Shemini Atzeres as the eighth-day milah

שמיני עצרת הוא סוף כל המועדות.

Shemini Atzeres is the conclusion of all the festivals.

Shemini Atzeres stands as the sealing point of the entire cycle of the moadim of Tishrei.

ונותן ברכה על כל השנה.

And it gives blessing for the entire year.

From this culminating day flows the berachah that sustains all the days of the coming year.

וביום זה מתגלה פנימיות דבקות בנ"י באבינו שבשמים.

And on this day the penimiyus (inner dimension) of the attachment of Bnei Yisrael to our Father in Heaven is revealed.

Shemini Atzeres uncovers the deepest, innermost bond between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem, a closeness that the rest of the year keeps hidden.

וע"ז החג נאמר בכסה ליום חגינו.

And concerning this festival it is said, "at the concealment, for the day of our festival."

The pasuk (Tehillim 81:4) "ba-keseh l'yom chageinu" speaks of a festival that is "covered"/concealed — the inner closeness of this day was first hidden during the days of judgment.

כי תכלית ימי המשפט לבוא אח"כ לחג הקדוש הזה.

For the purpose of the days of judgment is to arrive afterward at this holy festival.

The whole aim of the Yamim Noraim, the days of din, is to lead us to this sacred culminating festival of joyous closeness.

אך בזמן הדין הי' זה בהסתר.

But during the time of judgment this was in concealment.

During the days of din that closeness was still hidden — "covered" — only to be revealed now.

וזה ענין אמרם ז"ל מראשית השנה ועד אחרית.

And this is the meaning of what Chazal said regarding "from the beginning of the year until its end."

The Sefas Emes now applies the pasuk (Devarim 11:12) "from the beginning of the year to its end" as understood by Chazal.

רשה בתחלתה סופה שיש לה אחרית.

"Reishis" is spelled deficiently at its beginning — its ending teaches that it has a good "acharis" (final outcome).

Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 16b) note "mei-reishis" is written without an alef, hinting that what is in doubt at the year's start (din) reaches a good resolution at its end (acharis).

וחג הזה הוא אחרית טובה.

And this festival is that good ending.

Shemini Atzeres is the "good acharis" — the favorable conclusion toward which the year's judgment was directed.

דהנה עיני ה' אלקיך בה הוא השגחת אלה הכ"א יום מר"ה עד שמיני עצרת.

For behold, "the eyes of Hashem your God are upon it" refers to the hashgachah (Divine watchfulness) of these twenty-one days from Rosh Hashanah until Shemini Atzeres.

The continuous gaze of Hashem in that pasuk corresponds to the intense providence over the twenty-one days stretching from Rosh Hashanah to Shemini Atzeres.

והשגחתו ית' נותנת חיים על כל השנה [רמז אך שמח הוא אלה הכ"א יום שמרומז לשם אהי"ה].

And His blessed hashgachah grants life for the entire year. [A hint: "ach sameach" (only joyful) — these are the twenty-one days, alluding to the Name Ekyeh.]

The providence of these days infuses life into the whole year; the word "ach" (numerically 21) and the Name Ekyeh (also 21) hint at these twenty-one days of "only joy."

וימי הסוכות בפרט הז' ימים הם קיום כל השנה.

And the days of Sukkos, in particular the seven days, are the sustaining of the entire year.

The seven days of Sukkos specifically serve as the support that upholds the whole year.

כמ"ש בחג הסוכות שבעת ימים בשנה ע"ש פרשת אמור.

As it is written, "on the festival of Sukkos, seven days in the year" — see there, in Parshas Emor.

The phrase "seven days in the year" (Vayikra 23:41) hints that these seven days carry the whole year within them.

לכן נק' חג האסיף כמ"ש תקופת השנה שהוא כח ותוקף כל השנה.

Therefore it is called the Festival of Ingathering, as it is written "the turning point of the year," for it is the strength and force of the entire year.

"Chag haAsif" / "tekufas hashanah" (Shemos 34:22) marks the season that gathers in and concentrates the vitality and power of the whole year — note "tokef" (force) echoing "tekufah."

וכתיב תן חלק לשבעה ימי החג וגם לשמונה שמיני עצרת או ימי מילה ע"ש.

And it is written, "Give a portion to seven" — the seven days of the festival — "and also to eight" — Shemini Atzeres, or the days of milah; see there.

Chazal expound "ten chelek l'shivah v'gam lishmonah" (Koheles 11:2) as referring to the seven days of Sukkos and the eighth day of Shemini Atzeres, alternatively to the eighth day of bris milah.

ביאור הענין דכתיב והי' שבעת ימים תחת אמו ומיום השמיני והלאה ירצה כו'.

The explanation of the matter, as it is written, "It shall be seven days under its mother, and from the eighth day onward it shall be accepted," etc.

The Sefas Emes brings the pasuk about a newborn animal (Vayikra 22:27): seven days "under its mother," and only from the eighth fit for offering — a model for milah on the eighth day.

כי למה לא צוה השי"ת למול מיד.

For why did Hashem not command to perform the milah immediately?

The question: why must a bris wait until the eighth day rather than being done at birth?

אך שע"י שעברו עליו ז' ימים בעודו ערל ואח"כ נכנס תחת כנפי השכינה ע"י המילה.

Rather, because seven days pass over him while he is still uncircumcised, and afterward he enters under the wings of the Shechinah by means of the milah.

The child first lives seven days within the natural, "uncircumcised" state, and only then, through the bris, is brought under the wings of the Shechinah.

ע"י זה יכול אח"כ לגבור ולהכניע כל הסט"א.

Through this he is afterward able to overpower and subdue the entire sitra achra (the "other side," the forces of evil).

Having first passed through the natural realm and then sanctified it through milah, he gains the power to conquer the sitra achra rather than merely avoid it.

דאל"ה לא הי' שייכות הסט"א לאדם כלל.

For if not, the sitra achra would have no connection to a person at all.

Had the bris come immediately, man would have no engagement with the sitra achra and thus no avodah of subduing it; the seven-day delay gives him that arena of struggle and victory.

וכמו כן ימי הסוכות בעוד המים הזידונים שולטים.

And similarly, the days of Sukkos, while the "raging waters" still hold sway.

So too during Sukkos the "mayim hazedonim" — the turbulent forces of the natural/impure world — are still active, paralleling the seven pre-milah days.

ונאמר תן חלק שהוא ע' פרים נגד ע' אומות.

And it is said, "Give a portion" — these are the seventy bulls corresponding to the seventy nations.

The seventy bulls offered over Sukkos correspond to the seventy nations (Sukkah 55b); a "portion" is still given to the outer realm during these days.

ע"י שאלה הימים הם עוד בטבע ויש להם שייכות עוד.

This is because these days are still within nature and there is still a connection to them.

Like the seven pre-milah days, the seven days of Sukkos still belong to the natural order, so the nations still have a "portion" and connection.

לכן צריכין הגנה.

Therefore they require protection.

Because these days remain within nature and exposure to the outer forces, they call for shelter and guarding.

וע"ז ניתן מצות סוכה.

And for this the mitzvah of sukkah was given.

The sukkah is precisely that protective shelter — the embrace that guards Bnei Yisrael amid the natural realm.

ומתקיים קרא שבעת ימים תחת אמו ממש וכמו כן בש"ק פורס סוכת שלום.

And the verse "seven days under its mother" is fulfilled literally; and likewise on the holy Shabbos He spreads a "sukkah of peace."

The seven days of Sukkos are literally a being-sheltered "under the mother," just as on Shabbos Hashem spreads the "sukkas shalom" of protective closeness over us.

ע"י שש"ק מאסף כל הז' ימים לכן בכניסת שבת קודש צריכים שמירה.

Since the holy Shabbos gathers in all seven days, therefore at the entrance of the holy Shabbos protection is needed.

Shabbos ingathers the whole week's seven days, so at its onset — like the vulnerable seven days — guarding is required, hence the "sukkas shalom."

אמנם אח"כ נמשך הארה יתירה בשב"ק כמ"ש במ"א.

However, afterward an additional illumination is drawn down on the holy Shabbos, as explained elsewhere.

Once Shabbos is established, a heightened spiritual light flows in, as the Sefas Emes discusses in other places.

ועתה בשמ"ע הוא ההמשכה שלמעלה מהטבע.

And now, on Shemini Atzeres, is the drawing-down of that which is above nature.

Shemini Atzeres, the eighth day, is when the supra-natural light — beyond the seven days of nature — is drawn down.

והיא הסרת הערלה ומתגלה פנימיות התדבקות בנ"י כנ"ל.

And this is the removal of the orlah, and the penimiyus of the attachment of Bnei Yisrael is revealed, as above.

Like the milah of the eighth day, Shemini Atzeres "removes the orlah" — strips away the outer covering — so the inner bond between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem is laid bare.

אח"כ מצאתי בתקונים פי' שבעת ימים תחת אמו על ז' ימי החג ע"ש ובפרשת אמור ד' צ"ב ע"א:

Afterward I found in the Tikunim an interpretation of "seven days under its mother" referring to the seven days of the festival — see there, and in Parshas Emor, folio 92a.

The Sefas Emes notes he later found support for this very reading in the Tikunei Zohar, which applies "seven days under its mother" to the seven days of Sukkos.

Summary: Shemini Atzeres is the "good acharis" that seals the year and gives it blessing, revealing the innermost closeness of Bnei Yisrael to Hashem. Just as a child spends seven natural days before the eighth-day milah brings him under the Shechinah, the seven days of Sukkos remain within nature and need the sukkah's protection, while the eighth day, Shemini Atzeres, draws down a supra-natural light that removes the "orlah" and lays bare the inner bond with Hashem.