ישמחו השמים ותגל הארץ – Yismechu ha’shomayim v’sageil ha’aretz. The Heavens will rejoice and the earth will be glad.
Simchah, joy/rejoice and gilah, gladness, are not interchangeable terms. While they both fall under the rubric of contentment and happiness, they have varied connotations. The Gaon, zl, m’Vilna explains that simchah, joy, refers to the intense emotion of joy one experiences upon confronting something completely new. It is for this reason that the word simchah is used to describe the Heavenly expression of happiness. The realm of spirit is constantly refreshed and rejuvenated. We always experience newness to things spiritual. [Perhaps this is why we refer to the joy of the bride and groom as simchas chasson v’kallah. We hope that their joy with one another will constantly be renewed.] Gilah, gladness, denotes a happiness resulting from that which is concretized, established and familiar. Thus, with regard to the earth, we use the term v’sageil. Hashem created the physical, material world during the six days of Creation, and it has not changed.
