While going through the recent Sukkos issue of Toras Avigdor, I was happy to see the forthright words of Rav Miller ז"ל warning against frivolity and "fun", hefkeirus and wildness, הוללות masquerading as praiseworthy Torah שמחה, during the great time of זמן שמחתנו. Take a look at his words in the beginning of the booklet, and especially on page five, about such perversions taking place on שמחת תורה no less, where he mentions a shtiebel where they threw wet towels at each other on that day, a Kohen who demonstratively broke ranks to drink schnapps at the time of ברכת כהנים instead of blessing his people, and other nonsense.
This very important message came back to me when I saw a recent video clip, allegedly from a שמחת בית השואבה, of a fellow with a shtreimel hanging on to a chandelier and pulling it down. Besides it being dangerous for multiple reasons, it is destructive, and not sanctioned by our תורה הקדושה. Yet, a prominent social media personality described it as part of Hasidic Jews 'knowing how to have a good time'.
A שמחת בית השואבה is not a free for all. In fact, in סידור הגר"א אזור אליהו there is a order for that celebration, IIRC, consisting of the fifteen psalms of שיר המעלות said then in the time of the בית המקדש, along with readings from Chazal about it. Presumably one can find some such structure for it elsewhere as well (perhaps in the very comprehensive siddur of Rav Yaakov Emden for example?).
While this message is quite relevant and important during Sukkos and Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah, it really is very important and fundamental year-round as well. Not only are wildness and "fun" not the same as Torah approved genuine wholesome simcha, they are at odds with each other. Wildness and fun may bring temporary thrills, but they fade quickly, leaving emptiness and a price to be paid.
May הקב"ה help us attain true Torah happiness, שמחה של מצוה, and not be fooled by, or settle for, inferior, cheap imitations.
א פרייליכען יום טוב - חג כשר ושמח
