The two-year anniversary of the October 7 massacre falls on the joyous holiday of Sukkot. The Hebrew calendar anniversary will fall on the holiday of Simchat Torah, literally "the Joy of Torah."

How do we deal with the juxtaposition of these painful anniversaries, of wounds and anxieties and pain that are very much still with us, and the demand to be happy, to celebrate - or even just to try to find release from the pain?

The sages of the Talmud, who lived through great and abiding traumas of their own, show us how.

This episode was sponsored by an anonymous sponsor who asked to dedicate it to all our fallen soldiers and to the sacrifices of the reservists and their families from October 7 until today.

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Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.