Rashi on Shemos 18:9

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title: Rashi on Shemos 18:9
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is Rashi's comment on [@Tx8D3830].

## 4 Steps

1. What’s חדוה mean (new word for the Chumash)? How is it different from Simcha?
2. On pshat level, it means Simcha. On drush level, it’s something about goosebumps?
3. Why doesn’t the pasuk just say שמח? What’s up with the goosebumps?

- חדוה expresses an internal happiness that is coupled with a psychological / physical (machlokes Rav and Shmuel in the Gemara -- see below) sadness. The internal happiness comes about because the soul feels a unity with Hashem (חדוה is related to the lashon of אחד), which causes a psychological / physical jealousy to arise
    - Metaphor: You get a valuable afternoon of 1:1 time with your favorite Rabbi. However, you have to take care of your kids at the same time. So you drag them along, filling your pockets with candy before you leave home. As you pay attention to your Rabbi and feel a deep connection with him, your kids get jealous that you aren’t paying attention to them and that they can’t connect with the Rabbi on the same level. They are pained and you have to bribe them with candy 
        - On Rosh Hashana, our soul wants to cleave to Hashem (like the Rabbi in the metaphor), which creates a psychological / physical lack (kids in the metaphor), since only our neshama can go along for the ride. This is why Nechemia recommends eating and drinking tasty foods -- to “bribe” the parts of you that can’t find unity with Hashem
    - Maharal: If you ask Yisro how he’s feeling, he’ll say he’s super happy! Moshe is his son-in-law and is sharing the secrets of the world with him. Intellectually, he is happy. (Up to now is the pshat-level truth) On the other hand, subconsciously, he feels an unease, manifested by goosebumps. After some time with a therapist, he might realize it’s because he feels sorry for / scared by what happened to the Egyptians -- after all, he was, until recently, an Egyptian himself. He’s on board with converting in his head but his heart and body haven’t caught up yet (drush-level truth)

## Reference