Sukkos: Joyful Eyes | Rabbi Shlomo Landau

I don't know if you ever thought about this, but the five days between Yom Kippur and between Sukkos, we probably spend the bulk of the time outside of our homes. Between building our Sukkah, buying our Lulav and Esrog, shopping, clothing, cleaners, we’re all over the place all the time. At the same time, because we're outside a lot, the challenges of Shmiras Ha’einayim are there, and they're there all the time. Against this backdrop, I want to share with you an incredible story, shared by the fellow himself. He took these five days between Yom Kippur and between Sukkos, and he used them every second. He was running here and he was running there and he was buying, so that he should have the most beautiful Sukkah and his Lulav and his Esrog. But at the same time, he wasn't so careful. Even though it was after Yom Kippur, and even though it was before Sukkos, he was looking around a lot and he was not feeling good about himself. He hadn't really been so careful, and he usually was much more careful, but, you know, he was just so busy. He didn't have time to kind of rein his life in. And then Sukkos came and he was so excited. He sits in his Sukkah with his family. It's a beautiful Sukkah and he's feeling so much joy. It's beautiful. It's amazing. He's so excited to wake up the first day of Sukkos, to shake his Lulav. He had spent so much time getting a Lulav that's perfect, closed all the way to the top. His stunning Esrog, clean. Beautiful Hadassim, he had spent time getting Meshulashim Mamesh. Aravos, the best that you could buy. Before he goes to Shul, he goes to the refrigerator, he takes out his bundle with his Hadassim and his Aravos, he takes out his Lulav, he takes out his Esrog, and when he opens his bundle with his Hadassim and his Aravos, his heart falls. His Hadassim were wilted. They were brown. The Aravos were perfect. He always wrapped them this way. He always kept them in the fridge and they were always perfect. This year of all years? Were they faulty Hadassim? What was wrong? So he got another pair of Hadassim. But before he did that, he did a little Cheshbon Hanefesh, a little personal reflection, and he thought back on the last five days. And he realized that he wasn't so careful what he looked at. And all of a sudden, it hit him like a bolt of lightning. Each of the Four Species is like a different body part. The Lulav, our spine, the Esrog, our heart, the Aravos, our lips, the Hadassim, our eyes. It was like Hakadosh Baruch Hu was telling him, Tzaddik, you got to take it up a few notches. He accepted upon himself to strengthen himself, to be more careful for the rest of Yom Tov. And that set of Hadassim that he bought to replace the first one were fresh like they were cut from the tree all the way until the last day of Sukkos. And I want to share with you something which I don't think most people are aware of. Do you know that when you're happy, when you're really happy, genuinely happy, something absolutely magnificent happens to your eyes? First of all, they fill with a certain shine. The tear ducts spread a little thin film of radiance. The muscles around your eyes open up, the blood vessels fill up, your pupils become larger. It's recognizable on a person that they're happy in their eyes. Isn't that interesting? And maybe, just maybe, Zman Simchoseinu, Sukkos, the Yom Tov of our happiness, perhaps there's a deeper connection. When we have genuine joy, the joy of being in control, of living an elevated life, of holiness, of controlling our eyes, the joy is recognizable in our eyes. Have a beautiful Yom Tov, a Yom Tov that's filled with the truest and loftiest joy.