Teshuvah for all, tefillah for Bnei Yisrael alone

ביום השמיני עצרת תהי' לכם.

On the eighth day, "Atzeres — it shall be for you" (Bamidbar 29:35).

The Sefas Emes again takes up the verse of Shemini Atzeres and its words "it shall be for you," now exploring it through the themes of teshuvah and tefillah.

במד' פינחס דורש תחת אהבתי ישטנוני ואני תפלה ע"ש.

In the Midrash, Parshas Pinchas, it expounds, "In return for my love they accuse me, but I am prayer" (Tehillim 109:4); see there.

He cites the Midrash on the verse "I am prayer," linking Shemini Atzeres to the power of tefillah even amid accusation.

כי הנה בחג הסוכות ידו פתוחה לקבל שבים.

For behold, on Chag HaSukkos His hand is open to receive those who return (in teshuvah).

Sukkos continues the season of repentance: Hashem's hand remains outstretched to welcome back baalei teshuvah who return to Him.

והיא הדירה והמקום שהקב"ה נותן לבעלי תשובות דכ' פותח יד לקבל פושעים כו'.

And it is the dwelling and the place that Hashem gives to the baalei teshuvah, as it is written, "He opens His hand to receive transgressors who repent."

The sukkah is the very dwelling Hashem provides for penitents — an image of His open hand ready to take back even those who have transgressed, once they return.

והוא שאמרו חז"ל שתים כהלכתן ושלישית אפילו טפח.

And this is what Chazal said: two walls according to their full law, and a third even of a handbreadth (Sukkah 6b).

He connects this to the halachic shape of a kosher sukkah — two complete walls plus a partial third wall of just a handbreadth — which he reads as a hint to the form of the letter hei.

רומז להה' שהיא ד' וי' והיינו יד פתוחה לקבל שבים כמ"ש רש"י על בהבראם בפרשת בראשית.

This alludes to the letter hei, which is composed of a dalet and a yud — and this signifies the open hand to receive those who return, as Rashi comments on "be'hibaram" in Parshas Bereishis.

The hei is formed of a dalet (the two full walls plus roof) with a detached yud (the small gap/third wall). Rashi teaches that the world was created with the letter hei, whose open bottom represents the open door through which baalei teshuvah can re-enter — exactly mirroring the sukkah's open third side.

ויש ה' עילאה בחי' תשובה והוא הסוכה.

And there is an upper hei (hei ila'ah), the aspect of teshuvah — and this is the sukkah.

There are two hei's in Hashem's Name. The upper hei corresponds to teshuvah, embodied by the sukkah, the dwelling that receives those who return.

ויש ה' תתאה בחי' תפלה.

And there is a lower hei (hei tata'ah), the aspect of tefillah.

The lower hei corresponds to tefillah, the dimension of prayer through which one draws close from below.

ובמד' ואתחנן בפסוק מי גוי גדול איתא על הפסוק נוראות בצדק תעננו כו' מבטח כו' וים רחוקים ים רומז לתשובה כמו שים פתוח תמיד.

And in the Midrash on Parshas Va'eschanan, on the verse "For what great nation…" (Devarim 4:7), it is taught regarding the verse "With awesome deeds in righteousness You answer us… the trust of all the ends of the earth and the distant seas" (Tehillim 65:6) — that "sea" alludes to teshuvah, since the sea is always open.

The Midrash reads "the distant seas" as a hint to teshuvah: like the sea, whose waters are always accessible, the gates of repentance are perpetually open to all.

לכן כתיב ים רחוקים שלום לרחוק ולקרוב.

Therefore it is written "the distant seas" — "Peace, peace, to the far and to the near" (Yeshayahu 57:19).

The phrase "distant seas" teaches that teshuvah, like the open sea, is available even to the "far" — those who have strayed greatly — as well as to the "near," offering peace to both.

אבל מקוה פעמים נעולה.

But a mikveh is sometimes locked (inaccessible).

In contrast to the ever-open sea, a mikveh is not always available — at times it is closed off, representing a more restricted, particular access.

וע"ש שכ' שלבנ"י תמיד פתוחה כמ"ש בכל קראינו.

And see there, that for Bnei Yisrael it is always open, as it is written, "…whenever we call upon Him" (Devarim 4:7).

The Midrash stresses that for Bnei Yisrael this access is always open — Hashem is near "whenever we call upon Him," with no locked gate before their prayer.

וכתיב מקוה ישראל ה'.

And it is written, "The hope (mikveh) of Yisrael is Hashem" (Yirmiyahu 17:13).

Through wordplay, "mikveh Yisrael" — Hashem is the "mikveh" of Yisrael — teaches that for Bnei Yisrael even the otherwise sometimes-locked mikveh of closeness, namely tefillah, is always open.

לכן בבחי' התפלה מיוחד רק לבנ"י וזהו עצרת תהי' לכם דייקא.

Therefore the aspect of tefillah is exclusive to Bnei Yisrael — and this is precisely "Atzeres — it shall be for you."

The lower hei of tefillah belongs uniquely to Bnei Yisrael. This is the precise meaning of "for you" on Shemini Atzeres: this day of intimate prayer is reserved for them alone.

ובבחי' התשובה יש התקרבות גם לשאר האומות.

And in the aspect of teshuvah, there is a drawing-near also for the other nations.

Teshuvah — the upper hei, the ever-open sea — is universal; even the other nations of the world can draw near to Hashem through repentance.

אבל ה' תתאה בחי' התפלה נשאר רק לבנ"י:

But the lower hei, the aspect of tefillah, remains for Bnei Yisrael alone.

While the gate of teshuvah is open to all, the deeper intimacy of tefillah — the lower hei — is the exclusive portion of Bnei Yisrael, which is why Shemini Atzeres "shall be for you."

Summary: The Sefas Emes reads Shemini Atzeres ("it shall be for you") through the two hei's of Hashem's Name. The sukkah, with its two-and-a-handbreadth walls forming the open shape of a hei, is the upper hei of teshuvah — like the ever-open sea, accessible even to the nations. The lower hei is tefillah, the more intimate closeness that, like a mikveh, is not always open to all but is perpetually open to Bnei Yisrael, "whenever we call upon Him." Thus the day of prayerful closeness "shall be for you" — reserved uniquely for Bnei Yisrael.