Page 22 - HaMizrachi #28 Pesach USA 2021

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel

The Hidden Simcha of Pesach

he Torah doesn’t explicitly com- holidays, there was real, unalterable with a world to live in, family and friends
mand us to be beSimcha on change. We were freed, we became a to love and be loved by, about to start
TPesach. There are three mentions nation, we received the Torah. The sense a day full of possibilities, in which, by
of simcha on Sukkot, one for Shavuot, of simcha is one of deep and true ela- acts of loving kindness, we allow G-d’s
but Pesach? Nothing. tion. On Purim, there was a temporary presence to flow through us into the

Rabbeinu Bechaye suggests an explana- salvation, the kind that only emphasized lives of others. Joy helps heal some of the
tion. As opposed to Sukkot, when the our vulnerability in the face of the ruler’s wounds of our injured, troubled world.”
storehouses are overflowing with the whimsical and capricious nature. It is I write these words between Purim and
year’s crops, and to Shavuot, following an external simcha, not an expression Pesach, and they lead me to think of
the harvest, Pesach is a tense time. The of inner content. the intriguing possibility of grasping
Mishnah lists it as Judgment Day for Armed with Rav Soloveitchik’s descrip- both types of joy: 1) to strive for deep
the crops. It’s a time of year when the tion, on the one hand we feel the great- and lasting meaning and happiness, the
fields are full but the storehouses are ness of the holiday upon us, the deep type we merited on a national scale on
still empty. A point in the agricultural and dramatic change – the kind that Pesach, and from which we draw inspi-
year when it is difficult to fill the holiday influences the entire history of man- ration to create freedom and meaning in
tables with good, and it is even more kind, and the radical transformation our personal our lives. And 2) to recog-
difficult to share the sparse food with worthy of celebrating with the simcha nize and appreciate the joy within us this
guests from outside – those without of Yom Tov. On the other hand, we also moment, even before the great problems
whom there is no holiday: the Levite, desire to redeem the honor of the partial of life are solved. The happiness of Yom
the convert, the orphan and the widow. redemptions, the joy of the day-to-day, Tov tells us there are summits worth
The Torah understands that people may even if it is incomplete and temporal climbing towards, and the joy of Purim
not invite these guests, and since these and sometimes very vulnerable and tells us that the path is paved with grati-
guests will not be present, the abun- fragile. Perhaps the message of Purim tude and goodness. We can still be joyful
dance of blessing which only appears is specifically on the flip side of the even if we are not yet happy.
due to the simcha of these guests will life-changing shalosh regalim – to know
not appear at that home, and thus there how to be happy in the “small” days, in
is no simcha since there is no blessing. the moments and gifts of the mundane.
Therefore, the Torah does not mention
simcha on Pesach. And as happens to many of us when
we are at a loss for words, I found these
But this is a description of reality, not wondrous words of Rabbi Sacks zt”l:
the ideal. Practically, there is an obliga-
tion of simcha on Pesach as well. “Happiness is something you can feel
alone, but joy, in Tanach, is something
Jewish simcha does not have only one you share with others. Happiness is
form. The joy of Purim is not like the about a lifetime, but joy lives in the
joy of Yom Tov, the joy of bikkurim is moment. Happiness tends to be a cool
not like that of ma’aser sheini, but all of emotion, but joy makes you want to
them are enveloped in the call to serve dance and sing. It’s hard to feel happy
G-d beSimcha. in the midst of uncertainty. But you can
still feel joy...
When Rav Soloveitchik compares the
simcha of Purim to the simcha of Pesach, Every day we begin our morning prayers Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel teaches Torah
he notes that on Pesach, like on the other with a litany of thanks, that we are here, at midrashot in Israel.

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