Three Steps to Simcha

There is something bothering me. While we have the mitzvah of "simcha" – rejoicing, in all ‘Shalosh Regalim’, Pilgrim Festivals, the simcha of Sukkot is emphasised in the Torah more than that of the other festivals. After all, the Torah says explicitly "You shall rejoice on your festival … and you will be only joyous." (Devarim 16:14-15). But why?  Why is this simcha more joyful on Sukkot than on Pesach? After all, Pesach commemorates our redemption from Egypt and the fact that we became "Bnei Chorin" - free people.  To me, that sounds worthy of ‘simcha’!

Of course, you might claim that Pesach was only the beginning of the process, when we obtained our physical freedom. Our spiritual freedom was achieved only on Shavuot, when we receive the Torah. So if we follow this line of thought, we can conclude that we should be completely happy on Shavuot, at the end of the counting of the Omer which connected Pesach to Shavuot. That sounds feasible to me, but the Torah singles out Sukkot regarding simcha. Why?

Apparently, the Torah is delivering to us a very important message regarding the true meaning of simcha and of the Sukkot festival. It appears that the Torah holds that the process that started on Pesach reaches its conclusion not on Shavuot but rather on Sukkot. The first step was breaking the chains of foreign domination, attaining our physical freedom. The next step was to achieve our unique spiritual national identity by receiving the Torah.  But the third step was to implement this unique Torah in normal, physical, material life. To me, this is the essence of Sukkot - and the challenge for all of us today.