THE FOUR SPECIES - THE LULAV AND THE ETHROG
Leviticus 23:39-43
“So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you are to keep the Feast of ADONAI for seven days. The first day is to be a Shabbat rest, and the eighth day will also be a Shabbat rest. 40 On the first day you are to take choice fruit of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and rejoice before ADONAI your God for seven days. 41 You are to celebrate it as a festival to ADONAI for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations—you are to celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You are to live in sukkot for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in sukkot, 43 so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael to dwell in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am ADONAI your God.”
The instructions are to gather different branches of trees and a lime fruit. The branches are from the date palm, myrtle, and weeping willow branches. The Four Species have a deeper meaning.
The Midrash says the following:
“The fruit of a pleasant [hadar] tree” – this is Israel; just as the citron has taste and has fragrance, so Israel has people among them who have Torah and have good deeds. “Branches of date palms” – this is Israel; just as the date palm has taste but has no fragrance, so Israel has people among them who have Torah but do not have good deeds. “A bough of a leafy tree” – this is Israel; just as the myrtle has fragrance but has no taste, so Israel has people among them who have good deeds but do not have Torah. “Willows of the brook” – this is Israel; just as the willow has no taste and has no fragrance, so Israel has people among them who do not have Torah and do not have good deeds. What does the Holy One blessed be He do to them? To eradicate them is not possible. Rather, the Holy One blessed be He said: Let them all be bound together in a single bundle and they will atone for one another. If you do so, at that moment, I will be ascendant [mitaleh]. That is what is written: “Who built His upper chamber [maalotav] in the heavens” (Amos 9:6). When is He ascendant? When they are made into a single group, as it is stated: “And established His group upon earth” (Amos 9:6). Therefore, Moses exhorts Israel and says to them: “You shall take for you on the first day.”
The Arba Minim – The Four Species
בְּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת לוּלָב:
Baruch Ata Adonai Eloheynu melech ha‑olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al n’tilat lulav
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to
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