Kfar Maccabiah, October 9, 2011
י"א תשרי תשע"ב
Succot,
Joy & Identity
Dear
friends,
Succot is the Festival of
Joy of the Jewish people. The Torah recognizes it as "He'Chag",
"the Festival par excellence, and wants us
to prepare ourselves for complete joy in the celebration of Succot:
In Sefer Devarim (XVI, 14-15), we are told "Ve'samachta
bechagecha" – "And you shall rejoice in your festival".
Our ancient exegesis
offers various explanations for this verse. The Chassidut,
(Chasidism), which was once, during the dark time of pogroms, expulsions
and extreme poverty in Central Europe, the most revolutionary and
dynamic movement amongst our People, elevated the search for joy into
the key of hope for a better Jewish future. The most extreme and
compelling example on this Chassidic belief was Rabbi Nachman of
Bratzlav,
who made of the joy of life its motto: "Mitzvah g'dolah- lihiot
besimchah tamid", "It's a great mitzvah to always be happy" (Likutey
Moharan II, 24). In his view, joy should be the starting point for
everything in our lives; it's a recognition of the tremendous gift of
being alive.
Another Chasidic master,
The Rebbe of Kotzk,
referred specifically to the joy of Succot, linking it with the holy
days that immediately precede it, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The
Kotzker said: "Joyfulness is the outcome of holiness. Therefore
Succot, coming after Yom Kippur, when we become holy and sinless, is
called 'the season of our joy', 'Zman simchateinu', as we pray our
Succot blessings." For the Kotzker, then, Holiness is what leads to
Happiness, and Succot acquires its status as "HeJag", "the
Festival" for its proximity to the Yamim Noraim, marked by the process
of growing closer to God and its consequent holiness.
We of Maccabi are closer
to Rebbe Nachman's explanation than that of the Rebbe of Kotzk, but we
nevertheless link both of them conceptually.
Like Rabbi Nachman, we
believe in the extraordinary strength of joy; and, at the same time, we
also believe as the Kotzker said, that there is a relationship between
happiness and holiness. Our formula, nevertheless, is inverse to the
Kotzker's: Joyfulness, as a source of vitality, strength, creation
and life, leads to holiness. The positive and constructive action
of our Maccabi Movement leads us to build a Jewish identity based on how
happy, uplifting and wonderful it is "to be Jewish". Some weeks ago
at a Conference of young Maccabi Leaderships in Central Europe,
Daniel Bogunovic, Chairman of Maccabi Serbia (a T.O. founded
7 years ago after another Maccabi in-service-training session),
expressed one of our Maccabi ideals in a most powerful way: "For me,
being Jewish is a privilege." That's the work and action model we
develop in our World Youth Movement (meeting in Israel three weeks from
now), in the hundreds of seminars, workshops and training sessions, in
our Israel Programs, in our national and regional tournaments and
Maccabi Games unparalleled as Jewish mega-events, in our rikudim
festivals, in our global Hasbara campaign. For us, Succot means
restoring joy to "being Jewish" because our joy leads to holiness,
and holiness means working to achieve Jewish Continuity through pride in
being Jewish, connected in Maccabi with our Sources, our Celebrations
and our State of Israel, the highest expression of our joyful creation.
May God enlighten us
to celebrate Succot through the holy joy of our actions to promote the
Jewish-Zionist identity of thousands of Maccabi members worldwide.
May God inspire us to
realize that joy is a constructive force
capable of
transforming the world, beginning with our nearest and dearest, then
spreading and multiplying the joy of all our People.
And May God find us on
this Succot
happier and more
complete because richer in achievements,
joyously celebrating
the countless opportunities of our daily lives.
With
best wishes,
Chag Succot Sameach!
Chazak ve'ematz!
RABBI
CARLOS TAPIERO
Deputy Director-General &
Director of
Education
carlos@maccabiworld.org
Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, also
known as Nachman of Uman (April 4, 1772 - October 16, 1810),
founder of his own Hasidic school, famous for the richness of
his stories.
