Sukkos reveals Hashem's renewed choice in Yisrael

זמן שמחתינו.

"The season of our rejoicing."

The Sefas Emes takes up the name of Sukkos — zman simchaseinu — and asks what precisely we are rejoicing over.

כי הנה בר"ה מתחדש הבריאה והקב"ה שופט כולם.

For behold, on Rosh Hashanah creation is renewed, and Hashem judges everyone.

Rosh Hashanah is the annual renewal of all creation, when Hashem brings every creature — Yisrael and the nations alike — to judgment.

א"כ מתחדש בכל שנה בחירת הקב"ה בבנ"י.

If so, then every year the choosing of Bnei Yisrael by Hashem is renewed.

Since all creation is judged afresh, the bechirah — Hashem's choice of Bnei Yisrael from among all peoples — is also re-decided and renewed each year.

וע"ז אנו שמחים שנשארנו להיות חלק ה' ונחלתו.

And about this we rejoice — that we have remained to be the portion of Hashem and His inheritance.

The simchah of Sukkos is over the outcome of the judgment: that we have once again been confirmed as Hashem's own cherished portion.

כי גם על זה הי' המשפט ובאמת תכלית כל המשפט הי' לברר זה.

For this too was part of the judgment, and in truth the entire purpose of the judgment was to clarify this.

The deepest aim of the whole Rosh Hashanah judgment is not merely material decrees but the clarification of who belongs to Hashem.

רק בעת המשפט הוא בהסתר לכן כתיב בכסה. ובחג נגלה זאת.

Only that at the time of judgment it is concealed — therefore it is written "on the covered [moon]" (Tehillim 81:4) — and on the festival this is revealed.

On Rosh Hashanah the verdict that we remain Hashem's portion is still hidden, "covered." On Sukkos, when the moon is full, this choseness becomes openly revealed and celebrated.

ורמזו בגמ' על חג הסוכית ביחוד שכפלו בתורה לומר שזה אחרון [שזה] גורם ע"ש בפ"ק דר"ה.

And they hinted in the Gemara about the festival of Sukkos specifically — that the Torah doubled it, to say that this being last is what causes it; see there in the first chapter of Rosh Hashanah.

The Gemara notes that Sukkos is singled out and repeated in the Torah, teaching that its standing as the last of the festivals gives it a special power — which the Sefas Emes is about to explain.

והרמז כנ"ל שהוא אחרון שהגם שבר"ה חזרו בנ"י להתערב עם כל הבריאה.

And the hint is as above, that it is "last": for even though on Rosh Hashanah Bnei Yisrael returned to be intermingled with all of creation.

On Rosh Hashanah Bnei Yisrael are, as it were, mixed back into the general mass of all creatures being judged together, their distinctness temporarily set aside.

עכ"ז אח"כ נשארנו בבחירתינו לה' כמקודם.

Even so, afterward we remained in our chosen state for Hashem, as before.

Despite being judged alongside everyone, in the end Bnei Yisrael emerge still chosen and set apart for Hashem, just as before.

וזהו עצמו הגורם של בחירתו בנו.

And this itself is the cause of His choosing us.

The very fact that, after being merged into all creation and judged, we still emerge as Hashem's portion is itself the proof and the cause of His enduring choice in us.

שהרי עדות יש שאין שום אומה יכולה להתקרב כמונו. שבכל שנה נידון העולם והסוף נשארים בנ"י לחלק ה':

For there is testimony that no nation is able to draw close like us — that every year the world is judged, and in the end Bnei Yisrael remain as the portion of Hashem.

The annual cycle is living testimony: though all peoples are weighed together, only Bnei Yisrael consistently emerge clinging to Hashem. This proven, repeated closeness is the eidus of their unique bechirah.

Summary: Sukkos is zman simchaseinu because the deepest purpose of the Rosh Hashanah judgment was to clarify that Bnei Yisrael remain Hashem's chosen portion. On Rosh Hashanah this is still "covered" and we are intermingled with all creation, but on the full-moon festival of Sukkos it is revealed: that even after being judged together with all the nations, we emerge still cleaving to Hashem — and this very fact is the testimony and cause of His enduring choice in us.