But what about our moods? Our individual moods and our collective, national mood. Bombings, the MATZAV, road accidents, shootings... if it isn’t one thing, it’s another. How can we be so joyous, when...? Simcha comes in two forms: the easy kind that enters us effortlessly when things are going well, when the whole world is smiling, and you cannot help but feel happy. And the other kind is the kind you have to work at. Work hard to achieve. Because you might not be in the mood to be joyous. This is the kind of joy that does not come easy. But not everything in life does come easy. And when it comes to mitzvot, we should be well-experienced at working hard in order to fulfill some of them. It isn’t always easy to fast on Yom Kippur. But we make the effort and usually succeed. Keeping Shabbat is sometimes hard for some people, but a commitment to Torah means that we make the effort to do what we are commanded to do. Simcha is no less of a command than the others. It’s just harder to achieve sometimes than most mitzvot. Emotions work like that. But here’s something to help. The command of SIMCHA is not something external to us. Eat matza, don’t steal, say Birkat HaMazon, don’t eat non- kosher, put a Mezuza on your doorpost, don’t violate Shabbat — these are things to do and not to do. SIMCHA is not something to do; it is something to be. And we mention the reason to be joyous in the davening. “You chose us from all of the nations, You love us, You want us, You sanctified us with Your mitzvot... and You gave us - with love - joyous holidays...” It isn’t a matter of mood. Mood can determine whether you’ll do something or not. It cannot change what we ARE. Part of being a Jew is being happy. Even when we’re sad. Work on it. [The Sukkot Homepage]
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