Purified uprightness and the joy of Sukkos

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון.

"And you shall take for yourselves on the first day" (Vayikra 23:40).

The pasuk commands taking the arba minim on the "first day" of Sukkos.

אמרו חז"ל ראשון לחשבון עונות.

Chazal said: "the first" for the reckoning of sins.

Sukkos is the "first day" of a new accounting of any sins — since after Yom Kippur one begins with a clean slate.

דכתיב האלקים עשה את האדם ישר והמה בקשו חשבונות רבים.

For it is written, "Elokim made man upright, but they sought many calculations" (Koheles 7:29).

Man was created straight and simple, but human beings complicate themselves with "many calculations" — the convoluted reasonings that lead to sin.

ואחר יוהכ"פ שנטהרו נפשות בנ"י באים לזה הישרות.

And after Yom Kippur, when the souls of Bnei Yisrael have been purified, they come to this uprightness (yashrus).

Once cleansed on Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael return to their original "straightness," free of the tangled calculations.

ולכן השמחה בסוכות כדכ' ולישרי לב שמחה.

Therefore the joy is on Sukkos, as it is written, "and for the upright of heart, joy" (Tehillim 97:11).

The simchah of Sukkos flows precisely from this restored uprightness — for joy belongs to the "upright of heart."

וצריכין לשמור שלא לשוב עוד לחשבונות רבים.

And one must guard not to return again to the "many calculations."

The avodah now is to protect this newfound simplicity and not relapse into convoluted, sin-leading reasonings.

רק כמ"ש דוד המע"ה אחת שאלתי כו' אותה אבקש.

Rather, as David HaMelech said, "One thing I asked... that I seek" (Tehillim 27:4).

Instead of many calculations, one should have a single unified desire — like David's request for the one thing.

להיות רצון אחד לאל אחד.

To have one will toward the One God.

The goal is a single, unified ratzon directed wholly toward the one Hashem.

ומיני הלולב רומז לציור האדם כמ"ש לידע איך שמך נק' עלי.

And the kinds of the lulav hint at the form (tziyur) of man, as it is said, "to know how Your Name is called upon me."

The four species correspond to the spiritual "image" of a person — the various parts through which Hashem's Name is imprinted upon him.

שע"י החטא נסתר זה הציור ואחר הטהרה נגלה זה הציור.

For through sin this form is hidden, and after the purification this form is revealed.

Sin conceals a person's true inner image; the purification of the Yamim Nora'im uncovers it again.

שעליו נאמר עם זו יצרתי לי.

About which it is said, "This people I formed for Myself" (Yeshayah 43:21).

This revealed inner form is what makes Bnei Yisrael the people Hashem "formed for Himself."

ולכן בסוכות הלל גמור וכמ"ש עם נברא יהלל.

Therefore on Sukkos there is complete Hallel, as it says, "a people created shall praise [Hashem]" (Tehillim 102:19).

The full Hallel of Sukkos expresses the praise of the "created people" whose inner image now shines forth.

ונק' בנ"י עם נברא הגם שהכל בריותיו של הקב"ה.

And Bnei Yisrael are called "a people created," even though everything is the creation of Hashem.

Though all things are Hashem's creations, Bnei Yisrael bear the special title "a created people."

רק בבנ"י ניכר זה הציור והבריאה שברא הקב"ה לכבודו.

Only that in Bnei Yisrael this form is recognizable — the creation that Hashem created for His honor.

In Bnei Yisrael the purpose of creation, fashioned for Hashem's glory, is visibly manifest.

וברשעים נסתר מכוון הבריאה ולכן לרשע אמר [אלקים] מה לך לספר חוקי.

And in the wicked the purpose of creation is hidden, and therefore to the wicked one Elokim said, "What right have you to recount My statutes?" (Tehillim 50:16).

In a rasha the goal of creation is obscured, so he is told he has no standing to declare Hashem's praises.

וכ"כ הללו עבדי ה' דרשו ולא עבדי פרעה.

And so too it is written, "Praise, O servants of Hashem" (Tehillim 113:1) — they expounded: and not the servants of Pharaoh.

Only "servants of Hashem" can offer this praise — not those still enslaved to Pharaoh, i.e., to alien masters.

פי' שכל זמן שמשועבדין למלכות א"י להוציא מכח אל הפועל תהלת ה' רק כשנעשין בני חורין וכמ"ש אז ישיר.

The explanation: that as long as they are enslaved to [a foreign] kingdom they cannot bring the praise of Hashem from potential into actuality; only when they become free men, as it says, "Then they sang" (Shemos 15:1).

Subjugation blocks the soul from actualizing its praise of Hashem; only freedom (as at the Splitting of the Sea) releases the song.

וכמו כן וכש"כ כשמשועבדין תחת היצה"ר וסט"א.

And likewise, and all the more so, when they are enslaved under the yetzer hara and the sitra achra.

Even more than political slavery, enslavement to the yetzer hara and the forces of impurity stifles one's ability to praise Hashem.

ולכן אחר יוהכ"פ שנגאלו מתחת יד היצה"ר יש הלל גמור.

Therefore after Yom Kippur, when they have been redeemed from the hand of the yetzer hara, there is complete Hallel.

Having been freed from the yetzer hara on Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael can now offer the full Hallel of Sukkos.

ונקראו עם נברא מלשון ברי לבב שנטהרו הנפשות ונתבררו.

And they are called "a people created" (am nivra), from the expression "pure of heart" (barei leivav), for the souls were purified and refined.

The Sefas Emes links "nivra" (created) to "bar" (pure/clear): Bnei Yisrael earn this name because their souls have been cleansed and clarified.

וע"ז כתיב טוב לישראל אלקים לברי לבב.

And about this it is written, "Surely Elokim is good to Yisrael, to the pure of heart" (Tehillim 73:1).

The pasuk equates "Yisrael" with "the pure of heart" — those who have been cleansed.

שע"י הדין בר"ה ויוכ"פ נתבררו:

For through the judgment on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur they were refined.

The din of the Yamim Nora'im is what purifies and clarifies the souls, making them "pure of heart."

Summary: Sukkos is the "first day" of a fresh accounting because, purified by Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael return to their original "uprightness" — abandoning the tangled "many calculations" of sin for a single will toward the one Hashem. The lulav represents the inner "form" of a person, which sin conceals and purification reveals. Freed from enslavement to the yetzer hara just as they were once freed from Pharaoh, the now "pure of heart" people can bring forth the complete Hallel — the praise of the "created people" formed for Hashem's glory.