Comentario citado sobre I Samuel 9:17

Any that are restrained and that are abandoned. עצור is one who has someone restraining him, as in, “This one will rule over My people.”⁴I Shmuel 9:17. And עזוב is one who has no one restraining him.

A kabbalistic approach: The word עצרת is a term describing the כנסת ישראל, the spiritual concept known as “Israel.” The reason that this term is an apt description is that (in colloquial parlance: ‘this people is where the buck stops.’) In other words, were it not for the concept represented by the Jewish people the whole universe would lack meaning and purpose. It is also an expression denoting מלכות, authority, dominion, such as in Samuel I 9,17 זה יעצור בעמי, “this one will rule over My people” (G’d speaking). The word occurs in that meaning also in Rosh Hashanah 16 meaning “crown-prince,” i.e. the prince who will assume the authority of the king. For the above-mentioned reasons Shemini Atzeret is a festival all by itself. We may see reflected in this day the practice that among the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Sukkot it is the etrog which represents the Jewish people and which is held separately, not being bound up with the other species. The Shemini Atzeret festival is perceived as the festival of the giving of the Torah which the Talmud always refers to as עצרת, meaning the festival of Shavuot, the recurrence of the calendar date on which the Torah was received. We find that the name עצרת is also applied by the Torah to the seventh day of Passover (Deut. 16,8) although that day is an integral part of the festival. In other words, the term appears in connection with all three pilgrimage holidays. What does all this mean? Just as the word שבת is applied by the Torah to the various festivals on various occasions to show that the כנסת ישראל is the “bride” of the Sabbath, [and that without this “bride” the entire legislation would be devoid of meaning, Ed.] so the word עצרת when used in connection with the festivals conveys the idea that the Jewish people, spiritually speaking, are the purpose of all these festivals. In kabbalistic terms, they are the יסוד [borrowed from the emanation by that name] “foundation,” without which the entire legislation of the festivals would lack meaning.
David gave expression to this feeling when he composed the hymn of the Sabbath commencing with the words מזמור שיר ליום השבת, “a song to the Sabbath Day.” Naturally, he did not mean to address the “day,” [in fact this might have been idolatrous, Ed.] but he addressed the spiritual concept of כנסת ישראל which represents this emanation יסוד. When David similarly exalted למנצח על השמינית (Psalms 12,1) he referred to similar thoughts, i.e. calling כנסת ישראל as the concept which has not been upheld by its representatives on earth.
It pays to consider the way G’d phrased the introduction to this special festival by saying עצרת תהיה לכם, similar to להיות לכם לאלו-הים, “in order to be your G’d.” The other festivals in this chapter were introduced as being לה', “for Hashem;” this one is being introduced as being “for you,” i.e. for the Jewish people. On the other hand, in Leviticus 23,36 the same day is described as עצרת היא, instead of as עצרת תהיה לכם. What is the difference? The explanation is that the words עצרת היא should be understood as עצרת של היא, not “it is a detention,” or some such, but it is the detention of היא, the word היא referring to the Sabbath, the companion of the “festival,” i.e. the Jewish people. The Sabbath is featured in a similar manner when the Torah wrote concerning it in Exodus 31,13: אות היא ביני וביניכם, “it is a sign between Me and between you.” When you consider this you will appreciate why the sages in the above-quoted Midrash referred to the meal on the eighth day as a “small” meal. It was an allusion to the letter ה in the word בהבראם, in Genesis 2,4 (compare author’s comments on this. One must remember that the various letters in the word היא appear at different times in smaller than usual script to make these points) as well as the small letter י in the word תשי in Deut. 32,18, and the small letter א in the word ויקרא in Leviticus 1,1. This is the mystical dimension of Berachot 48 that “nine adults plus one minor (usually understood as under-aged individual) may be combined to form a quorum for the sake of making a מנין enabling congregational prayer or use of the word אלוקינו when reciting grace after meals.” [This view is not halachically accepted. Ed.] This is also the mystical dimension of the verse quoting David (in Psalms 37,25) which we recite near the conclusion of the grace after meals prayer נער הייתי גם זקנתי, “I used to be a minor, though in the interval I have come of age and become old,” a verse recited by the שר של העולם, the angel Mattatron who runs the universe on behalf of the Lord. The prophet Isaiah refers to the period of the first Temple as such a “minor” (i.e. peopled by spiritually immature Jews) when he said (Isaiah 28,10) זעיר שם, זעיר שם, “now a little here, now a little there.” (Compare Yevamot 16 on the verse in Psalms 37,25).

כי ידין ה׳ עמו, "When the Lord will judge His people, etc." After having concluded the subject of the people who have caused G'd to become angry, the Torah now turns to Israel as a whole, assuring the people that He will not quarrel with them forever. The words כי ידין השם mean that G'd will take a look at what many righteous have endured, some of whom have been murdered, others burned, etc. G'd will comfort Himself, i.e. relent, when He observes all this. This is why Moses says ועל עבדיו יתנחם, "and on account of His servants (what happened to them) He will relent." He relents on account of those of His children who remained His loyal servants. Furthermore, when G'd sees that the Israelites do not have the strength to save themselves from exile, and their righteous do not enjoy enough authority to discipline the sinners, He relents. He is aware that there are no longer any prophets amongst the Israelites, nor the outstanding men of former years whose influence on the people had beeen considerable. Compare Michah 7,1 אין אשכול לאכול, "there is not a cluster to eat." This is an example of Moses saying: כי אזלת יד, "G'd sees their might is gone." The words אפס עצור, mean that neither what was guarded nor preserved is still left." We find a similar statement in Samuel I 9,17: זה יעצור בעמי, "He will deliver My people," [King Saul. Ed.] The literal meaning is more like "he will stop the rut of My people," or "he will stop everybody from doing what he feels like, and introduce discipline into the lives of the nation." At any rate, it is a reference to the people being in a state of disarray. ועזוב, "and it is abandoned." This is a reference to the disarray the people find themselves in and which makes them feel abandoned. At that point,