Tonight we begin celebrating the holiday of Sukkot. After such Awesome days beginning with Rosh Hashana and Yom Kipur now we enter the second part of this incredible month of Tishrei. We will eat all our meals in the Sukka, some have the fortune to have their personal ones in the garden of their homes, some have to share them and make communal Sukkas in their buildings or Shuls, either way Sukkot is meant to be a time of sharing and unity feeling the hug of G-d together.
We also have another mitzvah on Sukkot and that is the one of the “four kinds”-myrtle branches (hadassim),willow twigs (aravot), the palm frond (lulav) and the citron (etrog), which we bind together and then wave in six directions every day during the Sukkot week.
These four kinds are compared to the human body and the different type of Jews.
The Etrog is shaped like the heart it also has smell and taste like the Jew that learns and does mitzvots (acts of love and kindness).
The palm fond or lulav looks like our spine, which holds the body together and creates balance it also has a taste but no smell resembling the Jew that doesn’t learn but does Mitzvot.
The myrtle leaves (hadassim) have the shape of eyes and look upward, which behold G-d’s greatness. It has smell but no taste in comparison to the Jew that learns but doesn’t do Mitzvot.
The willow leaves (aravot) look like lips, with which we give expression to our thoughts and feelings and it has neither smell or taste which resembles the Jew that neither learns or does Mitzvot.
The beauty is that we take all these four kinds together and we shake them showing that we are all one and that we are all responsible for one another. Sadly it is that when the Jew is shaken to its core that is when we all feel like one no matter our differences.
Sukkot comes to remind us of how important it is to have Ahdut (Unity) and that when we are all together no matter what H”S will always protect us.
Wishing you a Chag Sukkot Sameach
Live a little higher
