Pure inner joy of the sukkah

והנה בקהלת כתיב ושבחתי כו' את השמחה.

Now, in Koheles it is written: "And I praised… joy" (Koheles 8:15).

Shlomo HaMelech in one place lauds simchah as a praiseworthy thing.

וכ' ג"כ ולשמחה מה זו עושה.

And it is also written: "And of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Koheles 2:2).

Yet elsewhere the same Koheles dismisses simchah as worthless. The Sefas Emes will reconcile these two opposite statements.

והיינו שבודאי טוב מאוד אם זוכין לשמחה בלי פסולת.

That is to say: it is certainly very good if one merits joy without any dross.

Pure simchah, free of any base or impure element, is wholly praiseworthy — this is the joy Koheles praises.

רק שקשה להשיג זאת תמיד ויש בה פסולת כדכ' לשחוק אמרתי מהולל מעורבב.

It is only that this is hard to attain always, and joy usually has dross in it, as it is written: "Of laughter I said it is mixed-up madness" (cf. Koheles 2:2).

Ordinary worldly joy is hard to keep pure; it is "mixed" with frivolity and base motives. That impure, mingled gladness is the one Koheles dismisses.

רק בימים הללו בסוכה שהיא הגנה שאין מתערב שם פסולת לכן יכולין לשמוח עתה.

Only on these days, in the sukkah — which is a protective covering where no dross can mix in — can one truly rejoice now.

The sukkah forms a sheltered, holy enclosure into which no impurity can intrude. Therefore the joy attained there is the pure, unmixed simchah that Koheles praised.

והשמחה הוא תענוג פנימי.

And joy is an inner delight (taanug penimi).

True simchah is not an external thrill but an inward pleasure of the soul — a penimiyusdike delight.

וכתיב לאדם שטוב לפניו נתן חכמה ודעת ושמחה ולחוטא נתן ענין לאסוף כו'.

And it is written: "To the man who is good before Him He gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the task of gathering" etc. (Koheles 2:26).

The one who is good before Hashem receives the inner gifts — chochmah, daas, and simchah. The sinner is left only with the outer labor of amassing possessions, never reaching the inner joy.

וכל זה מתקיים בימי החג.

And all of this is fulfilled in the days of the Chag.

The contrast between the inner gift of simchah and the mere outer gathering plays itself out on Sukkos.

דכתיב רבים אומרים מי יראנו טוב נתתה שמחה בלבי מעת דגנם ותירושם רבו.

As it is written: "Many say, who will show us good? … You have placed joy in my heart, more than at the time their grain and wine increased" (Tehillim 4:7-8).

The masses chase after material "good." But Dovid HaMelech says the joy Hashem placed in his heart surpasses the gladness others feel over a bumper harvest of grain and wine.

פי' שבסוכה הוא ימי השפעה לעולם.

The explanation: that Sukkos is a time of shefa (bounty) flowing to the world.

Sukkos, the festival of ingathering, is when abundance pours down upon the world for the year ahead.

והאומות כל אחד נוטל שלו ומאסף רוב דגן ותירוש.

And the nations — each one takes his own portion and gathers in much grain and wine.

The nations of the world grasp only the outer, physical portion of this bounty: an abundance of grain and wine.

אבל בנ"י יש להם לקבל פנימיות ההשפעה והוא התענוג והשמחה.

But Bnei Yisrael are to receive the penimiyus (inner dimension) of the bounty — which is the delight and the joy.

Bnei Yisrael are meant to draw the inner essence of the shefa: not just the grain and wine, but the inner taanug and simchah hidden within it.

וזהו עדות שהם הלב והעיקר כדאיתא שבנ"י דומין ללב שמקבלין רק צחותא דכולא.

And this is testimony that they are the heart and the essence, as is brought that Bnei Yisrael are like the heart, which receives only the purest essence (tzachusa dechula) of everything.

Just as the heart, within the body, takes in only the most refined essence of the blood, so Bnei Yisrael are the "heart" of the world, receiving only the purest inner core of the bounty.

והוא התענוג כנ"ל.

And this is the delight, as above.

That purest essence is precisely the inner taanug — the joy of the soul rather than the gross material portion.

לכן ניתן מצות סוכה עתה.

Therefore the mitzvah of sukkah was given at this time.

The sukkah is placed precisely at this season of bounty to teach Bnei Yisrael where their true portion lies.

לרמוז כי אין אנו חפצים ברוב דגן ותירוש.

To hint that we do not desire abundance of grain and wine.

By leaving the secure house for the bare sukkah at the very height of the harvest, we declare that material abundance is not our goal.

רק להיות הכנה לעבודת השי"ת שהיא העיקר.

Rather, [we want it] only to be a preparation for the avodah of Hashem, which is the essence.

Whatever bounty we do receive, we want it only as a means to serve Hashem — for the avodah is the true purpose, the ikar.

ועל הימים האלו כתיב תחת אשר לא עבדת את ה' אלקיך בשמחה כו'.

And about these days it is written: "Because you did not serve Hashem your God with joy" etc. (Devarim 28:47).

The Torah warns of the consequences of failing to serve Hashem with simchah — a service of joy demanded especially in these days of rejoicing.

שהם ימי שמחה וצריכין להתחזק עתה בעבודת ה' ביותר.

For these are days of joy, and one must strengthen himself now in the avodah of Hashem all the more.

Precisely because the season radiates simchah, it is the ideal time to redouble one's service of Hashem out of joy.

ומתקיים כל השנה כמ"ש מצות שקבלו עליהם בשמחה כו'.

And it endures all year, as it says: "a mitzvah that they accepted upon themselves with joy" etc.

Chazal teach that whatever is accepted with simchah endures. The joyous avodah of Sukkos plants something that lasts the whole year through.

והשי"ת ב"ה וב"ש נתן לנו ימי שמחה בתחלת השנה מטעם הזה.

And Hashem, blessed is He and blessed is His Name, gave us days of joy at the start of the year for this reason.

Sukkos falls near the year's beginning so that this joyous avodah can take root and carry its strength through all the months that follow.

מרוב כל פי' האר"י ז"ל ידוע שיהיה יותר שמחה בעבודת הבורא משמחה שיש לו מכל הדברים שבעולם.

"From the abundance of all" — the Arizal explains, as is known, that there should be more joy in serving the Creator than the joy a person has from all the things of the world.

The Arizal reads the verse's warning ("because you did not serve… amid the abundance of all") to mean: one's joy in serving Hashem must exceed the joy he derives from all worldly possessions combined.

ובנ"י מראין זאת בסוכה שיוצאין מדירת קבע לדירת עראי.

And Bnei Yisrael demonstrate this in the sukkah, by going out from a permanent dwelling to a temporary dwelling.

By trading the solid house for the flimsy sukkah, Bnei Yisrael show in action that the joy of being close to Hashem outweighs every material comfort.

כמ"ש בחרתי הסתופף בבית אלקי אף בעראי מדור באהלי רשע בקביעות.

As it says: "I have chosen to linger at the threshold of the House of my God" — even temporarily — rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness permanently (cf. Tehillim 84:11).

Dovid HaMelech declares he would rather have a fleeting place at the doorstep of Hashem's House than a permanent home amid wickedness — the very choice the sukkah expresses.

כדאיתא ברש"י ז"ל בפסוק טוב לחסות בה'.

As is brought in Rashi on the verse "It is good to take refuge in Hashem" (Tehillim 118:8).

The Sefas Emes points to Rashi's comment on this verse to sharpen the contrast.

חסיון מועט מלהיות בטוח בקביעות בנדיבים ע"ש:

[Better] a small, temporary refuge [in Hashem] than to be securely settled in [reliance upon] princes — see there.

Rashi explains: a fleeting shelter under Hashem's protection is worth more than a settled, "secure" dependence on human benefactors. The temporary sukkah, in Hashem's shadow, is greater than any permanent worldly security.

Summary: Koheles both praises and dismisses joy — praising the pure inner simchah, dismissing the dross-mixed worldly kind. The sukkah's protective enclosure admits no dross, so its joy is pure. While the nations seize the outer bounty of grain and wine, Bnei Yisrael, the "heart" of the world, draw its inner essence — the taanug of serving Hashem with a simchah that outweighs all worldly possessions and endures the whole year.