Sukkos as ingathering of the year's avodah

וחג האסיף תקופת השנה.

"And the Festival of Ingathering, at the turn of the year" (Shemos 34:22).

The Sefas Emes begins with the Torah's description of Sukkos as Chag HaAsif, the festival of gathering in, occurring at the year's turning point.

ובמ"א באספך את מעשיך מן השדה.

And in another place, "when you gather in your works from the field" (Shemos 23:16).

Elsewhere the Torah calls it the festival of "gathering your works from the field," the season of harvest.

רש"י פי' מלשון הקפה.

Rashi explains it from the language of "hakafah" (encircling).

Rashi connects "tekufas ha-shanah" to the root meaning of going around — a circuit or encircling of the year.

פי' ששבעת ימים אלו מקיפין כל השנה.

The explanation is that these seven days encircle the entire year.

The seven days of Sukkos "surround" and encompass the whole year, containing within them the power of all twelve months.

כי עיקר הזמן הוא שבעה ימים אח"כ עוד ז' ימים כו'.

For the essence of time is seven days, and afterward another seven days, etc.

Time itself is built in sevens — a week, and then another week — so the seven days of the chag mirror and govern the entire cycle of the year.

וז"ש שבעת ימים בשנה כו'.

And this is what is said, "seven days in the year," etc.

The Torah's phrase "seven days in the year" hints that these seven days carry within them the whole year.

והם כח של כל השנה כמ"ש ירח האיתנים דתקיפו במצוה.

And they are the power of the entire year, as it is said "the month of the mighty ones (Eisanim)," who were "strong (takifu) in mitzvos."

Tishrei is called Yerach HaEisanim, the month of the mighty — referring to the Avos, who were strong in mitzvos. Their strength infuses this month with the spiritual power that sustains the whole year.

והנה ג' בחי' אלו עולם שנה נפש תלויין זה בזה.

And behold, these three dimensions — olam (world/space), shanah (year/time), nefesh (soul) — are dependent one upon another.

The Sefas Emes invokes the classic triad of olam, shanah, nefesh — space, time, and soul — which are interwoven and parallel one another.

וכמו שבחי' עולם הוא זמן אסיפה לאסוף הפירות מכל השנה.

And just as the dimension of olam is a time of ingathering, to gather in the fruits of the whole year —

In the physical world, Sukkos is harvest time, when one gathers in the produce that grew over the entire year.

כמו כן בנפש האדם מכל מעשיו בימי השנה נגמרו הפירות בחג הזה וז"ש באספך את מעשיך מן השדה פי' שכל מעשה האדם צריכין להתבטל לה'.

So too in the soul of a person, from all his deeds during the days of the year the fruits are completed on this Festival; and this is what is said, "when you gather in your works from the field" — the explanation being that all of a person's deeds must be nullified to Hashem.

The same ingathering happens in the nefesh: all of a person's avodah throughout the year ripens into "fruit" on Sukkos. "Gathering your works from the field" means bringing all one's deeds to bittul before Hashem, surrendering them to Him.

וכשנזרעין במקומן אז עושין פירות אח"כ וזה נגמר בסוכות.

And when they are sown in their place, then they produce fruit afterward — and this is completed on Sukkos.

Just as a seed must decompose in the ground before it can sprout, a person's deeds, when "planted" through bittul to Hashem, then yield their true fruit; this process reaches its culmination on Sukkos.

והבן זה [כי מגמר העבודה יורדין השיריים לאדם כי העיקר בעוה"ב כמ"ש הקרן קיימת כו' ]:

Understand this. [For from the completion of the avodah, only the "leftovers" descend to the person in this world, since the essence is in the World to Come, as it is said, "the principal (keren) remains," etc.]

The Sefas Emes adds a bracketed point: what a person enjoys in this world from his avodah is only the "leftovers," like the interest. The keren — the principal reward of his deeds — is preserved intact for Olam Haba, where the true essence lies.

Summary: Sukkos is Chag HaAsif, the festival of ingathering at the year's turn, and its seven days "encircle" and contain the power of the entire year. The triad of olam, shanah, and nefesh runs parallel: just as in the physical world this is harvest time, so in the soul all of a person's deeds throughout the year ripen into fruit now — when they are brought to bittul before Hashem and "planted," they yield their true fruit, whose principal reward is preserved for Olam Haba.