Sukkos teshuvah of love through closeness

בזוה"ק נקרא סוכה צילא דמהימנותא.

In the Zohar, the sukkah is called "the shade of emunah" (tzila d'mehimnusa).

The Zohar describes the sukkah as the "shade of faith" — a shelter that envelops a person in pure emunah and bitachon in Hashem.

כמ"ש זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך כו' לכתך אחרי במדבר כו'.

As it is written, "I remember for you the kindness of your youth… your following after Me in the wilderness," etc.

This faith is the chesed ne'urim of Bnei Yisrael (Yirmiyahu 2:2), who followed Hashem into an unsown desert relying wholly upon Him — the essence of the sukkah's shade of emunah.

וכמו כן בכל שנה אחר ר"ה ויוהכ"פ שאדם נפדה מחטאים ועונות נקרא גאולה.

And so too every year, after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when a person is redeemed from sins and transgressions, it is called a redemption.

The cleansing of the Yamim Noraim is itself a form of geulah — a personal redemption from the grip of one's aveiros.

[ובימים הללו נעשה כל איש ישראל כקטן שנולד.

[And in these days every Jew becomes like a newborn child.

After the purification of the Yamim Noraim, each Jew is reborn, as innocent as a newborn.

והוא קטן הצריך לאמו.

And he is a small child who needs his mother.

Like a newborn utterly dependent on its mother, the freshly cleansed Jew needs Hashem's nurturing care.

וכביכול הבורא ית' מנהיג אותנו באלה הימים כאם לבנים].

And as it were, the Creator leads us in these days like a mother to her children.]

During this period Hashem guides us with the tender, sheltering closeness of a mother caring for her young — which is the embrace of the sukkah.

וצריך האדם להשליך עצמו על הבורא ית' להיות מבקש לצאת מן הבחירה ורשות עצמו רק למשוך אחר הנהגת הבורא כמו שהי' במדבר ה' הולך לפניהם כו'.

And a person must cast himself upon the Creator, seeking to depart from his own free choice and his own authority, only to be drawn after the Creator's guidance, as it was in the wilderness, "Hashem went before them," etc.

The avodah is to surrender oneself entirely to Hashem, relinquishing self-will and self-direction to be led by Him alone — just as Bnei Yisrael followed Hashem's pillar of cloud in the desert (Shemos 13:21).

ועל ידי התשוקה שחמדו לזה כמ"ש בצלו חמדתי וישבתי.

And by means of the yearning with which they desired this, as it says, "in His shade I delighted and sat."

Bnei Yisrael's deep longing to dwell in Hashem's protective shade (Shir HaShirim 2:3) is what draws them into the sukkah, the "shade of emunah."

משכני אחריך נרוצה.

"Draw me, we will run after You."

This yearning is voiced in the pasuk (Shir HaShirim 1:4) — a plea to be drawn close so as to run after Hashem.

וכל זה מתקיים גם בימי הסוכות.

And all this is fulfilled also during the days of Sukkos.

This entire dynamic of casting oneself upon Hashem and being drawn after Him is realized each year in the days of Sukkos.

שע"י שכבר נכשל האדם בעונות צריך להיות ירא לנפשו שלא יתקלקל שוב.

For since the person has already stumbled in transgressions, he must fear for his soul lest he become corrupted again.

Having already fallen into aveiros, one must remain wary, afraid of relapsing — a healthy fear that drives him to seek shelter.

וצריך לברוח תחת כנפיו ית"ש.

And he must flee beneath His wings, may His Name be blessed.

This fear sends him to take refuge under the "wings" of Hashem — the sheltering protection of the sukkah.

וגם בעודנו בסוכה צריך לשוב בתשובה.

And even while he is still in the sukkah, he must return in teshuvah.

Teshuvah does not end with Yom Kippur; even within the sukkah, in this state of closeness, one continues to do teshuvah.

וע"ז נאמר ישובו יושבי בצלו.

And concerning this it is said, "those who dwell in His shade shall return."

The pasuk (Hoshea 14:8) "yashuvu yoshvei v'tzilo" hints that those sitting in the sukkah's shade engage in teshuvah-return even there.

וכמ"ש בס' קדושת לוי שבסוכות הוא תשובה מאהבה ע"ש.

And as it is written in the sefer Kedushas Levi, that on Sukkos there is teshuvah me-ahavah (repentance out of love); see there.

The Sefas Emes cites the Kedushas Levi (R. Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev): the teshuvah of the Yamim Noraim is from fear, but the teshuvah of Sukkos is the higher teshuvah me-ahavah, from love.

וגם אמת הדבר שגם זה נסיון לאדם.

And it is also true that this too is a test for a person.

The very closeness Hashem grants on Sukkos is itself a nisayon — a test of how one responds to being drawn near.

כי הבורא ית' מקרב אותנו כדי שנשוב לפניו בתשובה.

For the Creator draws us close in order that we should return before Him in teshuvah.

Hashem's purpose in bringing us near is precisely to inspire us to do teshuvah out of love, not merely to enjoy the closeness.

כמו שמצינו באהרן רודף שלום אוהב את הבריות כו' ע"ש שקירב גם בעלי עבירה כדי שיתבייש בעצמו כו'.

As we find with Aharon, who pursued peace and loved the creatures, etc. — that he drew close even sinners, so that one would become ashamed of himself, etc.

Aharon HaKohen (Avos 1:12) loved people and brought even sinners close; by treating a sinner with warmth, he led him to feel ashamed of his ways and return.

ומהיכן למדו אהרן בלי ספק ממדותיו של הקב"ה למדו.

And from where did Aharon learn this? Without doubt, he learned it from the middos of the Holy One.

Aharon's method of drawing sinners near was modeled on Hashem's own ways of dealing with His people.

אשר פותח שערי תשובה בלבות בנ"י.

Who opens the gates of teshuvah in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

Hashem opens the inner gates of teshuvah within the hearts of Bnei Yisrael, both through distance and through closeness.

הן ע"י הריחוק והן ע"י הקירוב לכן בר"ה ימי הדין שצריך אדם לשוב על ידי היראה.

Both through distance and through closeness; therefore on Rosh Hashanah, the days of judgment, a person must return by means of fear.

Hashem awakens teshuvah in two ways. The "distance" of the Yamim Noraim — the awe of din — produces teshuvah out of yirah.

ובסוכות צריך לשוב על ידי הקירוב.

And on Sukkos one must return by means of closeness.

The "closeness" of Sukkos — being embraced in the sukkah — produces the loftier teshuvah out of love.

ועל זה נאמר שלום כו' לרחוק ולקרוב.

And concerning this it is said, "Peace… to the far and to the near."

The pasuk (Yeshayahu 57:19) "shalom shalom larachok v'lakarov" embraces both paths of return — that of the "far" and that of the "near."

הן השב מיראה על ידי הריחוק או ע"י הקירוב:

Whether the one who returns out of fear, through distance, or the one who returns through closeness.

Hashem grants peace and welcome to both kinds of baalei teshuvah: the one driven back by the awe of distance and the one drawn back by the warmth of closeness.

Summary: The sukkah is the "shade of emunah," where the Jew — reborn and cleansed by the Yamim Noraim like a newborn needing his mother — casts off self-will to be led by Hashem alone. Even within the sukkah's closeness one continues to do teshuvah, but now the higher teshuvah me-ahavah of Sukkos rather than the teshuvah of fear. Modeled on Aharon's way of drawing even sinners near, Hashem opens the gates of teshuvah both through the distance of Rosh Hashanah's awe and the closeness of Sukkos — "Peace to the far and to the near."