Getting to Know Your Simcha - 003 Purim Happiness from Our Existence

Happiness Comes From The Element Of Fire

There are many facets to simcha.

Sadness, the opposite of happiness, is rooted in our element of earth. Happiness comes from our element of fire in the soul; Chazal say that “the words of Torah should be as illuminating and as joyous as they were given at Har Sinai.” We also find in the Megillah that “to the Jews there was orah (light) and simcha (happiness).” Light, which comes from fire, is associated with happiness.

There is a well-known concept (mentioned in Sefer Yetzirah) called olam, shanah v’nefesh – “world, time and soul”. This means that everything which takes place in the world also takes place in time, and everything that takes place in time also takes place in our own soul. Let’s take the concept of happiness, for example. There is happiness which we can find in the world, in time, and in our soul.

Where can we find happiness in the world? This was in the Beis Hamikdash. There, “And you shall rejoice in front of Hashem”. Where can we find happiness in time? This is found on Yom Tov, when there is a mitzvah to have simchas Yom Tov.

In our own soul, we can also find happiness. Soon, we will explain what it is.

The Natural State Of Happiness Before Sin

After Adam sinned by eating from the eitz hadaas, he was cursed with etzev – pain, which is a kind of sadness. Sadness only came onto the world as a result of the sin. Before the first sin, the natural state of a person was to be happy. The entire concept of being sad is a novel concept that came about through sin; the natural state of a person, before this got corrupted, was happiness.

After the sin, Adam was told, “Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.” The sin lowered man’s state to the level of earth, the lowest of all the elements. But before the sin, man’s natural state was of the highest of the elements – the element of fire. Happiness, which comes from the element of fire, was the natural state that existed before sin.

The Beis Hamikdash was able to turn us back to that natural state of happiness. This was because in the Beis Hamikdash, there was only holiness and purity, and there was no sin. When there is no room for sin, that is where happiness comes. We knows this because sadness only became possible because of sin; this shows us that where there is no sin, there is happiness.

Searching For Happiness

When a person is looking to be happy, there can be two possible reasons why he searches for it. One of them is not coming from a good place, while the other is the right kind of search.

When a person is looking to be happy because he is simply thinking, “I want to be happy,” then it shows that he is still entrenched in his element of earth. Even if he’s happy over the fact that he is a Jew, he still remains at the level of earth, because his whole search for happiness is just for the sake of “being happy.”

The real happiness a person needs to have is to be happy with the mere fact that he exists. A person needs to be happy simply because, “I’m so happy that I even exist.” The natural state of a person is to be happy, and this is simply because a person exists. That is the real happiness.

When a person looks for any reason to be happy (fill in whatever reason you want), it is a superficial kind of happiness that is bound to the limits of the world after the sin. Such happiness comes from the element of earth, which man was lowered to after the sin. But the real happiness comes from our element of fire in us. It is a happiness simply “because I exist.”

In the Beis Hamikdash, there was a great happiness. It seems that this was because there, the Shechinah was revealed. But there is a more inner reason. The reason why there was such a great happiness there was because it resembled the kind of world that existed before Adam’s sin. There was no sin there, and this allowed a person to be happy with the simple realization that he exists. That feeling was revealed in its full impact in the place where there was no sin, the Beis Hamidkash.

The Difference Between Simchas Yom Tov and Simchas Purim

On Yom Tov, there is a mitzvah of simchas Yom Tov: to have meat and wine. Women rejoice with new clothing. This was a physical kind of happiness. But on Purim, the time itself of Purim is a happiness. What is the happiness of Purim?

To know why, first we need to understand how time itself is able to give happiness. Hashem created a certain reality known as time. When Adam sinned, not only did the human soul get damaged from this, but time itself became corrupted.

With simchas Yom Tov, although it is a time factor, it is mainly a happiness that has to do with the person. The Torah commands, “And you shall rejoice in your festival.” It is more personal. Time is a factor here, but the actual happiness has more to do with the person.

But the happiness of the month of Adar is a happiness that comes from the time itself. (Likewise, the month of Av is a time of sadness). The halachah that a person must increase his happiness during the month of Adar is not personal; it is a happiness that comes from the time itself during this month.

What is the depth to this? It is because there is a concept that every day contains in it a thousand years; the six days of the week add up for a total of six thousand years, which is how long the physical world will last[1]. Based on this, we can understand that Adar, which is a time of happiness, has in it the time of day which was before Adam sinned – which was the most perfected kind of existence.

Since time also exists in our soul, there is a “time” to rejoice in our soul. Where do we find this happiness in our soul?

“Those who seek Hashem have a joyful heart.” The happiness that is contained in one’s heart is able to return a person back to the “middle point” – a place where a person strives to bring himself to. The place where we can find happiness is in the heart.

The happiness which is found in time is found in the time of Purim. The happiness which is found in the soul is found in Yom Tov – “And you shall rejoice in your festival.” The “you” which rejoices in Yom Tov is your soul.

What is the happiness in the time of Purim? Purim is a time in which we return to the state that existed before Adam’s sin. On Purim, we access a different kind of existence: that there is no “time”. Purim is a time which shows us that there is only one day – a day of a thousand years, the desired state of Creation. What we really mean by this is that on Purim, we connect to a point that is above time.

It is only after the sin of  Adam that our nature was altered and we became naturally sad. This is true – when we are in time. But when we are above time, like on Purim, we are in the state that was before the sin – and then, our natural state is happiness.

On Yom Tov, we need a reason to be happy: meat, wine and clothing. But on Purim, we access a state in which we don’t need anything to be happy, and that our natural state is to be happy.

Getting Married On Purim

There is a halachah that on Purim, one may get married, but on Yom Tov, one is not allowed to get married; the reason for this is because we do not mix one happiness with another happiness. Why then can we get married on Purim? Why isn’t this considered mixing two kinds of happiness?

It is because we are only not allowed to mix two of the same kinds of happiness. When a person gets married, he is happy based on a reason, and so he cannot mix this happiness with Yom Tov, which is also a happiness that comes from a reason. But the happiness of Purim is a happiness that comes from no reason; it is not the same happiness of getting married. Thus, on Purim there is no problem of mixing happiness.

Adar and Purim – Happiness Without  Reason

The happiness of Purim has no reason to it. It is to be happy, simply because I’m happy!

During the month of Adar, we increase our happiness. This is not that a person simply keeps adding onto his happiness more and more as the month goes on. It is really a whole new kind of happiness! It is a happiness of, “I’m happy because I’m happy.”

The great happiness of the month of Adar is to be happy simply because the nature of the soul is to be happy (before creation became altered through the sin). It is a happiness that comes from one’s intrinsic existence.

On Yom Tov, we are happy because we have arrived at certain shleimus (perfection). This involves some reason; but on Purim, there is no reason for our happiness.

May Hashem merit us that we shouldn’t need to have a reason why we shouldn’t be sad, and that instead we should become happy with the fact that we exist.