[Avodah] Zman Simchaseinu

[Akiva Miller]

An old joke says that all Jewish holidays can be summarized with: "They
tried to destroy us. G-d saved us. Let's eat." This can apply even to the
Yamim Noraim, where our enemy is the Yetzer Hara, and to Shavuos, where the
malachim tried to prevent us from receiving the Torah.

A few days ago, I saw the teaser of an article (the full article was behind
a paywall) that quoted someone as saying that his favorite holiday is
Sukkos, precisely because it is totally free of all that baggage. No wars,
no enemies, no problems. Nothing but Am Yisrael basking in the Ananei
Hakavod.

And suddenly, I had a new appreciation of why Sukkos is called "Zman
Simchaseinu".

And Shmini Atzeres / Simchas Torah even more so! Not even any joyous
mitzvos like sukkah or lulav to bog us down. Only the after-party, as the
medrash so vividly describes it. And isn't that the best part of the whole
event?

Chag Sameach to all!

Akiva Miller
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