Teshuvah returns Bnei Yisrael to their root

בפסוק לך אכול בשמחה כו'.

Regarding the verse: "Go, eat your bread in joy," etc. (Koheles 9:7)

The Sefas Emes applies this verse to the joy of Sukkos.

הוא על חג הסוכות זמן שמחתינו.

It refers to the festival of Sukkos, the time of our rejoicing.

Sukkos is designated as zman simchaseinu, the season of our joy.

כי כבר רצה מה זה הלשון כבר.

For "already" — what is the meaning of this expression "already" ("ki kvar ratzah" — "for God has already accepted your deeds")?

The verse says Hashem has "already" favored our deeds; the Sefas Emes asks what is meant by this word "already."

הענין הוא כמ"ש השיבנו ה' כו' חדש ימינו כקדם.

The matter is as it is written, "Return us to You, Hashem... renew our days as of old." (Eichah 5:21)

The key is the idea of returning to a primal, original state — renewing our days "as of old."

כי שורש בנ"י למעלה מהטבע כמ"ש שעלו במחשבה קודם שנברא כל העולם.

For the root of Bnei Yisrael is above nature, as it is said that they "arose in the Divine thought" before the entire world was created.

The true source of Bnei Yisrael precedes creation itself, rooted in Hashem's thought, beyond the natural order.

אך ע"י החטא כתיב עונותיכם היו מבדילים.

But through sin, it is written, "your iniquities have been separating." (Yeshayahu 59:2)

Sin alone creates a barrier that distances a person from this lofty root.

וע"י תשובה חוזרים אל השורש.

And through teshuvah one returns to the root.

Teshuvah removes the barrier of sin and reconnects a person to his original source above nature.

ונמצא ממילא למפרע נתקן הכל.

And it follows automatically that retroactively everything is repaired.

Once one rejoins the timeless root, the past itself is mended — the damage is undone as if from the start.

וזה כבר רצה שע"י התשובה נתחזרו למקומם הראשון.

And this is "He has already accepted" — that through teshuvah they have been restored to their original place.

The word "already" expresses that teshuvah reaches back beyond time, returning a person to the place he held from the very beginning, so it is as though the favor was always there.

ואיתא גדולה תשובה שמגעת עד כסא הכבוד.

And it is taught: Great is teshuvah, for it reaches up to the Throne of Glory (Kisei HaKavod). (Yoma 86a)

Teshuvah has the power to ascend all the way to the very Throne of Glory.

רמז למצות סוכה אחר יוהכ"פ שכל בנ"י שבין לפניו ית' זוכין לסוכה שהוא ע"ש ענני כבוד.

A hint to the mitzvah of sukkah after Yom Kippur: that all of Bnei Yisrael who have returned before Him merit the sukkah, which is named for the Clouds of Glory (Ananei HaKavod).

Right after the teshuvah of Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael merit the sukkah — itself recalling the Clouds of Glory — as the fruit of having returned to Hashem.

ובס' כפות תמרים פי' על הגמ' הנ"ל שכל בנ"י חקוקין בכסא כמ"ש צורתו של יעקב חקוקה בכסה"כ שהוא שורש כל נשמת בנ"י.

And in the sefer Kapos Temarim it is explained, regarding the aforementioned Gemara, that all of Bnei Yisrael are engraved in the Throne, as it is said that the form of Yaakov is engraved upon the Throne of Glory, which is the root of every soul of Bnei Yisrael.

Since the image of Yaakov — the source of all their neshamos — is engraved on the Kisei HaKavod, every Jew is, in his root, bound to that Throne which teshuvah reaches.

וע"י התשובה מתדבק כל אחד בשורשו ע"ש.

And through teshuvah each one cleaves to his root; see there.

Teshuvah is the act by which each individual reattaches to his root engraved upon the Throne.

ולכן יש אח"כ שמחה כי עיקר השמחה בהשורש ושם כל בני ישראל אחד.

And therefore there is joy afterward, for the essence of simchah is in the root, and there all of Bnei Yisrael are one.

The joy of Sukkos flows from this reunion with the root — and at that source there is no division, for all of Bnei Yisrael are unified as one.

וע"ז כ' ראוין כל ישראל לישב בסוכה אחת כדכתיב כל האזרח.

And of this it is written that all of Bnei Yisrael are fit to dwell in a single sukkah, as it is written, "every native-born." (Vayikra 23:42, "kol ha'ezrach")

Chazal teach that all of Bnei Yisrael could fittingly sit in one sukkah — an expression of their essential oneness at the root.

והוא זריחת שורש כללות בנ"י צורתו של יעקב כנ"ל:

And this is the shining-forth of the collective root of Bnei Yisrael — the form of Yaakov — as above.

The single sukkah expresses the radiance of the unified root of all Bnei Yisrael, the engraved form of Yaakov.

Summary: "He has already accepted your deeds" alludes to the power of teshuvah to return Bnei Yisrael to their root above nature — engraved as the form of Yaakov upon the Kisei HaKavod — which precedes creation, so that the past is repaired retroactively. After the teshuvah of Yom Kippur, this reunion with the root is expressed in the sukkah (the Clouds of Glory), and from it flows the joy of the festival, for at the root all of Bnei Yisrael are one and fit to dwell in a single sukkah.