It’s an intriguing question: What’s the first mitzvah that a bar mitzvah boy performs?
Many say that it’s the mitzvah of reciting the nighttime K’rias Sh’ma. As soon as the sun sets on the day of his bar mitzvah, the young man is biblically obligated to say Sh’ma, just as every Jew must recite it every morning and every evening.
Rabbi Yochanan of Tolna once told a bar mitzvah boy that if he lives in Eretz Yisrael, the first mitzvah he fulfills is Yishuv Eretz Yisrael. Just by being within the confines of the Holy Land, he performs that mitzvah.
The Chasam Sofer (Toras Moshe, end of VaY’chi), however, noted that the first mitzvah a bar mitzvah boy performs is the simchah he feels that he has joined the ranks of those obligated to perform mitzvos. Serving Hashem in a state of simchah is a biblically mandated mitzvah.
The Chasam Sofer adds that the Torah does not explicitly obligate a person to rejoice on Shavuos as the day the Torah was given. It merely says to rejoice on Shavuos because it’s the festival of the harvest. If the Torah would obligate a person to be happy because the Torah was given, then his happiness wouldn’t be genuine, but would be more out of a sense of obligation. The Torah wants us to truly rejoice over the opportunity we have to be members of the Torah nation. Similarly, the Torah didn’t obligate a bar mitzvah boy to be happy, so that the joy he feels will be genuine. But it is the first mitzvah he can perform.
During the time of the Beis HaMikdash, on each day of Sukkos, 14 sheep were offered as part of the daily Musaf offerings. Over the course of the seven days of Sukkos, a total of 98 sheep were offered. Rashi quotes Chazal, who explain that there are 98 curses mentioned in the verses of Rebuke (the Tochachah) in Parshas B’Chukosai and Parshas Ki Savo. The Torah warns in Parshas Ki Savo that the punishments of the Tochachah befall us, “because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with happiness and good-heartedness from an abundance of everything.” Sukkos is Z’man Simchaseinu – the Season of Our Joy. If we internalize the message of Sukkos and indeed attain inner joy, we are assured that we will be spared the curses of the Tochachah. Symbolically, the 98 sheep offered during Z’man Simchaseinu ward off the 98 curses that result from not serving Hashem b’simchah.
During Yom Tov, we daven, “V’hasi’einu Hashem Elokeinu es birkas moadecha – Load us up, Hashem, our G-d, with the blessing of Your set time (holiday).” Every Yom Tov has its own unique blessing that we can draw from. The blessing of Sukkos is simchah.
I picture “boxes full of simchah” being disseminated freely during Sukkos to anyone who wants to receive it. The more one is ready to accept, the more he will receive.
The S’fas Emes notes that the words “moadim l’simchah” don’t only mean festivals of happiness, but more literally translate as holidays for happiness. The goal is that when Yom Tov ends, we are able to draw from the unique brachah of the holiday for weeks to come.
It’s important to understand that simchah is very different from sasson. They are not synonyms but refer to two very different emotions. Sasson refers to external joy that pulsates and then bursts forth. When one feels sasson, he often sings and dances. Simchah, however, is not accurately translated as happiness. Simchah is a state of tranquility, m’nuchas ha’nefesh, that results from bitachon and complete acceptance of whatever Hashem has sent his way.
We state in the Yom Tov davening that Hashem gave us “moadim l’simchah, chagim u’zmanim l’sasson.” The elevated, lofty state of mind and heart on Yom Tov breeds internal simchah and external joy. But Sukkos is called Z’man Simchaseinu, not z’man sassoneinu. Although we enjoy and bask in the feeling of sasson throughout the Yom Tov, daily living does not allow one to be in a constant state of sasson. There are challenges, stresses, and issues that must be dealt with, and one can hardly do so while dancing and singing loudly. But we are bidden to attain and retain a constant level of simchah – internal peace of mind. Even when one feels sadness, and even if one cries, he can still be in a state of simchah. It is not an easy level to reach, but no one said being a Torah Jew was meant to be easy. It requires genuine effort to constantly grow in one’s bitachon.
That is one of the enduring messages of Sukkos: the message that we are in the Hands of Hashem, no matter where we are or what we do. Megillas Koheles (read on Sukkos) reminds us that all else is vanity and purposeless. That message is also vital to attaining true simchah.
Throughout the month of Tishrei, many emotions and attitudes are aroused within us: awe, majesty, trepidation, solemnity, sincerity, etc. But we emerge from it all with the simchah of Sukkos and the songs of Simchas Torah still reverberating.
Our hope is that even now, after we have taken leave of the sukkah and the beautiful Yom Tov of Sukkos, we can hold onto its message and live with simchah.
It shouldn’t only be the first mitzvah we perform at our bar mitzvah, but an attitude and emotion we feel constantly in serving Hashem as Torah Jews.
Rabbi Dani Staum is a popular speaker, columnist, and author. He is a rebbi in Heichal HaTorah in Teaneck, New Jersey, principal of Mesivta Orchos Yosher in Spring Valley, New York, and a member of the administration of Camp Dora Golding. His writings can be found at strivinghigher.com. Looking for an inspirational speaker or scholar-in-residence? Contact Rabbi Staum at 845-641-5094 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
