Torah as the inner shefa of Yaakov

ביום השמיני עצרת תהי' לכם ועושין בו שמחת תורה.

"On the eighth day there shall be an atzeres for you" (Bamidbar 29:35), and on it we celebrate Simchas Torah.

Shemini Atzeres is set apart "for you" — a private day — and it is the day we rejoice with the Torah.

דהנה בחג נדונים על המים.

For on the festival of Sukkos we are judged regarding the water.

Sukkos is the time of judgment for rainfall, the source of all growth in the coming year.

כמו שהגשם מן השמים הוא המרוה את הארץ לעשות תולדות ולהוציא פירות.

Just as the rain from the heavens saturates the earth to produce growth and bring forth fruit,

Rain descends from above and enables the earth to yield its produce — a model for spiritual influence.

כמו כן באדם עיקר הסיוע מן השמים בכח התורה המסייעת לעובד ה' לעשות מצות ומעש"ט שהם הפרי.

so too for a person, the essential help from Heaven comes through the power of the Torah, which assists the oved Hashem (one who serves Hashem) to perform mitzvos and good deeds, which are the fruit.

The Torah is the spiritual "rain" from above that empowers a person to bring forth the fruit of mitzvos and maasim tovim (good deeds).

והתולדות והשפעה הבאה מלמעלה מתלבש בטבע יש בה תערובת וחלק לכל העמים.

The produce and the shefa (flow of blessing) that come from above clothe themselves in nature, and so they contain a mixture, with a portion for all the nations.

When Heavenly influence enters the physical world, it becomes intermingled, and even the nations receive a share of the outer blessing.

כמאכל שיש בו פסולת ומזון לכל אבר כפי מה שהוא.

Like food, which contains waste as well as nourishment, feeding each limb according to its nature.

Physical food carries both refuse and sustenance, nourishing each part of the body as suits it.

אבל הלב נוטל צחותא דכולא.

But the heart takes the purest essence of it all.

The heart draws only the finest, purest part of the nourishment — the inner essence with no waste.

כדאיתא בזוה"ק פינחס שבנ"י נמשלו ללב וניזונין מפנימיות המאכל.

As the holy Zohar in Pinchas teaches, that Bnei Yisrael are compared to the heart and are nourished from the inner part of the food.

Just as the heart receives the purest essence, Bnei Yisrael draw their nourishment from the penimiyus — the inner core of the shefa.

וזה הרמז שניתנה תורה לאוכלי המן לחם שנבלע באיברים שאין בו פסולת.

This is the hint that the Torah was given to those who ate the mann (manna) — bread that was absorbed entirely into the limbs, with no waste.

The mann was wholly absorbed without refuse, and only such a refined generation could receive the Torah, which is itself pure inner sustenance.

והוא בחי' עצרת תהיה לכם שלא ליתן מזה חלק לעמים.

This is the aspect of "atzeres — it shall be for you," that no portion of it be given to the nations.

"Atzeres" (a holding back) means this pure inner joy of Torah is reserved entirely for Bnei Yisrael, with no share for the nations.

וז"ש והיית אך שמח אך למעט אחרים ולמעט שאין בשמחה זו פסולת.

This is the meaning of "you shall be only joyful" (Devarim 16:15) — "only" (ach) excludes others, and excludes any waste in this joy.

The limiting word "ach" teaches both that this joy belongs only to Bnei Yisrael and that it is a joy entirely without refuse — pure penimiyus.

ואיתא במדרשות העוסק בתורה זוכה לנחלת יעקב שנאמר תורה צוה כו' מורשה קהלת יעקב.

The Midrashim teach that one who toils in Torah merits the inheritance of Yaakov, as it is said: "The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4).

Through immersion in Torah a person joins the legacy of Yaakov and shares in his unbounded inheritance.

שע"י התורה זוכין להיות בכלל קהלת יעקב לזכות לנחלה בלי מצרים.

For through the Torah one merits to be counted in the congregation of Yaakov, to attain an inheritance without boundaries.

Torah grants a "nachalah bli meitzarim" — an inheritance without limits or borders, the unbounded portion of Yaakov.

ובזכות התורה שעסק יעקב אבינו כמ"ש יושב אהלים נטל גם ברכת עשו.

And in the merit of the Torah that Yaakov Avinu toiled in — as it is written "a dweller of tents" (Bereishis 25:27) — he also took the blessing of Esav.

Yaakov, the dweller in the tents of Torah, earned through that toil even the blessings that Esav had expected.

ולכן המנהג לקרות בליל שמחת תורה ויתן לך האלקים שזכה ליקח הברכות בכח התורה.

Therefore the custom is to recite on the night of Simchas Torah "And Hashem shall give you" (Bereishis 27:28), for Yaakov merited to take the blessings by the power of the Torah.

We read Yitzchak's berachah to Yaakov on Simchas Torah to recall that it was Torah that won him those blessings.

ומסתמא זה נוהג בכל שנה שמדת הדין רוצה ליתן אלה הברכות לעשו ולבסוף בכח התורה ניתנין אל יעקב.

Presumably this recurs every year: the attribute of strict judgment wishes to give these blessings to Esav, but in the end, through the power of the Torah, they are given to Yaakov.

Each year a spiritual contest replays — middas hadin would award the blessings to Esav, yet Torah secures them for Bnei Yisrael.

וזה הסדר מתחיל מר"ה בכסה ליום חגינו.

This sequence begins from Rosh Hashanah, "on the covered day of our festival" (Tehillim 81:4).

The process starts on Rosh Hashanah, when the true intent is still hidden ("bakeseh," concealed).

שאז נכסה ונסתר עיקר המכוון.

For then the essential goal is covered and concealed.

On Rosh Hashanah the ultimate purpose of the season is still hidden from view.

ונרמז בתקיעות שופר לאחוז בקול יעקב שהוא התורה.

It is hinted in the shofar blasts — to grasp "the voice of Yaakov," which is the Torah.

The shofar calls us to take hold of the "kol Yaakov" (voice of Yaakov), the voice of Torah, which is our strength against Esav.

ונגמר ונתגלה בפרהסיא בזה החג.

And it is completed and revealed openly on this festival.

What began hidden on Rosh Hashanah is now fully revealed and celebrated publicly on Simchas Torah.

וכן הוא בפרט כל איש ישראל לפי יגיעתו בתורה זוכה לפנימיות השפע.

So too with each individual of Yisrael: according to his toil in Torah he merits the inner part of the shefa.

Every Jew personally draws from the penimiyus of the Heavenly flow in proportion to his effort in Torah.

והיא נחלה בלי מצרים שאין בה פסולת ומגע נכרי כלל.

This is the inheritance without boundaries, which contains no waste and no foreign touch at all.

This pure inner portion is wholly Bnei Yisrael's, untouched by any external mixture.

כמו שניתנה תורה לאוכלי המן כמו כן העוסק בתורה זוכה לאכול מן השפע שנבלע באיברים בלי פסולת מעין אכילת המן.

Just as the Torah was given to those who ate the mann, so too one who toils in Torah merits to partake of the shefa that is absorbed into the limbs without waste, akin to the eating of the mann.

Toiling in Torah lets a person "eat" the spiritual flow the way the mann was eaten — fully absorbed, with no refuse.

ועושין שמחת תורה להודיע כי בזכות התורה זכינו לכל התיקונים שנעשו מר"ה עד שמ"ע:

And we make Simchas Torah to proclaim that it is in the merit of the Torah that we attained all the rectifications wrought from Rosh Hashanah until Shemini Atzeres.

Simchas Torah declares that Torah is what secured all the spiritual tikkunim achieved across the whole season of judgment.

Summary: The shefa from Heaven, like rain and like food, contains a mixture in which even the nations share — but Bnei Yisrael, compared to the heart, draw the pure inner essence, as the mann was wholly absorbed without waste. This penimiyus is the inheritance of Yaakov, an unbounded portion won through the power of Torah, which each year wrests the blessings from the grasp of Esav. Simchas Torah celebrates that it is Torah alone that secured all the rectifications of the season from Rosh Hashanah through Shemini Atzeres.