Holidays   Shabbat   Chabad-houses   Chassidism   Subscribe   Calendar   Links B"H
 
 
 
The Weekly Publication for Every Jewish Person
Archives Current Issues Home Current Issue
High-Holidays   |   Chanukah   |   Purim   |   Passover   |   Shavuot

Calendar   |   The Month of Elul   |   Rosh Hashanah   |   Days of Awe   |   Yom Kippur   |   Sukkot   |   Tishrei-Guide Map



   
What is Sukkot?

   Introduction

Observances

Four Kinds

Stories

Thoughts & Essays

   Anecdotes

Letters From the Rebbe

Tidbits

Short Essays

Long(er) Essays

Sukkot & Moshiach

   Growing in Unity

Moshiach Tidbits

King and Viceroy

The Voice of the Herald

Q & A

Intermediate Days

Hoshana Rabba

Simchat Torah

 
 Sukkot & Moshiach Moshiach Tidbits


Growing in Unity

" 'You shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a goodly tree (ethrog), branches of palm trees (lulav), boughs of thick trees (hadassim), and willows of the brook (aravot)...'

R. Berechiah said in the name of R. Levi: For the merit of 'You shall take for yourselves bayom harishon (on the first day)... 'I [G-d] shall reveal Myself to you first... and build for you the 'first' - i.e., the Bet Hamikdash of which it is written 'The throne of glory, on high from the first...' (Jeremiah 17:12), and bring to you the 'first' - i.e., the King Moshiach of whom it is written, 'The first unto Zion...' (Isaiah 41:26)."

(Vayikra Rabba 30:16)

Chassidism explains that these four species were selected because each of them signifies the principle of unity:

the leaves of the lulav are unopened and bound together; the leaves of the hadassim (myrtle-branches) must emerge from the stem "three leaves growing out of one nest;" aravot (willow-branches) are also called achvana, a word denoting brotherhood or brotherly love; and the ethrog is the " 'fruit of a tree that is hadar (goodly),' read not hadar but ha-dar, i.e., a fruit which remains upon its tree from year to year." (Sukah 35a), thus compounding the climates of all four seasons of the year.

The four species indicate not only the sense of unity intrinsic to each, but also the unity of all four being taken together: the singular mitzvah of "you shall take for yourselves..." is fulfilled only when all four are taken together.

Moreover, the Midrash notes that the four species also symbolize four types of people:

  1. The ethrog has taste as well as fragrance, so Israel has people who posses Torah-learning and good deeds.
  2. The palm tree (lulav) has taste but not fragrance, so Israel has people who posses Torah-learning but not good deeds.
  3. The hadassim have fragrance but no taste, so Israel has people who posses good deeds but not learning.
  4. The aravot have no taste and no fragrance, so there are people who have ne ither learning nor good deeds. The Holy-One, blessed be He, thus says: Let them all be tied together in one bind and they will atone one for another.
The world as a whole displays multiplicity and divisiveness, the very opposite of the Divine unity. The four species, on the other hand, signify unity, transcending worldliness and displaying submission to the Divine unity.

They are themselves physical, growing in - and thus part of - the world, but they are used as a mitzvah for the Divine service.

Thus they elevate physical reality and render it into an instrument for the Divine unity, revealing the concealed principle of unity inherent in G-d's creation.

The four species thus effect the fulfillment of the prophecies that "all shall call upon the Name of G-d to serve Him with one consent" (Zephaniah 3:9), and "G-d shall be King over the entire earth: in that day G-d shall be One and His Name One," (Zechariah 14:9) which shall come about with the speedy coming of Moshiach.

 Sukkot & Moshiach Moshiach Tidbits



Current
  • Daily Lessons
  • Weekly Texts & Audio
  • Candle-Lighting times

    613 Commandments
  • 248 Positive
  • 365 Negative

    PDA
  • iPhone
  • Java Phones
  • BlackBerry
  • Moshiach
  • Resurrection
  • For children - part 1
  • For children - part 2

    General
  • Jewish Women
  • Holiday guides
  • About Holidays
  • The Hebrew Alphabet
  • Hebrew/English Calendar
  • Glossary

    Books
  • by SIE
  • About
  • Chabad
  • The Baal Shem Tov
  • The Alter Rebbe
  • The Rebbe Maharash
  • The Previous Rebbe
  • The Rebbe
  • Mitzvah Campaign

    Children's Corner
  • Rabbi Riddle
  • Rebbetzin Riddle
  • Tzivos Hashem

  • © Copyright 1988-2009
    All Rights Reserved
    L'Chaim Weekly