Concerning the inyanim which are connected to the Yom Tov of Sukkos, we find that in addition to the two special mitzvot that apply to the Yom Tov of Sukkos, which is the mitzvah of sitting in the sukkah, and the mitzvah of taking the ד' מינים, the etrog, lulav, hadasim, and aravot, we find a third thing, and that is the inyan of שמחת בית השואבה, which means that in the time of the בית המקדש, during the Yom Tov of Sukkos, they used to have the ניסוך המים. They used to pour water on the מזבח. All year round, there was a mitzvah of ניסוך היין, that when they brought קרבנות, they had to pour wine on the מזבח in connection to the קרבן. That's the נסכים, the ניסוך היין, the pouring of wine. But during the Yom Tov of Sukkos, there was a special mitzvah that they had to pour water on the מזבח. And they used to draw the water from a special well, and when they drew the water, it was connected to a special great simchah, based on the pasuk, \"ושאבתם מים בששון,\" you should draw the water with joy. And therefore, when they used to at night draw the water for the ניסוך המים, they used to have in the בית המקדש a special simchah. It says that everybody used to get together in the בית המקדש, and the great people, \"חסידים ואנשי מעשה,\" as the Mishnah says, used to dance, and great Tannaim used to even do certain tricks to bring about greater simchah, and all the people used to stand around and watch the simchah of שמחת בית השואבה. And the simchah was so great till the Gemara says in סוכה דף נ\"א עמוד ב', \"מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה, לא ראה שמחה מימיו.\" Anybody who did not see the Simchat Beit Hashoevah did not see simchah in his lifetime. And the simple peshat in the Gemara is that the Gemara is trying to tell us the greatness of Simchat Beit Hashoevah. So the Gemara is really saying that anybody who did not see Simchat Beit Hashoevah does not know what simchah is. And that's the peshat in the words, that if somebody did not see Simchat Beit Hashoevah, did not see simchah in his lifetime, that means that doesn't know what simchah is. Because if you'd see Simchat Beit Hashoevah, then you would really see what simchah is. But the truth is, that we know that every expression in the Chazal is meduyak, is exact. So if the Chazal just want to tell us the greatness of Simchat Beit Hashoevah, so the Chazal could have said it much clearer, and much shorter, and could have said it in a positive way. The Gemara could have said that Simchat Beit Hashoevah was the greatest simchah ever. Why does the Gemara have to say it in such a negative way, that whoever did not see Simchat Beit Hashoevah never saw שמחה מימיו? Why mix in other simchot? And we also have to understand, everything that says in the Torah, including in the Gemara which is part of Torah, is a horaah, is a lesson to us. The Gemara doesn't just tell us stories that happened years ago. The Gemara is a lesson to us now. The word Torah is מלשון הוראה, which means a lesson. So why does the Gemara have to tell us that the Simchat Beit Hashoevah that was then was so great, and in such an expression that whoever did not see Simchat Beit Hashoevah did not see שמחה מימיו? But the peshat is that the Gemara is really telling us something that's important for us in our avodat Hashem. The Gemara is trying to tell us that if a person did not see Simchat Beit Hashoevah, so even if he thinks that he saw simchah and he was part of a simchah, in truth, it was only a superficial simchah. In truth, he never saw simchah. Since he did not see שמחת בית השואבה, he cannot see any other simchah. And that's what the Gemara means, \"מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה,\" if somebody did not see שמחת בית השואבה, never saw שמחה מימיו, which means the other simchot that he saw were not really simchah, because the true simchah can only come, even concerning other ענינים, only if it comes after he saw שמחת בית השואבה. And this is a lesson in our avodah now. What is the meaning in all this?

But the pshat is that the true inyan of simchah, of joy, is the concept of going out of the הגבלות, going out of the person's own boundaries, the person's own limits. When a person gets something, or something happens to him which is ordinary, which he deserves, which he expects, which is within his boundaries, there is no reason for simchah. Certainly a person is happy about it, but we wouldn't describe it as special simchah. It is שמחה בשם המושאל, which means in a superficial way we say the person is happy, he got what he deserves, he got what he expected. But the real meaning of simchah, which means really when is a person really b'simchah, when something out of the ordinary happens, when something which is beyond the normal limits, then the person is b'simchah. Which means that the real meaning of simchah, a שמחה אמיתית, a real real simchah is only in connection to something which is beyond the boundaries. And that's why we also see that when a person is b'simchah, he does things which are beyond the boundaries. We see when a person is very, very b'simchah, he will do things that normally he wouldn't do. Normally, he would be restricted, he would be embarrassed, but when a person is so excited and so b'simchah, then he will do things beyond his own limits. We see that when a person is very b'simchah at a chatoonah of a child, especially of an only child, especially if it's an only child that was born in his old age, at that time, the person will do such things that later on he himself wouldn't understand how he did it. And the reason is because the concept of real simchah is connected to going beyond the הגבלות, beyond the limits. And that's why there's an expression, שמחה פורצת גדר, שמחה breaks through boundaries, because through simchah, a person does things which are beyond the boundaries. In essence it means that the inyan of simchah is really something which is beyond the הגבלות, beyond the boundaries of the person. And therefore, when a person is b'simchah, we know what it says, כמים הפנים לפנים כן לב האדם לאדם, as the pasuk says in Mishlei, קפיטל כ״ז פסוק י״ט, which means that just like a face reflects in water, so you look in the water, the face will reflect back to you, and whatever you will be doing, the face in the water will be doing, the same is a heart of a person to the other person. And it says in sefarim that the same thing applies also concerning a person and Hashem. A person is called adam, and Hashem is also referred to as אדם כביכול, אדם העליון. As the פסוק says, ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם. When it refers to Hashem, it says that it's a דמות, a form of an אדם כביכול. So we refer to Hashem also an Adam. And that's the peshat in this פסוק, כמים הפנים לפנים כן לב האדם לאדם, that whatever the person does down here is reflected in the אדם העליון כביכול by Hashem. Similar to the peshat of the Baal Shem Tov that he said on the פסוק, השם צלך, that Hashem is your shadow. And the Baal Shem Tov said the peshat is that just like whatever a person does is reflected in the shadow, or the shadow does exactly what he does, the same thing, the hanhagah, the action, the behavior of Hashem to a person is depended and is like the behavior of the person. Which is similar to what the Gemara says in סוטה דף י״א עמוד א׳, במידה שאדם מודד מודדין לו, the same middah that a person measures, so to speak, Hashem measures him, which is the concept of middah keneged middah. And therefore, when a person is b'simcha, and that means a person goes out beyond his הגבלות, so then Hashem is also b'simcha. And as the Shelah write that the person is called Adam from the word אדמה לעליון, that he's similar kaviyachol to Hashem. And therefore, when a person is b'simcha and goes out of the הגבלות, so does Hashem act with him and also goes out of the הגבלות. And that is the reason why a person should always be b'simcha. When we say a person should always be b'simcha, it really means because every moment of the person's life is עבודת השם, there's no such thing as a moment that a person should not have to serve Hashem. And therefore, being that it says עבדו את השם בשמחה, you have to serve Hashem with joy, so every moment of the person's life has to be b'simcha, because every moment he's serving Hashem.

But generally speaking, the service of Hashem of a Yid is divided into three parts: Torah, avodah, gemilut chasadim. Torah is learning Torah, avodah is korbanot and בזמננו זה refers to tefillah, davenen, and gemilut chasadim, which is tzedakah, ובכלל means all the mitzvot. And in these three things specifically we find the importance of simchah. Concerning Torah, the Gemara says in ברכות דף ל״א עמוד א׳ that אין עומדים להתפלל, a person should not start דאווענען, לא מתוך עצבות etc., not from being sad, אלא מתוך שמחה של מצוה. You have to start davenen with simchah. So we see that tefillah is connected to simchah. When it comes to learn, you also have to do b'simchah. As the Gemara says there, וכן לדבר הלכה, the same applies לגבי הלכה, לגבי learning Torah, that you have to do it b'simchah. When it comes to gemilut chasadim, which is connected to tzedakah, the pasuk says: ולא ירע לבבך בתתך לו, you should not feel bad when you give him, and מכלל לאו אתה שומע הן, we understand from the negative the positive, that you should give it in a nice way. And as the Gemara says in בבא בתרא דף ט' עמוד ב', that there has to be המפייסו, the main part of tzedakah is המפייסו, to make him feel good and give him בסבר פנים יפות, to give him with a nice way. So we see that all the things of avodat Hashem have to be b'simchah. But as we said before, the ענין of simchah is connected to being למעלה מהגבלה, going out of the limits. Now in order to be able to go out of the limits, which is the real meaning of simchah, it has to be only if you're doing something which is beyond the person's שכל. Which is really the ענין of קבלת עול מלכות שמים. When you serve Hashem, which means you do תורה, עבודה, גמילות חסדים and everything else of avodat Hashem, with קבלת עול, based on the fact that you accept upon yourself the yoke of Hashem, then it will be beyond the הג- limits, beyond limits. Because if you do it based on the sechel of the person, then it's an ענין מוגבל, it's a limited thing. Because the sechel is limited, so the thing that you will be doing, the avodah that you will be doing, will be limited to how much your sechel understands. But this is not simchah amitit, it's not a real simchah. Because as we said before, a real simchah is only if it's out of the הגבלות, out of the limits. But when a person serves Hashem with קבלת עול מלכות שמים, just by accepting the yoke, which is beyond the person's understanding, so even though the person himself is a limited person, but since you give up your מציאות, you're not doing it because of yourself, you're doing it just because of Hashem, so you connect yourself to Hashem, through learning Torah, the person's mind is one with Hashem, when you do a mitzvah, you become connected to Hashem, you become one with Hashem, and Hashem is unlimited, so then you're also able to be and have the inyan of being unlimited. So it comes out that the real simchah that a person is able to have in עבודת השם, which is the inyan of בלי גבול, is only if it comes as a result of the inyan of קבלת עול מלכות שמים.

And in essence, this is the difference between ניסוך המים and ניסוך היין, between the pouring of the wine and the pouring of the water. The difference between wine and water is that wine has a taste, and water has no taste. The inyan of a taste represents when a person does something with pleasure. When does a person have pleasure? If he understands what he's doing, he sees in his mind that this is the right thing to do, then you have pleasure. When you do something and you don't understand, then you don't really have pleasure in it. So the inyan of wine represents the pleasure of the person, which by a בר שכל, by an intellectual person, the greatest pleasure he has is when he does something על פי שכל. So the inyan of the wine represents when a person serves Hashem, because the pouring of the wine was a way of serving Hashem, it was poured on a מזבח. A מזבח is a place where you do the avodah. So the inyan of pouring of the wine represents the עבודת השם which comes as a result of the person's sechel. The inyan of pouring of the water, that represents the inyan of serving Hashem with קבלת עול מלכות שמים, with the acceptance of the yoke, not m'tzad the person's seichel, but beyond the person's seichel. That's why it's the inyan of water. And this is what the Gemara means, מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה, לא ראה שמחה מימיו. And if a person has simcha, the proper simcha, the simcha in avodat Hashem, the simcha in Torah, avodah, gemilut chasadim, but if he doesn't first see the simcha of שמחת בית השואבה, then he cannot have the real simcha. When we say he has to see the simcha of בית השואבה, seeing doesn't mean to be there in the Beit Hamikdash, but it means in his mind to understand the meaning behind שמחת בית השואבה. As the pasuk says in קהלת, קאפיטל א׳, פסוק ט״ז, ולבי ראה הרבה חכמה, my heart saw a lot of chochmah. So sometimes seeing means really understanding it, really meditating in it, and really having it clear in your mind. And that's what the Gemara means, מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה, if someone doesn't have clear in his mind the meaning behind שמחת בית השואבה, behind the simcha that took place at the time that was connected to the pouring of the water, then he doesn't see any other simcha. He might see other simchot, which means he might have other simchot, he might enjoy and have a simcha in serving Hashem, but that's not a real simcha. When is it a real simcha? If it comes as a continuation of the שמחת בית השואבה, which means that if it's a simcha in connection to קבלת עול מלכות שמים, so then the simcha is a real simcha, meaning a simcha bli gevul, because when you do it מצד קבלת עול, it's not limited to anything, because you're connected to Hashem, your own metziut is not there anymore because as far as you're concerned, your metziut, you wouldn't do it, you're doing it because Hashem wants you to do it, so it's Hashem that's involved here, and then it's bli gevul. So the real simcha which represents bli gevul is there only by the inyan of שמחת בית השואבה. But if you have it in the yesod, if you know the inyan of שמחת בית השואבה, then when you serve Hashem in any other form of simcha, since it's based on the simcha's base of שמחת בית השואבה, then the other simcha is also a real simcha, because it's based on the inyan of קבלת עול מלכות שמים.

Then there's another point here, why you have to base any simcha that you have in עבודת השם on what the inyan of שמחת בית השואבה represents. Because we know that the inyan of שמחת בית השואבה, it says in Midrash, brought down in the Rabbeinu Bachya in פרשת ויקרא, קאפיטל ב׳, פסוק י״ג, that this came as a result of the fact that Hashem separated in the beginning of the creation between the מים עליונים and מים תחתונים, between the water of above and the water of below. And there it says that the water of below that stayed down here cried, and they said אנן בעינן למהוי קדם מלכא, we also want to be by Hashem. And they had this great desire to be close to Hashem, too. So Hashem said to them that because of that, because I took you away, which means I separated you and I left you down here, because of that you are going to be poured on the mizbeach, and there will be a mitzvah of ניסוך המים. So it comes out that the concept of ניסוך המים is to take away the separation that's there between the מים תחתונים and the מים עליונים. The fact that the מים תחתונים, the water stayed down here, which shows that there is a yeridah, that the water became much lower, through ניסוך המים we bring it back. This was the tikkun, so to speak, the fixing of this that happened by Hashem letting the water stay down here. So really, what does that mean? That ניסוך המים represents the combination of the תחתונים with the עליונים. And in ruchniyus, what does this mean? The תחתונים are limited. Anything that's part of this world is limited. The עליונים are close to Hashem, and they are unlimited. They're infinite like Hashem. When we have this concept of ניסוך המים, we pour the water, which is the tikkun for the separation תחתונים ועליונים, which means we bring the תחתונים back to the עליונים. It means that ניסוך המים represents the concept of elevating the תחתונים, and taking away from them the concept of them being part of this physical, limited world, but bringing them to a higher madregah where they are not limited anymore kivayachol, so to speak. So it comes out that the whole inyan of ניסוך המים is the concept of taking away the הגבלות of עולם הזה from this world, and making it close to Hashem without its limits. And therefore the Gemara says, מי שלא ראה שמחת בית השואבה לא ראה שמחה מימיו. We said before that the real inyan of simchah is when you do something למעלה מהגבלות, beyond the הגבלות. But normally you can't do it. When you do anything, as long as it's limited to the person's understanding, so then it can't be unlimited. The only way it could be unlimited is if it comes as a result of the understanding of what שמחת בית השואבה is, what ניסוך המים is. When a person understands the meaning of ניסוך המים, which as we said before means that the goal of the תחתונים is to go up to the עליונים and get out of the limits, get undressed of the limits, if you know that, then you know that you cannot do the mitzvot and do an עבודת השם with your own seichel because it's limited, and the whole goal is to take it out of its limits, then you will do everything with a proper קבלת עול מלכות שמים, not because of yourself, but you'll do it because of Hashem, and just like Hashem is unlimited, then you will do it also in an unlimited way. And if it's unlimited, then you have the real simchah, as we said before, that simchah represents the inyan of being unlimited.