So what is this week's Torah portion about? 55 commandments appear in Parashat "Re'eh." It teaches the laws of kashrut (what we may and may not eat), the commandment to give maaser, to go up to Jerusalem to the Temple, to celebrate the holidays, and also the prohibition against false prophets inciting the people, and much more.
But one theme that runs through the entire portion is specifically joy. "And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God," it says, in the context of describing the festivals and the pilgrimage to the Temple. In total, joy is mentioned in the portion 7 times, always in the context of giving, of God, of holiness, of sharing your personal success with wider circles.
There's a famous saying: "The door to happiness opens outward." Throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, which we are currently reading in the Torah, joy is described this way. And the door to happiness also opens upward — to prayer, to holiness. For joy to be real, you need to share it with the weak, the poor, those who have nothing. You need to share it with your family, with God, to bring up what you have to Jerusalem — and all of this not out of possessiveness, but out of generosity and good spirit.
Again and again the portion seems to tell us: whoever is not so focused on themselves, on their ego, on their possessions and status, whoever recognizes the blessing in their life and knows how to connect it to its source — that person is the truly joyful one.
May we merit joy. Shabbat Shalom.
