Internalizing the Sukkah’s supernatural light

כתיב אשרי תבחר ותקרב כו'.

It is written, "Fortunate is the one You choose and bring near…" (Tehillim 65:5)

The Sefas Emes opens with the posuk about the one Hashem "chooses and brings near," which he reads as a hint to the three Regalim.

והוא רמז לג' רגלים.

And this is a hint to the three Regalim.

The phrases of the posuk — choosing, bringing near, and dwelling — correspond to the three pilgrimage festivals.

בפסח ויציאת מצרים נבחרו בני ישראל מכל עם.

On Pesach and Yetzias Mitzrayim, Bnei Yisrael were chosen from every nation.

"You choose" corresponds to Pesach, when Hashem selected Bnei Yisrael out of all the nations to be His people.

ובמתן תורה קרבנו לפני הר סיני.

And at Matan Torah, "You brought us near before Har Sinai."

"And bring near" corresponds to Shavuos, when Hashem drew Bnei Yisrael close to Him at the giving of the Torah.

ובסוכות ישכון חצריך.

And on Sukkos, "he shall dwell in Your courtyards."

"He shall dwell in Your courtyards" corresponds to Sukkos, when Bnei Yisrael dwell, as it were, within Hashem’s own space.

אבל העיקר לקבל ההארות מכל אלה המתנות בלב.

But the main thing is to receive the illuminations (haaros) from all these gifts in the heart.

The festivals are gifts, but their whole purpose is that the light they bring should be absorbed and fixed in a person’s heart, not merely experienced and lost.

וז"ש נשבעה בטוב ביתך כי מכל המצות צריך איש ישראל לקבל הארה קבוע בלב וכ"כ אשרי יושבי ביתך ומסיים עוד יהללוך שישאר מזה הארה לעולם.

And this is the meaning of "we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house" — for from every mitzvah a Jew must receive a fixed illumination in the heart; and so [it says], "Fortunate are those who dwell in Your house," and it concludes, "they will yet praise You" — that an illumination should remain from this forever. (Tehillim 65:5; 84:5)

From every mitzvah one should draw a lasting haarah into the heart. "Fortunate are those who dwell in Your house… they will yet praise You" teaches that the goal is for the light of the mitzvah to remain permanently within a person.

וכן אשרי כו' עוז לו בך ומסיים מסילות בלבבם.

And likewise, "Fortunate is the one… whose strength is in You," and it concludes, "highways are in their hearts." (Tehillim 84:6)

The same posuk that praises the one whose strength is in Hashem ends with "highways in their hearts" — again teaching that the avodah is to engrave the connection permanently within the heart.

ולכן ניתן הלולב ומיניו לקבל הארת הסוכה כמ"ש ולקחתם לכם.

And therefore the lulav and its [accompanying] species were given, to receive the illumination of the Sukkah, as it is written, "and you shall take for yourselves." (Vayikra 23:40)

The four minim were given as the vehicle through which the light of the Sukkah is "taken" and drawn into a person — a tool to internalize the Sukkah’s holiness.

דכ' סוד ה' ליריאיו ובריתו להודיעם.

As it is written, "The secret of Hashem is for those who fear Him, and His covenant is to make them know." (Tehillim 25:14)

Hashem reveals His "secret" — the inner light of His mitzvos — to those with yiras Shomayim, and gives them the means to know and absorb it.

כמ"ש זכר עשה לנפלאותיו שמלבד הנפלאות שעשה עמנו הקב"ה השאיר לנו זכר.

As it is written, "He made a remembrance for His wonders" (Tehillim 111:4) — that besides the wonders the Holy One performed with us, He left us a remembrance.

Beyond the original miracles Hashem did for us, He left "remembrances" — mitzvos that let later generations re-access those wonders.

ונתן לנו מצות שעל ידיהם נוכל להרגיש ולהתדבק באותן הנפלאות.

And He gave us mitzvos through which we are able to sense and to cling to those wonders.

The mitzvos are the channels by which we can still feel and connect to the original miracles, drawing their light into our own time.

וכ"כ בסוכות למען ידעו כו' כי בסוכות הושבתי.

And so it is written regarding Sukkos, "so that [your generations] may know… that I caused [Bnei Yisrael] to dwell in sukkos." (Vayikra 23:43)

The mitzvah of Sukkah is given expressly so that future generations should "know" — should re-experience — how Hashem sheltered Bnei Yisrael in the wilderness.

ובודאי ישיבת ענני כבוד הי' דבר פלא מופלא ומכוסה.

And certainly the dwelling within the Clouds of Glory (Ananei HaKavod) was a wondrous, hidden thing, [exceedingly] wondrous and concealed.

The original sheltering in the Ananei HaKavod was an utterly supernatural, hidden miracle, far beyond ordinary experience.

וע"י מצות הסוכה מתעורר בכל שנה הארה מאותו הישיבה.

And through the mitzvah of the Sukkah, an illumination from that [original] dwelling is aroused every year.

Each year the mitzvah of Sukkah reawakens a measure of the light of that original Clouds-of-Glory dwelling, bringing it back into the present.

והארת הסוכה הוא למעלה מן הטבע.

And the illumination of the Sukkah is above nature.

The light of the Sukkah, like the Ananei HaKavod it recalls, is a supernatural illumination, transcending the natural order.

לכן זוכין לכך אחר ימי תשובה דכתיב שובו אלי ואשובה אליכם.

Therefore one merits this after the days of teshuvah, as it is written, "Return to Me, and I will return to you." (Malachi 3:7)

Because the Sukkah’s light is above nature, we become fit to receive it only after the purifying days of teshuvah, when Hashem responds to our return by drawing close.

ולכן הקב"ה מקרב אותנו אחר ימי התשובה.

And therefore the Holy One brings us close after the days of teshuvah.

Hashem deliberately places Sukkos right after the Yamim Noraim, drawing us near specifically once we have done teshuvah.

ואם עדיין לא שבנו אליו כראוי יש לנו עכ"פ לשוב בתשובה בסוכות.

And if we have not yet returned to Him fully as is fitting, we have, at the very least, [the opportunity] to do teshuvah on Sukkos.

Even a person who did not complete his teshuvah during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah is given a further chance to return during Sukkos itself.

כמבוקשינו השיבנו אליך אח"כ ונשובה.

As we request, "Bring us back to You," and afterward "and we shall return." (cf. Eichah 5:21)

Our tefillah "bring us back to You and we shall return" expresses that Hashem first draws us near, and that closeness then empowers our own further teshuvah on Sukkos.

אבל כלל בנ"י הם בעלי תשובה בעשי"ת.

But the klal of Bnei Yisrael are baalei teshuvah during the Ten Days of Teshuvah.

As a whole, Bnei Yisrael have already returned to Hashem as baalei teshuvah by the end of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah.

ולכן ניתן לנו הסוכות אח"כ שהוא מה שחל שם שמים על הסוכה.

And therefore the [festival of] Sukkos was given to us afterward, which is the resting of the Name of Heaven upon the Sukkah.

Having done teshuvah, Bnei Yisrael are then granted Sukkos, in which Hashem’s very Name rests upon the Sukkah, enveloping them in holiness.

והארה זו חופפת על בנ"י.

And this illumination hovers over Bnei Yisrael.

The supernatural light of the Sukkah hovers protectively over Bnei Yisrael, like the Ananei HaKavod surrounding them.

וע"י הלולב ומיניו נוכל לקבל הארה זו בלב ונפש.

And through the lulav and its species we are able to receive this illumination in heart and soul.

The four minim are the means by which the hovering light of the Sukkah is drawn inward and absorbed into a person’s heart and neshamah.

ולכן איתא שאין נוטלין הלולב בשבת כמו בתפילין שא"צ בשבת.

And therefore it is taught that one does not take the lulav on Shabbos, just as with tefillin, which are not needed on Shabbos.

The Sefas Emes notes the halachah that lulav is not taken on Shabbos, comparing it to tefillin, which are likewise not worn on Shabbos — and will explain why.

שע"י התפילין מקבל אדם הארה המיוחדת אל איש ישראל מה שהוא למעלה מציור הגשמיות.

For through the tefillin a person receives the illumination that is unique to a Jew, which is above the form of physicality.

On weekdays, tefillin are the vehicle that draws into a person the special supernal light unique to a Jew, a light above the physical.

אבל בשבת שהן עצמן אות ויורד נשמה יתירה ומתקדש כל איש ישראל.

But on Shabbos, which is itself a "sign," an extra soul (neshamah yeseirah) descends and every Jew becomes sanctified.

Shabbos itself is the "os" (sign), and on it a neshamah yeseirah descends, sanctifying every Jew directly — so the tool of tefillin is not needed.

ויכול לקבל אותו ההארה בלי תפילין.

And he is able to receive that illumination without tefillin.

Because Shabbos itself elevates the Jew, that special light can be received on Shabbos without the instrument of tefillin at all.

וכמו כן בהארת הסוכה בשבת קודש נוכל לקבל שיאיר אותו ההארה וההנהגה שלמעלה מהטבע בלא הד' מינים.

And likewise, regarding the illumination of the Sukkah on Shabbos Kodesh, we are able to receive that illumination and that above-nature conduct to shine [upon us] without the four species.

By the same logic, on Shabbos Chol HaMoed the Sukkah’s supernatural light can be received directly, without the lulav and its species, because Shabbos itself elevates us to receive it.

כי שבת הוא יומא דנשמתין ולאו דגופא:

For Shabbos is "the day of souls and not of the body." (cf. Zohar)

Shabbos is a day of the neshamah rather than the guf, so its inner spiritual elevation makes the physical instruments — tefillin or the four minim — unnecessary for drawing down that light.

Summary: The three Regalim correspond to Hashem choosing, drawing near, and causing Bnei Yisrael to dwell with Him — but their essential purpose is to absorb a permanent illumination into the heart. The mitzvos, including the four minim, are "remembrances" that let us re-access the original wonders; the supernatural light of the Sukkah, which recalls the Ananei HaKavod, is received specifically after the days of teshuvah, and is drawn into the heart through the lulav. Yet on Shabbos — a day of the soul — that light, like the light of tefillin, can be received directly without any physical instrument.