One of the common themes across all the Yamim Tovim — Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos — is the mitzvah of simcha. The Torah says, “V’samachta b’chagecha,” any day that is referred to as Chag has a mitzvah of joy.
When it comes to Sukkos, though, there’s a simcha yeseira, an added simcha, a deeper element both in quality and quantity. We even see this by davening, when, unlike by other Yamim Tovim, we refer to Sukkos as “zman simchaseinu.”
Halachically, there isn’t any more simcha on Sukkos than there is on other Yamim Tovim, but in the Jewish soul and in the siddur itself, Sukkos is experienced as uniquely joyful. The question is: why?
The truth is Sukkos has two elements to it. On one hand, it is the third of the shalosh regalim, completing the cycle of Pesach, Shavuos, and Sukkos. But on the other hand, Sukkos is also a completion of what began on Rosh Hashana. We see this in the Kisvei Ari: the avodah of Sukkos is a completion of what started on Rosh Hashana. Chazal say that the celebration of the lulav and esrog is a celebration of didan notzach, the confidence that we have emerged victorious from the din of Rosh Hashana.
So Sukkos has an element of simcha like every Yom Tov does. But the intensified simcha of Sukkos, the Seforim HaKedoshim explain, is because of this added element, that Sukkos is a hemshech and a completion of Rosh Hashana.
So how do we explain this? The thing is that the source of all joy is ultimately a Jewish soul experiencing God’s presence. That same sense of simcha might then express itself in keilim called basar v’yayin, or other external-seeming expressions of joy. But ultimately, the root and source and the essence of Jewish joy is experiencing Hashem’s light. And this is true with every Yom Tov.
The nissim of Pesach, Shavuos and Sukkos our ancestors experienced are simanim, indicators, of a time of when Hashem’s light is very, very present in the world (which is evidenced by these miracles). For the same reason, even though today those miracles are not occurring, the same light of Hashem (which was the root of those miracles) resurfaces every year, and that’s the source of joy.
All this refers to the sense of simcha that we feel, what the Jewish soul experiences. But what makes Hashem truly happy? What brings Hakadosh Baruch Hu simcha?
What makes Hashem truly happy, as Chazal put it, is whenever there’s a situation of amarti v’naaseh r’tzoni. When Hashem communicates with us what He wants, and then we, the Jewish people, accept it b’lev shalem, b’tmimus u’b’pshitus, with simplicity and faith. Amarti v’naaseh r’tzoni. What makes Hashem happy is when Hashem can say, “I said something and they did My will.”
All of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is a time where the Jewish people are firmly establishing themselves as committed to that doctrine of amarti v’naaseh r’tzoni, of whatever Hashem says, we will do. Amarti v’naaseh r’tzoni, we want to do Hashem’s will.
We’re all servants of the King, part of Hashem’s malchus, and all we want is for His malchus to thrive and to be successful: meloch al kol ha’olam kulo b’kvodecha. This was ultimately our avodah on
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, establishing the Ribono Shel Olam as our King of the World, giving Him infinite nachas and simcha on those days. From there we go to Sukkos, the time when the Jewish people have simcha from the revelation of Hashem’s presence.
This is the double simcha of Sukkos. On the one hand, there is the simcha of Hashem, flowing from Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and carried forward into Sukkos. On the other hand, there is the simcha of the Jewish people on Sukkos, as we experience the light of Hashem revealed through the miracles of this Yom Tov. Together, these combine into a simcha b’simcha, a joy within joy.
On Sukkos, the joy of Hashem unites with the joy of His people, and we share in each other’s delight. We can appreciate the joy Hashem has in knowing that He has loyal servants in
this world who are committed to Him. The Ribono Shel Olam takes pleasure in His children delighting in His presence and basking in His glow. Because of
this, our joy and Hashem’s joy feed off each other, intensifying into a simcha yeseira, an elevated and overflowing joy.
That is why, when we dance on Sukkos, when we celebrate with simchas beis hashoeva and simchas Torah, we are not just rejoicing in the moment. We are joining in a twofold celebration: the joy of Hashem’s presence and the revelation of His light that comes with every Yom Tov, and the joy of Hashem Himself, celebrating with us over the fact that we recommitted ourselves to fulfilling His will.
On those days, we declared ourselves as avdei Hashem, servants of God, resolving to do nothing other than His ratzon. That commitment fills Hashem with simcha, and it is that divine joy that overflows into Sukkos. Thus, when we rejoice on Sukkos, we are celebrating both our joy in Hashem’s light and Hashem’s joy in us. He celebrates with us, and that is the simcha of Sukkos.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 54 Sukkos 2025.
