וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם־מַ֖יִם בְּשָׂשׂ֑וֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵ֖י הַיְשׁוּעָֽה׃
Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation.
הָנְהוּ תְּרֵי מִינֵי, חַד שְׁמֵיהּ שָׂשׂוֹן וְחַד שְׁמֵיהּ שִׂמְחָה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שָׂשׂוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה: אֲנָא עֲדִיפְנָא מִינָּךְ, דִּכְתִיב: ״שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה יַשִּׂיגוּ וְגוֹ׳״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שִׂמְחָה לְשָׂשׂוֹן: אֲנָא עֲדִיפְנָא מִינָּךְ, דִּכְתִיב: ״שִׂמְחָה וְשָׂשׂוֹן לַיְּהוּדִים״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שָׂשׂוֹן לְשִׂמְחָה: חַד יוֹמָא שָׁבְקוּךְ וְשַׁוְּיוּךְ פַּרְוַונְקָא, דִּכְתִיב: ״כִּי בְשִׂמְחָה תֵצֵאוּ״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ שִׂמְחָה לְשָׂשׂוֹן: חַד יוֹמָא שָׁבְקוּךְ וּמָלוּ בָּךְ מַיָּא, דִּכְתִיב: ״וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן״. אֲמַר לֵיהּ הָהוּא מִינָא דִּשְׁמֵיהּ שָׂשׂוֹן לְרַבִּי אֲבָהוּ: עֲתִידִיתוּ דִּתְמַלּוֹ לִי מַיִם לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי, דִּכְתִיב: ״וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן״, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אִי הֲוָה כְּתִיב ״לְשָׂשׂוֹן״ — כִּדְקָאָמְרַתְּ, הַשְׁתָּא דִּכְתִיב ״בְּשָׂשׂוֹן״ — מַשְׁכֵּיהּ דְּהָהוּא גַּבְרָא מְשַׁוֵּינַן לֵיהּ גּוֹדָא וּמָלֵינַן בֵּיהּ מַיָּא.
Apropos this verse, the Gemara relates: There were these two heretics, one named Sason and one named Simḥa. Sason said to Simḥa: I am superior to you, as it is written: “They shall obtain joy [sason] and happiness [simḥa], and sorrow and sighing shall flee” (Isaiah 35:10). The verse mentions joy first. Simḥa said to Sason, On the contrary, I am superior to you, as it is written: “There was happiness [simḥa] and joy [sason] for the Jews” (Esther 8:17). Sason said to Simḥa: One day they will dismiss you and render you a messenger [parvanka], as it is written: “For you shall go out with happiness [simḥa]” (Isaiah 55:12). Simḥa said to Sason: One day they will dismiss you and draw water with you, as it is written: “With joy [sason] you shall draw water.” The Gemara relates a similar incident: A certain heretic named Sason said to Rabbi Abbahu: You are all destined to draw water for me in the World-to-Come, as it is written: “With sason you shall draw water.” Rabbi Abbahu said to him: If it had been written: For sason, it would have been as you say; now that it is written: With sason, it means that the skin of that man, you, will be rendered a wineskin, and we will draw water with it.
קיח) פדויי ה׳ ישובון ובאו ציון ברנה (ישע י׳ ל״ה) – כל לשון פדיון הוא ביעודו של משיח בן יוסף שעל ידו קבוץ גלויות כביאור רבנו ע״ז באריכות בחיבורו סוד האותיות (ספר ליקוטי הגר״א). מכאן שקבוץ גלויות העיקרי הוא לא פחות מששים רבוא עפ״י דרשת חז״ל על פסוק זה (מסכת שבת פ״ח) בקשר לענין שני הכתרים ומעשה העגל ותיקונו. ובפסוק זה ששון ושמחה ישיגו ודרשת חז״ל ע״ז (סוכה מ״ח) שע״ז אמר רבנו: אילו לא נברא אלא להשיג את כוונת הגמרא בענין זה – כדאי הוא לו. ועיקר הכוונה הוא על ב׳ ה
(Isa. 35:10) “the redeemed [ransomed] of the Lord will return, and come to Zion with glad song” -- Whenever redeem is mentioned, it refers to the mission of Mashiach ben Yosef through whom the exiles will be gathered in, as explained by the Gaon at length in his paper on the secret of the letters (Likutei Hagra). From this we learn that the main ingathering of exiles is not less that 600, 000, according to the interpretation of our Sages regarding this verse (Masechet Shabbat 88a) in connection with the two crowns and the Golden Calf and the atonement for the sin. With regard to the verse: “they will obtain joy and happiness, ” our Sages said (Succah 48b). The Gaon commented about this verse, that had he been born solely to understand the meaning of the Talmud on this matter, he would have considered it worthwhile. In essence, the verse speaks about the two meshichim.
קמז) ששון ושמחה – בפסוק: ופדויי ה׳ ישובון וכו׳ ששון ושמחה ישיגו (ישע יהו ל״ה:י׳). ששון ושמחה הם ב׳ המשיחין ועיקרו של ששון הוא
“Joy and gladness” -- as in the verse, (Isa. 35:10) “then the ransomed of the Lord will return, ” etc., “they will attain joy and gladness.” -- Joy and gladness refer to the two meshichim. Joy refers to Mashiach ben Yosef, for it is said of him: “the ransomed of the Lord will return.” According to the Gaon (in his book, Likutei Hagra), the letters reveal this, and this is what is meant in the Talmud (Succah 48b) with regard to joy and gladness. And the Gaon merited understanding the intention of the Talmud in this matter completely, and the Gaon said about this matter that if he had been born solely to understand this matter, it would have been worth his while. As is know, the Gaon himself was the light of Mashiach ben Yosef, and he was meant to arouse people about first gathering in the exiles as revealed in the words his left hand under my head, which was on the level of Hod. This is revealed by the words! “Efraim is the stronghold of my head” [Ps. 60:9]. Later on, when the Gaon traveled to the Holy Land, he rose to the level of Netzach of Tiferet (a few of my colleagues have written about this mystery. Since two are better than one, I will mention two of them: R’ Saadya and R’ Menachem Mendel, son of Baruch, Ner Israel).