Following Hashem into the wilderness on pure faith

כתיב זכרתי לך חסד נעוריך כו'.

It is written: "I remember for you the chesed of your youth…" (Yirmiyahu 2:2)

The Sefas Emes opens with Hashem's praise of Bnei Yisrael's devotion in their "youth" — when they followed Him into the wilderness.

כי הקב"ה חפץ חסד הוא וכשהתחתונים זוכין לעורר חסדו ית"ש יש לפניו שמחה במרום.

For the Holy One desires chesed (kindness), and when those below merit to awaken His kindness, blessed be He, there is joy before Him on high.

Hashem delights in chesed, and when people down here arouse His kindness through their own initiative, this brings, as it were, simchah in the upper worlds.

חסד נעוריך מה שהתעוררו בנ"י את החסד ולפי שהי' בהתעוררות שלהם נשאר זכרון לדורות כענין שאמרו נקיבה מזרעת תחלה יולדת זכר שהוא בנין עדי עד.

"The chesed of your youth" — that Bnei Yisrael awakened the chesed; and because it came through their own awakening, a remembrance remained for the generations, as Chazal said, "When the female emits seed first, she gives birth to a male," which is an everlasting edifice.

Because the chesed began as an isarusa diletata (arousal from below) — Bnei Yisrael initiating toward Hashem — it took on permanence, like the principle that an arousal that starts below produces a lasting, "male" result that endures for all generations.

והנה בנ"י היו במדבר מ' שנה.

Now, Bnei Yisrael were in the wilderness for forty years.

He turns to the years in the midbar — the setting in which this devotion was demonstrated.

אבל עיקר השבח לבנ"י מה שנמשכו אחריו ית"ש בתחלה קודם קבלת התורה.

But the essential praise of Bnei Yisrael is that they were drawn after Him, blessed be He, at the very start, before receiving the Torah.

The real greatness was not obedience after Matan Torah but their willingness to follow Hashem into the desert even before they had been given the Torah and its understanding.

שזה פי' במדבר בארץ לא זרועה קודם שקבלו התורה והדעת.

This is the meaning of "in the wilderness, in an unsown land" — before they received the Torah and da'as (understanding).

"An unsown land" hints at a state with no spiritual "planting" yet — they followed Hashem on pure emunah, before any da'as had been given to them.

ובזכות זה נשאר זכר לדורות השפלים ג"כ אעפ"י שחסרי דעת הם.

And in the merit of this, a remembrance remained even for the lowly generations as well, even though they lack da'as.

Because the original bond was forged through bare devotion without da'as, later weaker generations — who also lack such understanding — can still draw upon that enduring merit.

ואיכא פלוגתא בגמרא אי סוכה דירת קבע בעינן או עראי והלכה דירת עראי.

And there is a dispute in the Gemara whether a sukkah requires a permanent dwelling (diras keva) or a temporary one (diras arai), and the halachah is that it is a temporary dwelling.

He brings the machlokes about the sukkah: must it be built as a permanent home or as a temporary one — and the halachah follows diras arai, a temporary dwelling.

והענין הוא כנ"ל כי בודאי עצם בנ"י דירתן צריך להיות בקבוע תחת צלו ית"ש.

And the matter is as above: for certainly the essence of Bnei Yisrael — their dwelling ought to be permanently under His shade, blessed be He.

In their true essence, Bnei Yisrael belong permanently in the shade of the Shechinah — a diras keva of constant closeness to Hashem.

אבל לא כל הדורות ראוים לזה.

But not all generations are worthy of this.

Such constant dwelling in kedushah is a level not every generation can sustain.

רק אפילו אותן שא"י להיות בקביעות בצל הקודש מ"מ בימים הללו חוסין בצלו ית"ש.

Only that even those who cannot abide permanently in the holy shade — nevertheless during these days [of Sukkos] they take shelter in His shade, blessed be He.

Even those unable to live in permanent closeness to Hashem are granted, during Sukkos, a temporary refuge in His protective shade.

והלכה כרבים דדירת עראי הוא.

And the halachah follows the majority, that it is a temporary dwelling.

For the rabim (the majority of people), the sukkah is fittingly a diras arai — a temporary shelter suited to those who cannot remain permanently in the shade of kedushah.

וליחידי סגולה סוכה דירת קבע:

But for the select few (yechidei segulah), the sukkah is a permanent dwelling.

The rare individuals who truly live under the Shechinah's shade experience the sukkah as a diras keva — for them the temporary shelter is in fact their permanent home in Hashem.

Summary: Bnei Yisrael's greatness was following Hashem into the barren wilderness before Matan Torah, on pure devotion without da'as — an arousal from below that became an everlasting merit accessible even to weak later generations. The sukkah mirrors this: ideally a permanent dwelling in the shade of the Shechinah, yet the halachah rules it a temporary one, since most can only take shelter during these days, while the select few experience it as their true permanent home.