From Yom Kippur to Sukkot — what is simcha?

Is it hard to be joyous? The Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) is reputed to have said that the hardest mitzvah in the Torah is to be joyous for all seven days of Sukkot, without stop. Is it tough to be happy?

Is it right to take drugs, or to drink heavily, if that is the only way to feel joyous?

Back in the era when a conflict raged between the rationalist disciples of the Vilna Gaon and the joyous disciples of the Ba’al Shem Tov (1700-1760), the Vilna Gaon’s words could be used against him. If the Vilna Gaon found it tough to be happy for seven days straight, this validated the Ba’al Shem Tov’s chasidic path. He taught that the essence of Judaism is joy, rather than solemnly poring over Talmudic texts, as the Gaon and his disciples did.

The gap between those two approaches — rationalist vs. ecstatic — has drastically narrowed over the centuries. There are few, if any, chasidic Jews who do not also study Torah, or at least hold it to be an ideal; and there are few talmudists who don’t relish a joyous Judaism and, in fact, see their Talmud study as a wellspring of that joy.

But the issue remains. Is it hard to be joyous? Is Sukkot the toughest mitzvah, given that the Torah says that on all seven days of Sukkot, “you should be exclusively joyous?”

On its face, the Ba’al Shem Tov’s focus was right. If Simchat Torah, “Rejoicing in the Torah,” is the climax of both the High Holidays and Judaism’s three-festival sequence — Passover-Shavuot-Sukkot — simcha is Judaism’s highest value. Obvious, no?

True enough, sadly enough, it can be difficult to sense the joy on Simchat Torah since the Simchat Torah of Oct. 7, 2023. But as the Jewish people slowly recover — and as more and more of the heroism of the hostages becomes known; as their embrace of Jewish practice and faith deep in terror tunnels becomes known — Simchat Torah remains our ideal symbol and experience of joy.

Even if there were no holiday of Simchat Torah, simcha would still be Judaism’s primary focus. The Torah states that punishments and curses come to the Jewish people “because you did not serve the L-rd your G-d with simcha, with joy . . . ” (Deut. 28:47).

This is very clear, but how is it applicable to every mitzvah?

Take repentance. It too is a major way “to serve the L-rd your G-d.” So are we supposed to say that digging into and correcting one’s character is joyous? Is working up the courage to ask someone else for forgiveness — joyous? Is not eating or drinking for 26 hours on Yom Kippur — joyous?

Many other acts commanded by the Torah also hardly seem to be joyous.

Take tzedakah. Perhaps some people mean it when they say that they derive joy from giving tzedakah. What if one is poor? Is it joyous to give away a part of one’s meager resources? Truly, how many people derive joy from parting with their hard earned money?

What about paying a shiva call, sitting with mourners? Is this joyous?

The Torah commands that we visit the sick. Is this joyous? What about visiting people with dementia?

We are commanded to pay our respects to the departed. Is it joyous to go to a funeral?

Yet, all these commandments fall under the rubric of “serving the L-rd your G-d,” which, says Deuteronomy, must be done with joy, simcha. What does it mean that that punishments and curses befall the Jewish people “because you did not serve the L-rd your G-d with simcha, with joy?”

We must say:When Deuteronomy highlights the need to serve G-d with simcha, the word needs another translation. Yes, it does connote joy, but it must denote something broader. Simcha is not so narrow and straightforward a commandment as it might appear. I think that simcha, in its comprehensive sense, denotes this:

A feeling of profound relationship with the Creator in the performance of every commandment of the Torah, whatever its nature.

It is the not the commandment per se, it is the relationship with G-d that defines simcha. To be close to G-d is the highest simcha. The reason we associate simcha with lifestyle celebrations or with Jewish holidays such as Simchat Torah is because it is easiest to feel the closeness of G-d in those moments.

But if Jewish existence takes its meaning from a G-d Who cares enough to issue commandments, the essence of all commandments is the same. Their simcha derives not from their subjective feeling, but from their Source: the Commanding Presence.

This is not word salad. Take the powerful day of Yom Kippur, which we marked just a few days ago. When does a Jew feel better — when he fasts on Yom Kippur, or when the doctor forbids him to fast? If a Jew may not fast on Yom Kippur for medical reasons, it is not just the illness that hurts him. It is the denial of fully experiencing the uniqueness of the day. On Yom Kippur Jews will go to any length not to eat!

This love of Yom Kippur exemplifies the talmudic principle that sums it all up: “Simcha shel mitzvah, the joy in doing a mitzvah” — any mitzvah. That is what Deuteronomy is talking about.

True simcha is responding to G-d, rather than specializing in “simchas,” traditionally joyous occasions.

The opportunity to respond to G-d is unlimited. The occasion may be joyous or may be grevious. Either way: the potential for simcha is there. Either way, yes, it can be difficult to achieve that feeling of being in the Commanding Presence of G-d.

Yes, it can be difficult to be continually joyous on all seven days of Sukkot. The Vilna Gaon was right. But the Ba’al Shem Tov, if not distorted by resort to drugs, alcohol and hedonism, is surely right, too. For simcha — “simcha shel mitzvah, the joy of performing any mitzvah” — from dancing on Simchat Torah to comforting a mourner — is the very fabric of the Torah.

© IJN 2026