23 Sep SUKKOT & RESISTING NEGATIVITY

Sukkot is called Z’man
Simchateinu – “the time
of our joy,” and indeed,
the dominant theme of
this holiday is simchah
– joy. In the times of the
Bet Ha’mikdash, a festive celebration
called the Simchat Beit Hashoeva was held
each night of Sukkot in the courtyard of the
Bet Ha’mikdash with music and dancing.
Today, Simchat Beit Hashoeva celebrations
are held in many communities during
Sukkot to commemorate the festivities in
the Bet Ha’mikdash.
There is a certain irony in the fact that
specifically on this Z’man Simchateinu, we
are commanded to leave our comfortable
homes and reside in a sukkah. The sukkah
is a crude, temporary structure, and it is
often cramped, chilly, and at times damp.
How are these uncomfortable living
quarters conducive to the experience of
simchah?
The answer might be that this is precisely
the point – to teach us that simchah does
not depend on perfect circumstances. If we
cannot experience joy under less-than-ideal
conditions, then we will never experience

simchah, because life is hardly ever ideal.
And so specifically on Z’man Simchateinu,
on the holiday of the greatest joy, we leave
our homes and reside in the sukkah.
In the first pasuk of Tehillim, King David
warns us about Moshav Leitzim – “the
company of scoffers.” The Leitzim –
scoffers – are exceedingly dangerous. They
can destroy everything, and they can do it
very quickly. These are the people who sit
around the Shabbat table criticizing,
mocking and ridiculing. It’s usually the
Rabbi, or the entire shul, or the school…
They find fault in something, and then paint
the whole thing as bad, igniting a flame of
negativity that can spread like wildfire.
Leitzanut – mockery – is so destructive,
and it is oh so easy. If I wanted to, I could in
a split-second ruin the reputation of any
rabbi, lay leader or institution in our
community – including myself. I could find
more than a couple of mistakes I made and
then start talking about them to people to
make myself look bad. And I could do this
about anyone and anything. No person is
perfect, and no institution is perfect. There
is always what to complain about – and so
many people love complaining, focusing

on the flaws and making something or
someone good look very bad.
The scoffers appear to enjoy doing this,
but, as the Sukkot celebration teaches us,
joy is achieved by doing just the opposite.
If we always focus on what’s imperfect,
we will be very unhappy. A happy life is a
life when we can enjoy the sukkah, when
we feel content and happy even with
things that aren’t perfect.
A well-known story is told about a man
who approached his Rabbi in anguish,
asking him to speak to his son, who was
going to marry a non-Jewish girl. Nothing
the father said could convince the boy to
change his mind, so he wanted the Rabbi to
try.
After meeting with the young man for an
hour, the Rabbi soberly reported to the
father that there was nothing he could do.
“Sorry, but you made me useless,” the
Rabbi said. “You would sit around the table
every Shabbat complaining about me,
making fun of my speeches and the way I
ran the shul. Your son has no respect for
me.”

This is what negativity does. When we
always focus on what’s wrong, instead of
appreciating and praising what’s right, we
make everything look miserable – and our
children, understandably, are not going to
want to have any part of it.
Sukkot teaches us to find joy and
satisfaction even in the imperfect, to direct
our attention to all that is good about life
and about the people around us, so we can
live with genuine happiness under all
circumstances and thereby spread joy
instead of negativity.