rabbi, a question about simcha as a mitzvah, building on something the Rabbi touched in the jealousy thread.
the Torah commands emotions: “vesamachta bechagecha” (devarim 16:14), even “vehayisa ach sameach,” nothing but joy, and tehillim says “ivdu es Hashem b’simcha” (100:2). on the jealousy thread the Rabbi explained how a command like ve’ahavta es Hashem works: not by ordering the feeling, but by building the conditions that produce it.
1. is that the full answer for simcha too, that the mitzvah is to build a life that produces joy, and the feeling itself is never commanded? or is simcha different, since the pesukim name the feeling directly?
2. if a person is going through hard times, grief, depression, loss, and cannot feel joy, is that person violating a mitzvah every yom tov? or does the Torah’s command assume the feeling is in a person’s control only some of the time?
3. the obligation of simcha on yom tov is kept with meat and wine and new clothes, physical acts. is the act the mitzvah and the joy the goal, so that a person who does the acts but feels nothing still fulfilled something? or did they miss the point?
bottom line, basically: what exactly is being commanded when the Torah says be happy, and what does the Torah expect from someone who cannot?
Thank you Rabbi, thank you very much.
Yes. I think simcha works very much like the other emotional mitzvot we discussed. You cannot command a person to push a button and suddenly feel happy. If someone has suffered a terrible loss, is going through serious difficulties, or is simply emotionally unable to feel joy at that moment, telling him “the Torah says be happy” does not magically create the emotion. The Torah is not asking a person to fake happiness. Pretending to be happy is not simcha.
What the Torah can command is what is within our control. On Yom Tov, for example, Halachah gives us practical ways of creating the conditions for simcha. The Gemara speaks about meat and wine, and the Rambam speaks about providing what brings joy to each member of the household, including appropriate food, clothing, and gifts. The point is not that drinking a cup of wine mechanically fulfills some mysterious quota. The acts are supposed to help produce a real atmosphere of simcha. (Pesachim 109a; Rambam, Hilchot Yom Tov 6:17-18.)
That also means it is not all or nothing. A person can be carrying grief or serious problems and still try, for a few hours, to create a pleasant Yom Tov meal, spend time with family, sing, eat something enjoyable, or temporarily put aside what can be put aside. Maybe he will reach ten percent simcha instead of one hundred percent. That is still meaningful. The Torah asks us to make the effort that is realistically available to us.
And if a person genuinely cannot feel happy because of circumstances beyond his control, I do not see that as an aveirah. He was unable to produce the feeling. The same way we discussed love of Hashem, jealousy, and anger, the avodah is over time to build the conditions, thoughts, habits, and environment that move a person in the right direction. But feelings themselves are not completely voluntary.
So when the Torah says ושמחת בחגך, I understand it as both a goal and an obligation to do what reasonably produces that goal. The physical expressions of simcha matter because human beings are physical creatures. We eat, drink, dress nicely, spend time with people we love, and celebrate. Those things are supposed to help the inside follow the outside.
If the inside does not fully follow, despite a sincere effort, the person has not failed the Torah. He is a human being going through something difficult.
The mitzvah is not “perform happiness.” It is to create as much genuine simcha as you reasonably can.