונו

We have already written that the essence of simcha lies in the shining forth of the neshamah, for the essence of simcha is found in Gan Eden, since true simcha dwells in His abode.

True simcha is not a physical pleasure but the radiance of the neshamah, which is why it belongs to Gan Eden, the place where Hashem's presence rests.

ולכן בש"ק שבא נשמה יתירה מג"ע הוא זמן שמחה וכמו כן כשבא אדם לבהמ"ק קיבל נשמה יתירה

Therefore, on Shabbos Kodesh, when the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul) comes from Gan Eden, it is a time of simcha; and likewise, when a person would come to the Beis HaMikdash he received an additional neshamah.

Both Shabbos and a visit to the Beis HaMikdash bring an extra measure of soul, and that additional neshamah is the source of the simcha of those times.

ושלש פעמים יראה לקבל נפש רוח נשמה

And "three times [a year] he shall appear" (Devarim 16:16) — to receive the three levels of soul: nefesh, ruach, and neshamah.

The mitzvah to appear three times a year at the Beis HaMikdash corresponds to receiving the three ascending levels of the soul.

לכן בסוכות והיית אך שמח כל השמחה בשלימות

Therefore on Sukkos it says "and you shall be only joyful" (Devarim 16:15), for then the simcha is in its completeness.

Sukkos is singled out for complete simcha because it is then that this fullness of the neshamah is achieved.

וכפי כח הנשמה כך נחלש הגוף

And to the degree that the power of the neshamah is strengthened, so the body is weakened.

As the neshamah grows stronger, the body's hold correspondingly weakens, since the two pull in opposite directions.

וזה היראה שחל על הגוף

And this is the yirah (awe) that falls upon the body.

This weakening of the body is experienced as yirah, an awe that humbles the physical self before Hashem.

וב' בחי' אלו השמחה והיראה הם בחי' זכור ושמור בשבת

And these two aspects, the simcha and the yirah, are the aspects of "Zachor" (Remember) and "Shamor" (Guard) regarding Shabbos.

Simcha and yirah thus parallel the twin commands of Shabbos: Zachor and Shamor.

זכור במוחא בחי' מ"ע נר מצוה להאיר הנשמה ושמור מצות ל"ת להכניע הגוף

"Zachor" is in the mind — the aspect of the positive mitzvos, "a mitzvah is a candle" (Mishlei 6:23), to illuminate the neshamah; and "Shamor" is the negative mitzvos, to subdue the body.

Zachor, a positive command, works through the mind to illuminate the neshamah like a candle; Shamor, the negative commands, works to subdue and restrain the body.

וקודם החטא הי' האדם בג"ע שגם הגוף הי' מעשה ידיו של הקב"ה ואחר החטא הכל בכח הנשמה בלבד:

And before the cheit (sin), Adam was in Gan Eden, where even the body was the handiwork of the Holy One, Blessed is He; but after the cheit, everything is sustained through the power of the neshamah alone.

Before Adam's sin the body itself was Hashem's pure handiwork and shared in Gan Eden, but after the sin holiness reaches a person only through the strength of the neshamah.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that the simcha which the Torah commands us to feel before Hashem is essentially the shining of the neshamah, the very simcha that fills Gan Eden, His abode. This radiance comes through the additional soul of Shabbos and of the Beis HaMikdash, and the three Yamim Tovim of aliyah l'regel correspond to receiving the three levels of soul — nefesh, ruach, and neshamah — with Sukkos bringing simcha in its completeness. Yet as the neshamah is strengthened the body is weakened, and that weakening is felt as yirah; thus simcha and yirah mirror the twin commands of Shabbos, Zachor and Shamor — the positive mitzvos that illuminate the neshamah and the negative mitzvos that subdue the body. Before the cheit, Adam's very body was the handiwork of the Holy One, Blessed is He, and shared in Gan Eden, but ever since, kedushah reaches a person through the power of the neshamah alone.