BH
The beginning of the Parsha discusses the laws of the Kohanim, the animals, the purification, and the requirement for the Kohanim to be without blemishes, striving for completeness. Then the Parsha moves on to the festivals, with Sukkot being particularly noteworthy.
Let’s examine a verse about taking the Arba Minim, the four species, on Sukkot. The verse, from Parshat Emor, is chapter 23, verse 40. It reads: “ulakachtem lachem bayom harishon” – “And you shall take for yourselves.” This means it must be personally acquired, not borrowed; it must be something you bought or own. On the first day of Sukkot, you should take “pri etz hadar,” a fruit from a tree called “hadar.” This term literally translates to citrus, but it refers to a special type of citrus fruit, the etrog. “Hadar” means that it dwells on the tree from year to year; you can leave the etrog unharvested and it won’t rot, remaining on the tree.
Next is “kapot temarim,” which refers to palm branches from the date tree, not the actual fruit but the palm branch itself. Then there is “va’anaf etz avot,” which are little branches of hadassim. “Etz avot” means wood, a branch that resembles chains, as the hadassim grow one on top of the other, looking like a chain. Finally, there are “arvei nachal,” the willow branches that grow along the river, known as aravot.
The verse concludes with: “…and you will rejoice before your God for seven days.” The simple meaning suggests that by performing this mitzvah of taking the Arba Minim on the first day, you will be joyful before your God for seven days.
So the question is: – isn’t there a mitzvah to be happy the whole year? This makes it sound like you’ll be happy for these seven days – and other days not? For the rest of the 365 days of the year minus these seven days, am I not supposed to be happy? But I should be happy every day!
The Ramban explains along with other commentaries, that the Simcha here is called Simcha Yeterah – additional joy. All year round we must be happy. This is in line with Rebbe Nachman’s famous saying, “Mitzvah Gedolah Lihyot B’Simcha Tamid” – it’s a big mitzvah to always be happy. This isn’t just for Sukkot; it’s for all 365 days of the year. There is an idea, a concept, and a devotion to being happy all year round. You can’t serve Hashem if you’re not happy.
In Parshat Ki Tavo, there are 98 curses. It says in the middle of the curses that all this will befall you because “tachat asher lo avadeta et Hashem elokecha b’simcha uv’tuv levav” – all this will come to you because you didn’t serve Hashem with joy. The Torah states this clearly. If you don’t serve Hashem with joy, you’ll eventually fall off and get punished because you weren’t joyful in serving Hashem. So we see there’s a matter to be happy all year round.
The verse here, “and you’ll rejoice before your God,” which refers to the Temple, the Beit HaMikdash, means rejoicing in front of Him at the Temple.And “…your Lord, seven days” signifies additional simcha. Thus, all year round, we have a mitzvah to be happy, and the Torah says you’ll be happy for seven days. This additional happiness for those seven days is because you took the four species on the first day (Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai established that after the destruction of the Temple, we perform the mitzvah of the lulav all seven days of Sukkot. But in the time of the Beit HaMikdash, it was only on the first day).
The verse is telling us that because you take the four species on the first day, it will lead to the second part of the verse: “usmachtem lifnei Hashem Elokechem” – you take (ulkachtem) the four species on the first day, and as a result, you will be happy before your Lord, your God, for seven days. In other words, taking the four species on the first day causes the effect of simcha for the total seven days.
What’s so special about the four species that they lead to this additional simcha of the seven days? Let’s first address why we need this additional joy on these days. You need additional joy activated at the beginning of the year, starting from Sukkot. This additional joy from the seven days of Sukkot is meant to spread out and support you throughout the entire year. No matter what ups and downs you face, the simcha from Sukkot serves as a reservoir, providing a boost whenever needed. This additional simcha, simcha yeteirah, from the seven days of Sukkot can sustain you for the rest of the year.
What’s so special about these four species? These four species represent four types of mitzvot that you perform throughout the year. There are mitzvot that you do properly and with joy. There are mitzvot that you do properly but without joy. There are mitzvot that you do with joy but not so properly. And there are mitzvot that you do neither properly nor with joy. The important thing is, all four are still mitzvot. Even if you don’t perform a mitzvah properly, there’s still a positive element in it, a nekuda tova, as Rebbe Nachman says in his lesson on Azamra (Likutey Moharan lesson 282). There’s a good point in every mitzvah, even if it’s not done perfectly. Even if it’s a really flawed mitzvah, there’s still some good in it. Even if someone performs a mitzvah incorrectly, their intention can still be good. They recognize they did it wrong, and next time they can improve. The fact that they wanted to do a mitzvah is a good point.
For instance, the Baal Shem Tov faced major opposition in his time. There was a woman from the opposition who saw the Baal Shem Tov passing by and wanted to throw a rock at him. The rock was too heavy for her to lift, but she tried. She prayed, “Hashem, let it be considered as if I threw the stone at him.” When the Baal Shem Tov heard this, he said “You can’t imagine how much delight Heaven received from her prayer.” Despite her wrong intention – to harm the Baal Shem Tov, which could have been lethal and fatal for her – the Baal Shem Tov acknowledged her intent was for the sake of Heaven. Her intent, though misguided, was considered good.
So too, you have people who perform mitzvot that seem totally lifeless, yet there is still a good point hidden within them. Even though we don’t encourage people to continue in this way, there is always room to grow. A person must realize they eventually need to change, but there’s a good point in their actions. Thus, the four species correspond to these four types of mitzvot.
The etrog is beautiful, with a complete physical appearance, a nice smell, and a pleasant taste. The etrog represents mitzvot done properly and with joy.
The lulav represents mitzvot done properly but without joy—there’s no taste, no simcha; it’s a dry mitzvah. There are times we do the mitzvot properly, observing all the stringencies and details perfectly, but there’s no simcha, no taste.
Then you have the hadassim, which symbolizes someone who is very happy in their mitzvot performance but doesn’t do it properly. They might do it a bit wrong, but they are still happy about it. Their actions aren’t perfect, but their joy is greater than the mitzvot themselves.
Next, we have the aravot, which represents a person who is very sad in their mitzvot performance. There’s no simcha, and their actions are heavy and sluggish. They don’t wake up on time for davening, and everything feels burdensome. They’re doing the mitzvot, but not properly.
These four species correspond to the four types of mitzvot performance throughout the entire year. The Torah tells us to take them all together. You can have an etrog on Sukkot, but the mitzvah is not complete unless you join it with the aravot. You can have the etrog, lulav, and hadassim, but if you don’t have the aravot—which represent the dead mitzvot you did during the year—then the mitzvah is incomplete. The four species must all be present. You need one etrog, the lulav, three hadassim, and two aravot. If you’re missing the aravot, it’s as if you’re saying, “Why do I need the aravot?” Without them, there’s no bracha. You need those mitzvot that seem lifeless. They are essential.
So what happens is, the Torah is saying you take, “ul’kachtem,” all four types of mitzvot: those that were perfect, like the etrog; those that were done properly but without joy; those done with happiness but not properly; and those done with neither joy nor proper observance. You take them all together, and the pasuk says, “u’smachtem,” which will bring “simcha yeterah,” the additional joy.
Why do we need this extra joy? You need it for the whole year because throughout the year, you experience ups and downs, a roller coaster of emotions. There are days when you feel out of it. How can you, consciously or subconsciously, awaken simcha? From the mitzvah of the Arba Minim, because taking all four species together teaches that all four types of mitzvot count. Even the seemingly lifeless mitzvot, like the Aravot, count. They are part of the picture. It’s still a mitzvah! Don’t think that just because it wasn’t done properly nor with joy, it doesn’t count. It does count. This understanding activates the simcha for the seven days.
Why seven days? Why not eight or nine days? Seven days so that every day of the week is infused with the energy of the simcha from the first day. So, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Shabbat—no matter what you go through during the upcoming year—any day of the week, if it’s a bad day or you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, there are no excuses. The simcha of the Arba Minim from Sukkot is meant to bring joy for the rest of the year—Simcha Yeterah.
We should merit to be happy all year round and always have reasons to be happy. Even our imperfect mitzvot, Hashem considers them of precious value.
This article also appears on the BRI breslov.org website: https://breslov.org/drawing-extra-joy-into-the-entire-year/
For a video presentation of this article: https://youtu.be/qgc5Vo0usV0
~~~
Follow us:
Breslovtherapy.com
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2cRAICkl6Hk9CdKUrAxSMJ
Soundcloud: @breslov-therapy
FB: www.facebook.com/breslovtherapytm.meir
To donate or sponsor a class: https://linktr.ee/breslovtherapy
Contact us:
@: breslovtherapy@gmail.com
WhatsApp: +1-732-800-1863
#breslov #breslovtherapy #rebbenachman #rebnoson
Shabbat Shalom
Meir Elkabas
No comments:
Post a Comment