For Your Sake, Hashem

הוֹשַׁעְנָא לְמַעַנְךָ אֱלֹקֵינוּ הוֹשַׁעְנָא

Save us for Your sake, our G-d, save us.

For Your Sake, Hashem

The appeal of למענך אלקינו הושענא can be understood in light of our minhag (see Tur, Orach Chaim 664), just before Hallel on Hoshana Rabbah, to remove the three rings binding the lulav.

These rings commemorate the three Avos, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov (see Turei Zahav 651 and Shulchan Aruch HaRav 11), drawing their sacred legacy upon us throughout Chag HaSukkos. The question we must ask, then, is why would we deliberately loosen that bond now, at the very moment we begin the solemn tefillos of Hoshana Rabbah?

To invoke the merit of the Avos, one must himself be worthy, standing on the level of a tzaddik (see Shabbos 55a and Tosafos there, s.v. "V'Shmuel"). Otherwise, drawing upon that zechus can itself, Heaven forbid, awaken a kitrug against him. It is like a prince who does not conduct himself as befits his stature. The very fact that he is the king's son can become an accusation against him, for it only serves to underscore the distance between his conduct and the dignity of his lineage.

This sheds light on a seemingly puzzling aspect of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah. The tekiah, shevarim, and teruah correspond to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and serve to invoke their merit on the Yom HaDin (see Zohar III, 99b). Yet the Gemara teaches that the shofar is also intended to "confuse the Satan" (Rosh Hashanah 16b). At first glance, this is difficult to understand. If we are not relying upon our own merits, but are coming before Hashem through the merit of the Avos HaKedoshim, what power could the Satan possibly raise against us?

The answer is that the very act of us calling upon their holy zechus can itself awaken a kitrug against us. We therefore seek to confuse the Satan, so that what is meant to stand in our defense should not become a source of accusation.

This is also reflected in the words we recite during Ne'ilah, in the piyyut of the Thirteen Middos shel Rachamim: בטוח אני באלה ובזכות שלשת אבות – "I place my trust in these [Thirteen Middos] and in the merit of the three Avos."

We cannot place our trust in zechus Avos alone. That merit must be joined with the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. For it is only because the Ribbono Shel Olam is Keil rachum v'chanun, a compassionate and gracious G-d, that we dare place our hope in the zechus of those who came before us.

When the Ring's Come Off

There is, however, a distinction. The concern of awakening a kitrug applies only when we rely upon the merit of others, even the Avos HaKedoshim. But when we turn to Hashem Himself, there is no such limitation. We can always place our trust in Him, for His compassion is not contingent upon our perfection. He never ceases to extend His hand to those who turn to Him.

As the pasuk states (Eichah 5:19), אתה די לעולם תשב, כסאך לדור ודור – "You, Hashem, remain forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation." Even when generations pass, even when human strength falters, even when hearts grow faint and souls become diminished, “Your throne endures from generation to generation." Regardless of our madreigos, You are our eternal source of hope and salvation.

For this reason, when we place the three rings upon the lulav to awaken zechus Avos, we join that merit with the Thirteen Middos of Rachamim. As my grandfather, the Ropshitzer Rebbe, writes (Zera Kodesh, Sukkos), the word סוכה has the gematria of seven times thirteen, alluding to the fact that throughout the seven days of Sukkos, as the holy Ushpizin enter the sukkah, they bring upon us the hashpa'os of the Thirteen Middos of Rachamim.

On Hoshana Rabbah, however, we remove the three rings from the lulav to demonstrate that even when we are not worthy to lay claim to zechus Avos, we are never without a path to salvation. We can turn directly to the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself. We place our trust in Him alone and ask that He save us through His boundless kindness.

This can be understood in light of the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30:9) on the pasuk, (Vayikra 23:40) ולקחתם לכם פרי עץ הדר, which interprets the daled minim as allusions to Hashem Himself:

• פרי עץ הדר-this is HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
• כפות תמרים─this is HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
• וענף עץ עבות-this is HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
• וערבי נחל-this is HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

We therefore remove the rings on Hoshana Rabbah, leaving only the four minim, to symbolize that there is no lineage upon which we must rely, no merit we must establish, no claim we must prove. There is only Him. And upon Him alone, we place our trust.

This is the depth of the opening words of the day's tefillos. This is what we come to ask before anything else: הושענא למענך אלקינו הושענא – "Save us, for Your sake, Hashem."

Even if we are not worthy that the holy Avos should intercede on our behalf, even if we have fallen short of the greatness of those whose merit we carry, there remains one thing we know with absolute certainty: למענך אלקינו-You are our G-d. Our King. Our Father.

And that is enough.

A father does not abandon his children, no matter how far they may have strayed. A faithful shepherd does not forsake his flock, no matter how diminished or distant they may have become.

And so, we turn to You alone, with nothing to invoke but Your own compassion, nothing to rely upon but Your own mercy, nothing to plead but the eternal bond between a Father and His children.

הושענא-Save us. Seal us for a year filled with only brachah.