The sukkah as the sojourner's teshuvah

מצות הסוכה היא בחי' הגירות כמ"ש ז"ל על זה צא מדירת קבע ושב בדירת ארעי.

The mitzvah of the sukkah is the aspect of geirus (being a sojourner/stranger), as Chazal said about it: "Leave your permanent dwelling and dwell in a temporary dwelling."

By leaving our solid homes for a flimsy sukkah, we take on the posture of a stranger passing through this world, not rooted in it.

וכמו שהי' אחר יציאת מצרים שהלכו ארבעים שנה במדבר והי' הכנה לכל הדורות.

And just as it was after Yetzias Mitzrayim, when they journeyed forty years in the wilderness, and this was a preparation for all the generations.

The forty years of wandering in the midbar were not merely an episode but a foundation laid down to prepare all future generations.

כן ז' ימים אלו הם הכנה לכל השנה.

So too these seven days are a preparation for the entire year.

The seven days of Sukkos set the spiritual tone and serve as a preparation for the whole year ahead.

כי העיקר תליא בהתחלה.

For the essential thing depends on the beginning.

The way one begins determines everything that follows.

כאשר הגיד מו"ז ז"ל בענין עודם בירדן קבלו עליהם שלא להניח מז' האומות.

As my grandfather, of blessed memory, said regarding "while they were still in the Yarden" — they accepted upon themselves not to leave any of the seven nations.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): already as they stood in the Jordan, Bnei Yisrael took on the resolve to fully clear the land of the seven Canaanite nations.

ופי' כי ע"י שהקבלה בתחלת כניסתם הי' בטוב לכן הגם שלא גמרו במעשה הכל מ"מ נשאר תיקון מזה ע"ש.

And he explained: since the acceptance at the very start of their entry was good, therefore even though they did not complete it fully in deed, nonetheless a tikkun remained from this — see there.

Because their initial commitment was wholehearted, an enduring spiritual benefit remained, even though in practice they never finished the task.

וכמו כן הגם שאין יכולין בעוה"ז לעזוב כל הטבע.

And likewise, even though in this world we cannot wholly abandon the natural order.

So too with us: we cannot fully escape the constraints of physical nature in this world.

מ"מ בתחלת יצ"מ היה ההנהגה ממש שלא בדרך הטבע.

Nonetheless, at the start of Yetzias Mitzrayim the conduct was literally above the natural order.

At the outset of the Exodus, Hashem led Bnei Yisrael in an openly miraculous, supernatural way.

כמ"ש במד' ולא נחם בדרך ארץ כו' והטעם פן ינחם.

As it is written in the Midrash on "and He did not lead them by way of the land... " and the reason was "lest they reconsider."

Hashem deliberately did not lead them by the natural, direct route, but by a supernatural path, so they would not be tempted to turn back.

כמו כן עתה אחר ימי התשובה והכפרה צריכין להתלהב לצאת מן הטבע.

Likewise now, after the days of teshuvah and atonement, one must become inflamed to go out beyond nature.

Coming out of the Yamim Noraim, a person should burn with the drive to rise above his merely natural existence.

כענין בעל תשובה בחילא סגי כבורח מן השריפה.

Like the matter of a baal teshuvah acting "with great force" — like one fleeing from a fire.

The penitent must move with intense urgency, as a person fleeing a blaze, throwing his whole strength into the escape.

ובאמת עיקר התשובה הוא להיות דבוק בשורש למעלה.

And in truth the essence of teshuvah is to be bound (davuk) to the shoresh (root) Above.

True teshuvah is not merely regret but reattaching oneself to one's spiritual Source on high.

כמש"נ בשם פרקי דר"א והשיב לב אבות על בנים.

As is stated in the name of Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer: "And he shall return the heart of the fathers to the children" (Malachi 3:24).

Teshuvah means returning the children's hearts to align with the hearts of the Avos — reconnecting to the root of our forefathers.

וכ"כ גר אנכי כו' ככל אבותי שהאבות היו גרים בעולם.

And so it is written: "I am a sojourner (ger)... like all my fathers" (Tehillim 39:13) — for the Avos were sojourners in this world.

David HaMelech declares himself a stranger like the Avos, who lived as sojourners, never rooted in this world.

ועיקר תהלוכות שלהם הי' למעלה עד שאמרו האבות הן המרכבה.

And the essence of their conduct was Above, to the point that they said: the Avos are themselves the Merkavah (Divine chariot).

The Avos lived so attached to the higher realm that they became a "chariot" — a vehicle wholly carrying the Divine Presence.

וכמו כן נמצא בסוכות מעין גירות זה בכל איש ישראל.

And likewise, on Sukkos there is found a semblance of this geirus in every Jew.

On Sukkos each Jew tastes a measure of the Avos' "sojourner" existence — being in this world but rooted above it.

ולכן איתא בזוה"ק בסוכות תשבו על האושפיזין.

And therefore it is taught in the Zohar HaKadosh regarding "in sukkos you shall dwell" — about the Ushpizin (the exalted guests).

Because Sukkos awakens this sojourner-quality of the Avos, the Zohar speaks of the Ushpizin — the souls of Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov and others — who visit the sukkah.

שלהיות עתה עושין בנ"י כמעשה אבותיהם בא כח האבות לסייע להם.

For since Bnei Yisrael now act in the manner of their fathers, the power of the Avos comes to assist them.

When we imitate the Avos by living as sojourners in the sukkah, their spiritual power descends to help us.

לב אבות על בנים ולב בנים על אבותם.

"The heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers."

This is a two-way bond: the Avos turn toward us, and we turn our hearts back toward them.

כי הקב"ה עוזר לבע"ת.

For Hakadosh Baruch Hu helps the baalei teshuvah.

Hashem extends His aid to those who return to Him.

וכ' ארפא משובתם אוהבם נדבה פרש"י אתנדב לאהבתם.

And it is written: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely (nedavah)" (Hoshea 14:5); Rashi explains: "I will freely give of My love to them."

Hashem promises to heal those who strayed and to love them as a free, unearned gift.

וכולל ב' הפירושים שאוהב אותנו בנדבת רצונו ית'.

And it includes both interpretations: that He loves us out of the free-will offering of His ratzon, Yisborach.

One meaning: Hashem's love for us is a free gift flowing from His own will.

וגם נוטע בנו האהבה אליו כדכתיב ואוהב את יעקב.

And also that He plants within us the love for Him, as it is written: "And I loved Yaakov" (Malachi 1:2).

The second meaning: Hashem implants in us the very capacity to love Him in return.

אוהב פועל יוצא שנוטע בנו האהבה.

"Ohev (loving)" as a transitive verb — that He plants the love within us.

Read as a causative form, "He loves" means "He causes love" — He instills the love for Him inside us.

והנה ביוהכ"פ הוא ארפא משובתם.

Now, on Yom Kippur is "I will heal their backsliding."

Yom Kippur is the day of healing, when Hashem cures the wounds of our straying.

ובסוכות אוהבם נדבה.

And on Sukkos is "I will love them freely (nedavah)."

Sukkos, following the healing of Yom Kippur, is when Hashem pours out His free, loving gift upon us.

ושמעתי מפי מו"ז ז"ל בפסוק מאשפות ירים אביון.

And I heard from the mouth of my grandfather, of blessed memory, on the verse "He raises the destitute from the ash-heaps" (Tehillim 113:7).

The Sefas Emes relays a teaching of his grandfather on this pasuk about Hashem lifting up the lowly.

שהקב"ה עוזר לבנ"י ומעלה את הרצונות של בנ"י שהיו מונחין באשפות והבלי עולם.

That Hakadosh Baruch Hu helps Bnei Yisrael and raises up the desires (ratzonos) of Bnei Yisrael that had been lying in the "ash-heaps" and the vanities of the world.

Hashem lifts the yearnings of His people that had sunk into worldly emptiness, redeeming those very desires.

וע"י תשובה הקב"ה מעלה אותם להיות מתהפך לאהבתו ית' להושיבו עם נדיבים כו' ודפח"ח.

And through teshuvah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu raises them up so that they are transformed into love for Him, Yisborach — "to seat him with nobles" — and these are words that are pleasant to hear.

Teshuvah transforms a person's misdirected desires into love for Hashem, elevating him to sit among the "nobles" — the spiritually exalted.

וכמו כן נתקיים עתה אחר ימי התשובה שנעשין בנ"י נדיבים.

And likewise it is fulfilled now, after the days of teshuvah, that Bnei Yisrael become nedivim (noble/generous of spirit).

Having done teshuvah during the Yamim Noraim, Bnei Yisrael are now elevated to the status of "nobles."

ומושיב אותנו עם אושפיזין עילאין נדיבי עמו.

And He seats us together with the exalted Ushpizin, the "nobles of His people."

Now refined, we are seated in the sukkah alongside the lofty Ushpizin — the Avos and the spiritual nobility of Yisrael.

כמ"ש כל האזרח כו' ישבו בסוכות:

As it is written: "Every native-born... shall dwell in sukkos" (Vayikra 23:42).

Every Jew, now elevated to nobility through teshuvah, is included in this dwelling among the Ushpizin in the sukkah.

Summary: The sukkah embodies geirus — leaving our "permanent dwelling" to live as sojourners, just as Bnei Yisrael did in the midbar and as the Avos did their whole lives, until they became the very Merkavah. Since "the essential thing depends on the beginning," the seven days of Sukkos, like the supernatural start of Yetzias Mitzrayim, prepare the whole year, demanding the urgent fire of a baal teshuvah fleeing a blaze. The essence of teshuvah is reattaching to the root Above and to the Avos. Yom Kippur is "I will heal their backsliding"; Sukkos is "I will love them freely." Hashem raises the fallen desires of His people from the "ash-heaps" and transforms them into love for Him, making them "nobles" — so that we now sit in the sukkah among the exalted Ushpizin.