• Sam Glaser Uvnei Yerushalayim Story

(טז) שָׁל֣וֹשׁ פְּעָמִ֣ים ׀ בַּשָּׁנָ֡ה יֵרָאֶ֨ה כל־זְכוּרְךָ֜ אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י ׀ ה’ אֱלֹקֶ֗יךָ בַּמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִבְחָ֔ר בְּחַ֧ג הַמַּצּ֛וֹת וּבְחַ֥ג הַשָּׁבֻע֖וֹת וּבְחַ֣ג הַסֻּכּ֑וֹת וְלֹ֧א יֵרָאֶ֛ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֥י ה’ רֵיקָֽם׃ דברים ט״ז:ט״ז

Deuteronomy 16:16
(16) Three times a year—on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the Feast of Weeks, and on the Feast of Booths—all your males shall appear before your God ה’ in the place that [God] will choose. They shall not appear before ה’ empty-handed,

Each of these holidays has this name listed that is related to the object or ritual or observance of the festival – Matzah, counting the weeks, and building a sukkah. But there are many other names given to these festivals as well – the other most common names are the ones seemingly associated with the story related to the holiday:

• Zman cheiruteinu – the holiday of our freedom
• Zman matan torateinu – the holiday of the giving of torah
• And Zman Simchateinu – the holiday of joy

The first the make sense. They related back to the story origins of the holiday. But why is Sukkot the holiday of joy? Aren’t we supposed to be joyous on all of our festivals? We recite in our liturgy on festivals:

וַתִּתֶּן לָנוּ ה’ אֱלקֵינוּ בְּאַהֲבָה מועֲדִים לְשמְחָה חַגִּים וּזְמַנִּים לְששון אֶת יום חַג הַסֻּכּות הַזֶּה זְמַן שמְחָתֵנוּ:

And grant us Eternal One our God in love, gathering times for joy, festivals and seasons for gladness, the Festival of Sukkot, the Season of our Joy…

So what is it about Sukkot that is inherently extra joyful?
Any ideas?

Rambam in his Mishneh Torah explains about Sukkot,

אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁכָּל הַמּוֹעֲדוֹת מִצְוָה לִשְׂמֹחַ בָּהֶן. בְּחַג הַסֻּכּוֹת הָיְתָה בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ יוֹם שִׂמְחָה יְתֵרָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא כג מ) “וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם לִפְנֵי ה’ אֱלֹקֵיכֶם שִׁבְעַת יָמִים”.

Mishneh Torah, Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 8:12
Even though it is a mitzvah to rejoice on all the festivals, there was an additional celebration in the Temple on the festival of Sukkot, as [Leviticus 23:40] commands: “And you shall rejoice before God, your Lord, for seven days.”

What was the nature of this celebration? The flute would be sounded and songs played on the harp, lute, and cymbals. [In addition,] each person would play on the instrument which he knew. Those who could sing, would sing. They would dance and clap their hands, letting loose and whistling, each individual in the manner which he knew. Words of song and praise were recited….

And the Rambam goes on: “It is a great mitzvah to maximize this celebration. The common people and anyone who desired would not perform [in these celebrations]; only the greatest of Israel’s wise men: the Rashei Yeshivot, the members of the high court, the pious, the elders, and the men of stature. They were those who would dance, clap their hands, sing, and rejoice in the Temple on the days of the festival of Sukkot. However, the entire people – the men and the women – would come to see and hear.

כָּל הָעָם הָאֲנָשִׁים וְהַנָּשִׁים כֻּלָּן בָּאִין לִרְאוֹת וְלִשְׁמֹעַ:

Does that line sound familiar? It brings me right back to the Avodah service on Yom Kippur, the reenactment of the High Priest’s atonement ritual in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

Think back to this moment. It is the moment of the entire year that is most filled with anticipation and trepidation. The entire people, the men and the women, they would come to see and hear. They were all gathered in the courtyard of the Temple. Somehow there was room for everyone who made the pilgrimage to fully prostrate and bow even in that space.

The High Priest would go into the Kodesh Kodashim, the Holy of Holies, alone, to pray on behalf of himself, of his family, of his entire nation. And no one knew if the high priest was going to make it out alive. There are some stories that say that they even tied a rope around his ankle, so that if he died, they could pull him back out. That is the sort of awe and reverence that is placed around the Kodesh Kodashim, and around this role, and this particular task. No one else could enter.

What would it feel like to come out of that and be on the other side? To make it through that experience and come out unscathed, into the embrace of your entire nation. The joy, the elevation, the elation – it would be beyond words.

On Yom Kippur we sang the piyyut mar’eh cohen, about the moment when the people saw the High Priest for the first time after he came out of the Kodesh Kodashim.

אֱמֶת מַה נֶּהְדָּר הָיָה כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּצֵאתוֹ מִבֵּית קָדְשֵׁי הַקֳּדָשִׁים בְּשָׁלוֹם בְּלִי פֶֽגַע:

how glorious was the appearance of the high priest! when he came forth safe from the holy sanctuary, in peace and unharmed.

like the likeness of the rainbow amid the cloud:
Like a rose placed in a lovely garden:
Like a candle that flickers between the windowsills
Like a tenderness depicted on the face of the groom
Like a glimmering sunbeam shining on the earth
That’s what the seeing the face of the Cohen was like.

Pure joy. Pure bliss. The people would go wild. They would go crazy. They made it.

And on today in particular, on October 7th , 2025, as I’m retelling this story and imagining this experience, I can’t help but think about the potential release of the 48 hostages still in Gaza. Stuck, without even a rope connecting them to us, with the entire nation awaiting their return, not knowing how they will fare, even though we are so close to getting them back.

What will we feel on the other side? What will we remember and how will we mark that moment?

There is one other famous moment in the Talmud of an entry into the Kodesh Kodashim.

It is taught: Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha, the High Priest, said: Once, on Yom Kippur, I entered the innermost sanctum, the Holy of Holies, to offer incense, and in a vision I saw Akatriel Ya, God the Lord of Hosts, seated upon a high and exalted throne
And God said to me: Yishmael, My son, bless Me.
I said to God: “May it be Your will that Your mercy overcome Your anger, and may Your mercy prevail over Your other attributes… The Holy One, Blessed be God, nodded God’s head and accepted the blessing.

So many fascinating things to note about this story. God asks the yishmael for a blessing – I thought it was God who was supposed to bless us! And the blessing? For God’s mercy to prevail over God’s anger. And God is moved.

The Talmud continues and says that God gets angry every single day. As angry as so many of us have been over these past 732 days. But how long is God’s anger? Just a single moment. Rega. As long as it takes to say the word Rega. Because in the Psalms we learn,

כִּי רֶגַע בְּאַפּוֹ חַיִּים בִּרְצוֹנוֹ

God’s anger is but for a moment, God’s favor, for a lifetime.

I share these stories because today, on October 7th, on precipice of a deal to potentially finally end this war, and on the First day of Sukkot, Zman Simchateinu, I am feeling so many conflicting emotions.

And that is exactly the point of Sukkot. To open us up to our most vulnerable selves. To feel, to look out and to see. To welcome and to gather. But most of all, to celebrate. Sukkot is joy because it is the turning point. Another name for the Kodesh Kodashim, the innermost chamber of the Beit Mikdash is “Ratzuf Ahavah” Lined with Love

So I want to give us permission, as I often try to do, to feel all of the myriad of emotions we are feeling right now, that we are feeling today. The Sukkah is our version of the Kodesh Kodashim. It is our Holy of Holies. That most beloved of places and that most vulnerable of places.

We are here and we are vulnerable. This joy feels the most palpable, the most pungent because we were so close to what it’s complete absence felt like. We know we can’t live in that, we don’t want that, and so we dive deep into joy. But a joy that doesn’t take us away, but that keeps us living in the real world.

Rabbi Uri Sherki explains the rope that was tied to the high priests ankle was an allegorical rope all along:

The Kohen Gadol, upon entering the Kodesh Hakodashim on Yom Kippur, can become so overwhelmed by the spiritual that he is liable to “forget” to leave. The imagery of a “rope” is a reminder to the Kohen Gadol that the Jewish people need him and he must “pull” himself back to this world after the extraordinary otherworldly experience of Yom Kippur. Knowing that he is needed here. That we are needed here. For all that lies ahead.

So as we today remember all those who were taken from us on October 7th, as we dream about a post October 8th world that feels almost within reach, as we feel and name our anger – just for a moment, just like God, I hope we can also lean into the joy that Sukkah demands of us, to give us strength for all that lies ahead. We are here. We remember. Yehi Zichram Baruch, may their memories be a blessing and an inspiration, and may we soon call out the names of those who will be returned to us with joy.

Chag Sameach.