HEBREW WORD STUDY – GLADNESS

HEBREW WORD STUDY – GLADNESS – SIMCHAH שמחה Sine Mem Cheth Hei

Numbers 10:9-10: “And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. (10) Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I [am] the LORD your God.

“American is no different!” Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak

Every week on Saturday morning I conduct a Sabbath study on the Weekly Torah Portion with our online subscribers to our Learning Channel www.hebrewwordstudy.com. The first five books of the Bible are the books of law. Jewish sages have divided these first five books, the Torah, up into fifty two portions so that each week Jews all over the world, read, study and celebrate the same portion of the first five books. After one year they will start all over again. Before they start all over they have a celebration called Simchah Torah. That is rejoicing in the law. Now really who rejoices in a law. Simchah means rejoicing, gaity like in a party or a celebration. Do you ever watch the news when they take you into the locker room of the winning team of the Super Bowl. That is simchah, a rejoicing, cheering, not a care in the world, just super duper happy.

I say the first five books rather than the Torah because the word Torah has come to mean different things. For some it is the first five books, for others it is the whole Old Testament and for others it is the whole Old Testament, Talmud, Mishnah and other works of Judaism. Simchah Torah is referencing the Torah law, the laws of God. Now why would someone rejoice over laws like a big victory celebration? You celebrate because the God of the universe has just shared His heart with you. He has allowed you to enter those inner chambers of his heart and discover what brings Him joy and pleasure. Just as a husband and wife on their wedding night will lay down the law to each other – no flirting with members of the opposite sex, no intimacy with such a person etc. Each partner will rejoice in hearing these laws for they can rest at ease knowing what the other desires and what will bring them pleasure and joy and of course when you love someone that is your desire, to bring joy and pleasure to the one you love.

Our Torah study class is now into its second year of study and we have been restudying the Torah for the second time. My first thought in entering our second year of study was: “I hope my online students have a short memory or they will get bored hearing the same thing over again. What I discovered was simchah Torah, a rejoicing every time I prepared to study the Torah for our class. I am discovering more new and fresh things in my study of Torah the second time around and I fully expect to simchah even more next year.

Tomorrow’s Torah portion is called Behaalotecha which means when “you step up”. So, let me step up and share with you what I found in my Torah study that causes me to simchah. In this study, we find something a bit odd. In our study verse, God is commanding that if you go to war, that is during a time of great trouble when an enemy is oppressing you, you must sound an alarm with the trumpets and the Lord will remember you and rescue you. Then the very next verse declares that in the days of gladness you are also to blow the trumpets. The word gladness is, you guessed it, simchah. If you are at peace or rejoicing over a big victory like winning the super bowl, once again sound the trumpets. Why do the same thing during times of trouble and during a time of simchah.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak explained this when he immigrated to American in 1940 from Russia. Anti-Semitism was rampant in Russia and Europe at the outbreak of World War II. Rabbi Yitzchak faced great persecution and resistance as he tried to remain faithful to God. So, how could he say that America was no different than Russia? In America he was free, he had nothing to fear from the secret police, he would not face any persecution and could simchah to his heart’s content.

I fear American Christians are about to understand what Rabbi Yitzchak meant when he said American is no different than Russia. Each day we are hearing of Christians in American being mocked, belittled and persecuted for their faith. Christian ministries are suffering financially because those who hate Christians are forcing radio and television networks to drop Christian broadcastings lest they suffer consequences. Schools and Universities not only mock Christians but, well, this is not a dissertation on what is happening, we all know the forces of evil against us. We are about to enter a time of trouble after a time of peace and rejoicing. I remember the Jesus Movement in the late sixties and seventies. It was the popular thing to be a Christian. Even a President was elected who declared himself born again. Christian television was at its apex, times were good and it was a time of rejoicing.

Perhaps we did not sound the trumpets and as Rabbi Yitzchak said that when he came to America, it was just as hard to keep his faith in peace and freedom as it was during times of persecution. He thought that coming to America and experiencing religious freedom he would find it so easy to grow closer to God only to discover the enemy had a different approach, complacency. He went from battling persecution in Russia to a new battle called complacency. The trumpets need to be sounded as a reminder of the competitive forces alive to contend with the challenges that arise from complacency.

We had the opportunity to grow closer to God during our time of peace. If we failed to sound the trumpets then God will send us a time of trouble and we had better sound the trumpets to go to war against the spiritual forces of this country, to have the courage to face the enemy and be victorious by igniting the fire of victory against those who wish to destroy our cherished freedom of religion. In the words of Rabbi Yitzchak: “Blast the trumpets of war, ignite the competitive spirit of battle, change, and growth. For many, our proudest achievements can come in the face of our greatest adversity.”