Receiving bounty in its proper time through Torah

וכתיב אי לך ארץ שמלכך נער ושריך בבוקר יאכלו אשריך ארץ שמלכך בן חורין ושריך בעת יאכלו.

And it is written: "Woe to you, O land, whose king is a youth and whose officers eat in the morning. Fortunate are you, O land, whose king is a free man and whose officers eat at the proper time" (Koheles 10:16-17).

The Sefas Emes brings this pasuk from Koheles as his starting point: eating "in the morning" versus eating "at the proper time" will become a metaphor for two ways of receiving Hashem's bounty — grabbing it prematurely versus drawing it down in its right order.

והנה בסוכות הוא התגלות חסד ה' ונק' בוקר [רמז לדבר בערב ילין בכי הוא יוהכ"פ מערב עד ערב. ולבוקר רנה הוא סוכות].

Now on Sukkos there is a revelation of the chesed of Hashem, and it is called "morning" [a hint to this: "in the evening one lies down weeping" — this is Yom Kippur, from evening to evening; "and in the morning, glad song" — this is Sukkos] (Tehillim 30:6).

Sukkos is the time when Hashem's kindness shines openly, so it is called "morning." Yom Kippur, with its weeping and its evening-to-evening fast, is the "evening" of tears; Sukkos that follows is the joyous "morning."

והנה הע' שרים מקבלין כל אחד חלקו בפתיחת השער.

Now the seventy heavenly ministers each receive their portion at the opening of the gate.

The seventy sarim (heavenly princes appointed over the seventy nations) each receive their allotted bounty immediately, the moment the gate of shefa (divine flow) is opened.

אבל בנ"י מקבלין רק בשמ"ע וזהו בעת יאכלו.

But Bnei Yisrael receive only on Shemini Atzeres, and this is "they eat at the proper time."

Bnei Yisrael do not grab their portion at once; they receive only on Shemini Atzeres, after the order of refinement is complete — this is "eating at the proper time."

דאיתא בזוה"ק בפ' ויחי בבוקר יאכל עד הוא לתת הראשית להקב"ה שנק' עד ולערב יחלק כו'.

For it is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh in Parshas Vayechi: "In the morning he shall eat the prey (ad)" — this means to give the first portion to Hashem, who is called "ad," "and in the evening he shall divide," etc. (Bereishis 49:27).

The Zohar reads Yaakov's blessing to Binyamin as a lesson in order: first the "morning" portion, the very beginning (reishis), is given over to Hashem (called "ad," the Eternal), and only afterward, "in the evening," is the rest distributed down below.

שמקודם צריכין לתקן בשורש העליון ולקבל השפע בעת הראוי דרך כל המדריגות.

That first one must effect the tikkun at the upper root, and then receive the shefa at the proper time, by way of all the levels.

The proper avodah is to first rectify things at their supernal source and draw the bounty down in its correct time, descending through every level in order — not seizing it raw at the top.

וזהו הוא דרך התורה שנמסר רק לבנ"י.

And this is the way of the Torah, which was given over only to Bnei Yisrael.

This patient, ordered way of receiving bounty through Torah is uniquely the path entrusted to Bnei Yisrael.

וע"ז יפתח...... ה' לך אוצרו כו' מטר ארצך בעתו כו' לכן והלוית גוים רבים שיהי' השפע בא לנו בכח התורה.

And about this it says: "Hashem shall open for you His good treasure... the rain of your land in its time... therefore you shall lend to many nations" (Devarim 28:12) — that the shefa should come to us through the power of the Torah.

The Torah promises that when we follow this way, Hashem opens His treasure-house and sends rain "in its time," so that the bounty flows to us by the merit of Torah — and then even the nations draw their sustenance through us.

ועתה בעונותינו הרבים אדרבא אנו נזונין מתמצית ואוי לבנים שגלו מעל שלחן אביהם.

But now, because of our many sins, on the contrary, we are nourished only from the leftovers, and "woe to the children who have been exiled from their Father's table."

In our state of galus the order is reversed: instead of receiving first and best, we subsist on the residue, like children driven away from their father's table.

ועתה בשמ"ע שמתפללין על המים צריך להיות המכוון רק על התורה.

And now, on Shemini Atzeres, when we pray for water, the true intention must be only for the Torah.

When we daven for rain on Shemini Atzeres, our real kavanah should be for the Torah, since the physical rain is only an outer expression of the inner flow of Torah.

ובזמן המקדש הי' הבקשה על מים עליונים ותחתונים כאחד כמ"ש לעיל.

And in the time of the Bais Hamikdash, the request was for the upper waters and the lower waters as one, as mentioned above.

When the Bais Hamikdash stood, the prayer for "water" united the spiritual bounty (upper waters) and the physical rain (lower waters) seamlessly, because the inner and outer were joined.

וכ"כ אם שמוע תשמע כו' ונתתי מטר ארצכם שהי' תלוי הכל בהתורה.

And so it is written: "If you will surely hearken... then I will give the rain of your land" (Devarim 11:13-14) — that everything depended on the Torah.

The Torah explicitly ties the gift of rain to hearkening to Hashem's word, showing that all of the material bounty hinges on our connection to Torah.

ומקודם קדם פרשת שמע.

And first came the parshah of Shema.

In the order of Krias Shema, the first paragraph (Shema) precedes the second.

אח"כ והי' אם שמוע תשמעו.

Afterward comes "And it shall be, if you surely hearken."

Only after the first paragraph does the second paragraph, "Vehayah im shamoa," follow — the one that speaks of rain and material reward.

פי' כפי קבלת מלכות שמים כן ניתן סדר השפע שיהי' עפ"י התורה.

The meaning is: in accordance with one's acceptance of the yoke of the kingship of Heaven, so is the order of the shefa given, that it should flow according to the Torah.

The first paragraph of Shema is kabbalas ol malchus Shomayim (accepting Hashem's kingship); to the degree we accept it, the bounty of the second paragraph descends in its proper Torah-ordained order.

ועתה שאין הקבלה כראוי לכן נמסרנו אל הטבע כנ"ל:

But now, when our acceptance is not as it should be, we have therefore been handed over to nature, as above.

Because in galus our acceptance of Hashem's kingship is deficient, the bounty no longer flows to us directly through Torah, and we are instead left to the ordinary workings of nature.

Summary: The Sefas Emes contrasts two ways of receiving Hashem's bounty — the nations' ministers who "eat in the morning," grabbing their portion the instant the gate opens, and Bnei Yisrael who "eat at the proper time," first rectifying things at their supernal root and drawing the shefa down in order through the power of Torah. Shemini Atzeres' prayer for water is really a prayer for Torah, for in the time of the Bais Hamikdash the inner and outer waters flowed as one. Our deficient acceptance of Hashem's kingship in galus is what has handed us over to mere nature, fed only from the leftovers of our Father's table.