Oh Joy

There’s something about joy that’s contagious. Think about the last time you saw someone really, genuinely happy; not just smiling politely, but glowing with it. Maybe it was a friend at their wedding, a child bursting with excitement, or a crowd celebrating a big win. When you see that kind of happiness, it does something to you. You can’t help but smile too.

That’s what Sukkot is all about. Of all the Jewish holidays, this one is actually called “the Season of Our Rejoicing.” Passover is “the Season of Our Freedom.” Shavuot is “the Season of the Giving of the Torah.” But Sukkot is simply about joy.

And not just any joy, but the kind you can see.

In ancient Jerusalem, during the days of the Temple, there was a Sukkot celebration called Simchat Beit Hashoeva—the “Rejoicing of the Water-Drawing.” People would gather as water was drawn from a spring and brought up to the Temple for a special offering. Sounds pretty ordinary, right? Drawing water. But the energy was anything but ordinary. The Talmud says, “Whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the water-drawing has never seen joy in their life.”

It’s a bold statement. Never seen joy? What about weddings, holidays, victories, or births? But the sages weren’t exaggerating, they meant there’s a kind of joy that doesn’t just make you feel good inside. It’s joy so real, so visible, that you can see it.

Because joy like that isn’t something you talk about. It’s something that breaks through your boundaries—the barriers that separate people, status, or personality. When people are really happy, they dance with strangers, they laugh with people they’d normally never talk to. The shy become bold, the serious become lighthearted. Joy brings everyone to the same level.

That’s what happened at the Simchat Beit Hashoeva. The scholars and laborers, the wealthy and poor, the elders and the youth—everyone came together to dance, sing, and celebrate. It didn’t matter who you were. Joy leveled the playing field.

And even though we don’t have the Temple today, the celebration continues. Around the world Jews gather during Sukkot in backyards, synagogues, and community centers for nights of music, dancing, and laughter. It’s a living reminder of that ancient joy.

But there’s also something deeper going on. The water that was drawn for the Temple service represented something simple and pure; not fancy wine or oil, just water, the most basic necessity of life. That teaches us that true joy doesn’t come from luxury or achievement. It comes from simplicity, from being alive and from being together.

There’s a lot in our world that can make joy feel complicated. We’re constantly measuring — comparing ourselves, worrying about what’s missing. But Sukkot invites us to step outside, literally, into a simple sukkah made of branches and sky. To eat a meal under the stars. To laugh with friends. To remember that joy isn’t something you find on a screen or in your bank account, it’s something you see and share with others.

That’s the lesson of Simchat Beit Hashoeva for us today: don’t just think about joy—see it. Look for it in the faces around your table, in your community, in the laughter that bubbles up unexpectedly. Let yourself be part of it, even if it feels a little awkward at first.

Because when you really see joy you’re touching something holy. You’re tasting a bit of the world as it could be: whole, peaceful, and radiant. And that’s what our sages meant when they said that the joy of Sukkot leads to the ultimate joy, the day when the world itself will dance again, with the coming of Moshiach.