Hoshana Rabbah: The Cry of “Hosha Na!”

Based on Likutei Ya”M HaChochmah: Festivals and Seasonal Avodah Series: Sukkot

The revelation / gilui of Ateret HaYesod

The Gra reveals that the sod of Hoshana Rabbah is Ateret HaYesod / the crown of Yesod, where Malchut is integrated within Yesod of Zeir Anpin. More specifically, this is the revelation / gilui of Ateret HaYesod of Aba.

This is the hidden depth of the cry “Hosha Na!”

אָנָּא ה׳ הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא; אָנָּא ה׳ הַצְלִיחָה נָּא.
Please, Hashem, save now! Please, Hashem, bring success now!
—Tehillim 118:25

When Klal Yisrael cries “Hosha Na!” with complete temimut / תְּמִימוּת and peshitut / פְּשִׁיטוּת, this cry alludes to the shem BaN, the name of Hashem whose numerical value is fifty-two.

The word na / נָא has the numerical value of fifty-one. With the addition of the Shechinah, it becomes fifty-two—the numerical value of BaN.

This teaches us that it is the Shechinah who reveals the path by which we can emerge from the kelipah of the Erev Rav and enter the wondrous shalom concealed within the sod of the lulav.

The lulav is not only held; it embodies integration. Its four minim gather distinct forces into one avodah. Its shalom is therefore not a superficial absence of conflict. It is the unification of forces that had appeared separate.

The cry “Hosha Na” asks the Shechinah to gather us out of fragmentation and restore us to that yichud.

What was not repaired on Yom Kippur can still be repaired

Hoshana Rabbah contains a profound gift. Even if we did not attain on Yom Kippur what we could have attained, we are given another opening through which everything can be repaired.

The tikkun of Hoshana Rabbah comes through three powers:

• The cry of “Hosha Na!”

• Torah

• Tefilla

Through the revelation / gilui of Ateret HaYesod of Zeir Anpin, a person can rise beyond her present madreigah and ascend toward Radla / רַדְלָ״א—Reisha DeLo Ityada, the unknowable head.

This ascent begins not necessarily with understanding, but with a cry.

There are moments when our avodah is articulated through ordered thought, developed da’at, and clearly directed kavvanah. There are also moments when the deepest truth we possess is contained in one unadorned cry: “Hosha Na—Hashem, save us.”

The cry comes from a place deeper than our ability to explain ourselves.

Speech without da’at

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches that both Hoshana Rabbah and Simchat Torah are days in which we exercise the power of speech.

The speech of Hoshana Rabbah, however, is speech without da’at, while the speech of Simchat Torah is speech with da’at.

On Simchat Torah, the yichud is expressed through speech joined with da’at. The Torah has been completed and immediately begun again. Our mouths articulate the Torah from within a state of revelation / gilui and integration.

On Hoshana Rabbah, the upper ta’anugim have not yet been revealed. We stand before that revelation. Our speech therefore emerges from a place that precedes conscious da’at.

This does not mean that the cry is empty of inner content. It means that its content is deeper than what our present da’at can contain.

The cry of Hoshana Rabbah rises precisely because it is not limited by our comprehension.

Revealing the staff of Moshe

Our speech and tefillot should be directed toward the revelation / gilui of the light of the staff of Moshe—the power that splits the sea.

וְאַתָּה הָרֵם אֶת מַטְּךָ וּנְטֵה אֶת יָדְךָ עַל הַיָּם וּבְקָעֵהוּ; וְיָבֹאוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּתוֹךְ הַיָּם בַּיַּבָּשָׁה.
And you, lift your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and split it; and Bnei Yisrael shall come into the midst of the sea on dry land.
—Shemot 14:16

The sea is the sea of Chokhmah, the sea of Torah. To split the sea is to open what had appeared closed, revealing a path within depths that seemed impenetrable.

This tikkun is bound to the repair of the sin at the waters of Merivah, when Moshe struck the rock:

וַיָּרֶם מֹשֶׁה אֶת יָדוֹ, וַיַּךְ אֶת הַסֶּלַע בְּמַטֵּהוּ פַּעֲמָיִם; וַיֵּצְאוּ מַיִם רַבִּים, וַתֵּשְׁתְּ הָעֵדָה וּבְעִירָם.
Moshe raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; abundant water came forth, and the assembly and their animals drank.
—Bamidbar 20:11

The tikkun takes place through the joining of the forty-two-letter and seventy-two-letter names of Hashem, each person according to her own shoresh and madreigah.

These two shemot must be brought into yichud. Yet our failures in ahavat Yisrael and our failure to honor the tzadikim create distance between them.

Each of us must ask herself:

How distant am I from the true tzadikim? Where have I failed to honor them? Where is my ahavat Yisrael? How deeply do I recognize and honor the neshamah of every Jew?

We must do teshuvah for failing to occupy ourselves with the kavod of the Shechinah. We must accept upon ourselves to build a dwelling for Malchut by honoring every Jew—and especially by honoring the true tzadikim of the generation.

The repair of Malchut is not accomplished only through hidden kavvanot. Malchut is built through the way we regard another Jewish neshamah.

The second seal is formed through Torah

On Hoshana Rabbah, a second, outer seal is placed upon the first, inner seal that was formed on Yom Kippur.

The inner seal is formed at Ne’ilah through tefilla. It is the seal of Yesod and corresponds to kedushah.

The outer seal is formed on Hoshana Rabbah. It is the seal of Malchut and corresponds to emunah.

The Arizal describes these two seals:

וְהִנֵּה הַחוֹתָם הַהוּא הוּא הַחוֹתָם הָעִקָּרִי הַפְּנִימִי... וְהִנֵּה בְּלֵיל הוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּא נַעֲשֶׂה הַחוֹתָם הַשֵּׁנִי הַחִיצוֹן, בְּסוֹד חוֹתָם בְּתוֹךְ חוֹתָם.
That seal is the essential inner seal… and on the night of Hoshana Rabbah, the second, outer seal is formed, in the sod of a seal within a seal.
—Arizal, Sha’ar HaKavvanot, Derushei Chag HaSukkot, Derush 6

The outer seal is more exposed to the forces of accusation. It must therefore be secured through Torah. This is why we read Mishneh Torah on the night of Hoshana Rabbah.

More precisely, the seal is formed through the Written Torah, which repairs Malchut—the Oral Torah—and brings the Torah into the state of lishmah, wholly for Hashem.

The Torah and the holy names of Hashem concealed within it subjugate the forces of accusation. They overcome not only the force called the Serpent, but even the force called the Scorpion.

The Serpent represents the impure force of illicit desire. A Jew may fall under its influence and sin, yet her essential identity as a Jew remains.

יִשְׂרָאֵל, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁחָטָא, יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא.
A Jew, even though she has sinned, remains a Jew.
—Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 44a

Despite the severity of the sin, she remains connected to Klal Yisrael. She can be included within the collective tefillot of the Jewish people.

The Scorpion represents the force of heresy—the denial of Hashem and the attribution of independent power to something other than Him. This force seeks to sever a person from the unity of Klal Yisrael. It damages the point of the letter dalet in Echad / אֶחָד, chas veshalom, transforming the recognition of Hashem’s oneness into acher / אַחֵר, the illusion of another power.

Torah protects the outer seal because Torah reveals that no power exists independently of Hashem.

The seals of Yom Kippur and Hoshana Rabbah

Why is the final seal delayed until Hoshana Rabbah, immediately before the zivug between Klal Yisrael and Hashem on Shemini Atzeret?

The seal of Hoshana Rabbah is the seal of emunah. It forms a strong wall that protects a person in every situation—even when she has no expanded mochin, receives no new light, and is given no fresh insight.

When a person encounters choshech / darkness and forces that seek to draw her away from kedushah, emunah enables her to remain in her place like an unbreachable wall.

This is a demanding avodah. She has no feeling upon which to lean and no revealed light to support her. To remain faithful in such a state requires a great and deep love of Hashem.

The seal is therefore completed immediately before the zivug, when the neshikin / נְשִׁיקִין—the kisses of closeness—begin to awaken. At the point of greatest closeness, we return to Malchut and complete her wall.

On Yom Kippur, the five Gevurot are drawn first through the five forms of physical affliction; only afterward is the seal formed. On Hoshana Rabbah, the order is reversed: first comes the seal, and afterward the five Gevurot are drawn down.

The difference reflects the nature of Malchut.

Malchut rises from below to above. Its avodah begins with accepting the burden of serving Hashem even before desire, relationship, or light has been revealed.

First, a person enters the avodah because it is true and because she belongs to Hashem. Only afterward do ratzon / will and light enter her. These are the five Gevurot.

Malchut begins in a low and dark place. Only afterward does it discover the light concealed there.

The outer seal of emunah

The seal of Malchut—emunah—is, in one dimension, higher than the seal of Yesod.

The seal of Yesod establishes that a person will receive pleasure only from kedushah. This is already a profound madreigah, but spiritual pleasure is still present. A person can delight in Torah, tefilla, devekut, and revelation / gilui Elokut.

The avodah of Malchut contains no condition of pleasure.

It resembles a guardian standing upon the wall of Yerushalayim. She is not occupied with whether she feels inspired, illuminated, or inwardly expanded. She is occupied with guarding the wall.

This is the outer seal. Even when a person feels nothing unusual, she serves Hashem because she belongs to Him.

It is called a “seal within a seal” because it protects the inner seal of Yesod. Yesod guards the purity of spiritual pleasure. Malchut guards the relationship even when no pleasure is felt.

In this respect, the outer seal of emunah on Hoshana Rabbah rises higher than the inner seal of Yesod on Yom Kippur. When a person serves Hashem without illumination or emotional support, her avodah transcends her reason and present perception.

It takes tremendous inner strength to build a wall capable of standing during a difficult time.

The judgment of Hoshana Rabbah therefore concerns, in its deepest sense, the truth and durability of our emunah.

The Gevurot of Hoshana Rabbah

After all the Chasadim have entered on Hoshana Rabbah, the Gevurot enter.

The Me’or VaShemesh teaches that we must not reject or disregard the Gevurot. They must be included within the Chasadim so that they can be sweetened.

Gevurah is not meant to be erased. It must be used correctly.

The Gevurot become a keli because they create yearning for yichud. The kelim of Yesod and Malchut are built specifically from the force of Gevurah.

Our longings, desires, and unfulfilled wishes can feel like din. We experience the distance between what we possess and what we yearn to receive. Yet this very tension creates the keli for yichud.

The many tefillot of Hoshana Rabbah and the reading of Mishneh Torah enable us to receive the Gevurot without being ruled by them.

We do not nullify our longing. We redirect it.

We take our desires, our intensity, and our kisufin / כִּסּוּפִין / desire, and channel them toward the longing to experience Elokut.

The purpose is not to become a woman without desire. It is to become a woman whose desire itself serves Hashem.

The deep and simple cry of “Hosha Na!”

On Yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol entered lifnai velifnim / לִפְנַי וְלִפְנִים—into the innermost chamber before Hashem—the light of Yesod of Aba was present, but it could not yet be recognized. It remained hidden.

The key to this light is da’at. This da’at is concealed within the entry of the Kohen Gadol into the Kodesh HaKodashim.

During the Second Beit HaMikdash, when the Aron was hidden, this da’at was hidden with it. Today, it is revealed only to the true tzadik, who stands in relation to the generation as the Kohen Gadol stood within the Kodesh HaKodashim.

Through this da’at, all dinim can be sweetened. Yet the da’at itself remains concealed, for it belongs to the sod of the upper ta’anugim and to the yichud of Memale and Sovev.

On Hoshana Rabbah, however, this light becomes accessible through the cry “Hosha Na!”

It is revealed through temimut and peshitut.

Rabbi Nachman teaches that the simple person can attain every madreigah through peshitut. What can be reached by the true tzadik through the hidden yichudim of the Kohen Gadol in the Kodesh HaKodashim can touch an ordinary Jew through the sincerity of her cry on Hoshana Rabbah.

On the night of Hoshana Rabbah, during the reading of Mishneh Torah, we must cry within the depths of the heart:

“Hosha Na! Hosha Na!”

The true tzadikim know how to weaken the kelipot of the Erev Rav, Gog, and Armilus through the names of Hashem. We are not experts in these shemot, but the true tzadikim are.

Our avodah is to cry “Hosha Na” with emunah peshutah and ask the Shechinah to complete what we cannot complete ourselves.

Through the merit of this cry, Hashem completes the tikkun for us and raises us toward the perceptions of the true tzadikim.

The Shechinah rises to Radla. Through the peshitut of our tefilla, she can raise us with her until we touch the da’at of devekut in the Ein Sof / Infinite Light.

The cry that unites Klal Yisrael

May Hashem help us become integrated within His undifferentiated unity together with all the neshamot of Klal Yisrael.

The power of the Sitra Achra is sustained by sinat chinam. At the external level of evil is illicit desire, represented by the avodah zarah of Pe’or. At its inner level lies unwarranted hatred.

To subjugate these kelipot, we need great kisufin. We must yearn for every barrier between Jewish neshamot to be erased and for all of Klal Yisrael to become integrated within the simple unity of Hashem.

The entry of the Kohen Gadol into the Kodesh HaKodashim reveals a path for every Jew. Through the temimut and peshitut of crying “Hosha Na,” we can be connected to the path of yichudim and to the Torah of the true tzadikim.

The cry is uttered by each individual, but it rises as the cry of one people.

The sod of striking the Hoshanot

When a person does teshuvah and discovers that she has become more elevated than she was before the sin—when she feels anew the joy of being a Jew and the closeness of belonging to Hashem—this is a sign that she has touched the point of Keter.

At that point, karet / כָּרֵת—severance—is transformed into Keter / כֶּתֶר—a crown. The distance itself is retroactively transformed into closeness.

We are not speaking of Keter in its absolute level, which lies entirely beyond our comprehension. Every world and every madreigah, however, contains all the levels within itself. Even within Asiyah of Asiyah, there is a point of Keter.

When a person reaches the deepest devekut available to her on her present level, she has reached the Keter of that level—the highest point presently available to her.

The Arizal explains that on Hoshana Rabbah we take five aravot and strike them against the ground five times, corresponding to the five Gevurot:

צָרִיךְ לַחֲבֹט חֲמִשָּׁה בַּדֵּי עֲרָבָה בְּהוֹשַׁעְנָא רַבָּה חָמֵשׁ פְּעָמִים עַל הַקַּרְקַע.
One must strike five willow branches on Hoshana Rabbah five times upon the ground.
—Arizal, Sha’ar HaKavvanot, Derushei Chag HaSukkot, Derush 6

This striking is itself a form of yichud and devekut called neshikin—kisses.

How can striking the ground be a form of closeness?

At this point, the devekut is so complete that even what appears to be striking, distance, or din is revealed as a form of yichud.

It can be compared to a woman who suddenly feels a forceful slap upon her shoulder. Startled and upset, she turns around and discovers that it came from a beloved friend whom she has not seen for many years.

The sensation has not changed, but its meaning has been transformed. What first felt like aggression is now received as an expression of closeness. Even the force of the touch becomes sweet because its source has been revealed.

This is the devekut of Keter that transforms karet into Keter.

What appeared to be distance is revealed as closeness. What appeared to be rejection is revealed as a summons. What appeared to be Gevurah is included within Chasadim and becomes a keli for yichud.

The aravot are struck against the earth, but their movement is called a kiss.

This is the final avodah of Hoshana Rabbah: to cry from the place that does not yet understand, to stand faithfully when no light is felt, to redirect every desire toward Elokut, and ultimately to discover that even the distance was carrying us toward yichud.

“Hosha Na” is the cry of a neshamah that cannot complete the tikkun alone.

It is also the cry through which HaKadosh Baruch Hu completes it for her.

Mekorot

• Tehillim 118:25: “Ana Hashem, hoshiah na.”

• The Gra: Hoshana Rabbah as the revelation / gilui of Ateret HaYesod.

• Talmud Bavli, Ta’anit 31a: the future revelation / gilui recognized by the tzadikim.

• Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: Hoshana Rabbah as speech without da’at and Simchat Torah as speech with da’at.

• Shemot 14:16: Moshe’s staff and the splitting of the sea.

• Bamidbar 20:11: Moshe striking the rock at the waters of Merivah.

• Arizal, Sha’ar HaKavvanot, Derushei Chag HaSukkot, Derush 6: the inner seal of Yom Kippur, the outer seal of Hoshana Rabbah, and the five aravot corresponding to the five Gevurot.

• Shemen Sasson: the inner seal through tefilla and the outer seal through Torah.

• Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 44a: “A Jew, even though she has sinned, remains a Jew.”

• Me’or VaShemesh, teachings for Hoshana Rabbah: including the Gevurot within the Chasadim and sweetening them.

• The Arizal: striking the Hoshanot as a yichud of neshikin.