30 Sep UNITED AS ONE

It was Rosh HaShana night, and our family
was enjoying sweet apples and honey. The
conversation around the table turned to why
apples from all the fruits. Though there are
several explanations, my nine-year-old
granddaughter, Tehila, shared her own original
understanding.
“There are so many different kinds of apples.
Red, green, yellow. Different sizes, shapes
and tastes. But they are still all apples. It’s like
the Jewish people. We are all different – but
we are all one.”
How special from a young girl, and so true. I
visualized the many varieties of apples.
Cortland, Macs, Red Delicious, Golden
Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink
Lady, Gala, and it goes on.
And so it is with Am Yisroel. Diversified, yet
all part of one people.
The theme of unity is intrinsic to this yom tov
season. We build succahs and remember the
Ananei HaKovod, Hashem’s Heavenly
Clouds that surrounded Bnei Yisroel as they
journeyed through the desert. A nation
travelling together. All under the protection of

HaShem’s clouds. A nation that stood at Sinai
and accepted the Torah k’ish echad b’lev
echad, as one man with one heart.
Besides building and dwelling in a succah,
another mitzva of Succos is the Arba Minim,
the four species, the term commonly referring
to taking the lulav and esrog. “You shall take
for yourself on the first day the fruit of a
beautiful (esrog) tree, the branches of date
palms, the twigs of a braided (myrtle) tree and
willows by the brook.” (Vayikra 23:40)
The Rambam teaches that as we hold the lulav
and esrog, we should think of Bnei Yisroel
emerging from the desolate desert, an area of
vast emptiness, and entering Eretz Yisroel, a
land of beautiful fruits. On Succos we take the
fruit and branches in our hand, we recite a
bracha, and wave them in all directions. Like
the walls of the succah that remind us that we
are surrounded on all sides by HaShem’s
presence, the waving of the Arba Minim
reminds us that HaShem’s spirit can be found
everywhere.
The Arba Minim have a deeper symbolic
message. The message of unity, of our people
being an am echad, one nation. Like the
different apples, the four species are unalike,
yet they are held together, close to our heart.

Each one of the four is symbolic of different
characteristics, with taste and fragrance
alluding to Torah study and good deeds,
respectively.
The esrog has both taste and fragrance,
symbolic of one who possesses both Torah
knowledge and good deeds. The lulav, a date
palm, has taste but no fragrance, compared to
one who has acquired Torah knowledge but is
lacking in good deeds. The haddasim, myrtle
branches, have fragrance but are devoid of
taste, representative of one who performs
good deeds but is deficient in Torah study.
Finally, the arava, the willow, has neither taste
nor fragrance, characterizing one who neither
studies nor performs good deeds.
One would think that the esrog would be
sufficient. After all, it has both taste and
fragrance, Torah knowledge and good deeds.
But we recite the bracha while holding all four
species together, as one. A message to us all –
every Jew is important. Each individual is an
essential component of the entirety of klal
Yisroel.
I saw a clip, where Rabbi Simon Jacobson
was on a panel. It opened up to Q & A from
the audience. A woman rose and asked, “When
Moshiach comes, what will happen to people
like me who aren’t observant and are lacking
in Torah knowledge?”
There was a heavy silence in the room. It
was filled with many others like her, waiting
for the Rabbi’s response.
It took Rabbi Jacobson a minute to collect
his thoughts. He told over a teaching of
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, known as
the Baal HaTanya, the first Rebbe of the
Chabad movement. If one doesn’t have an
answer to a question, tell a story. If that
doesn’t work, sing a song. With that, he
broke the ice.
He then shared a story from the fifth Rebbe
of Chabad, Rav Sholom Dov Ber.
One Simchas Torah, the Rebbe spoke about
the beauty of the “poshute Yidden – simple
Jews.” One of his chassidim became upset.
He approached the Rebbe and asked, “Why
only speak about the poshute Yid, why not
about the tzaddikim and the learned ones?”
This chossid was a diamond dealer. The
Rebbe asked him to go home and return with
a bag of diamonds. While the chossid didn’t
comprehend the reason for the Rebbe’s
request, he did as instructed.
The chossid returned to the Rebbe with the
diamonds. The Rebbe said that he will
choose the most valuable stone and
proceeded to pull out the largest diamond.
“I’m sorry Rebbe, but that one is not the
most valuable. It may be the largest, but that
doesn’t mean most valuable. You need a
trained eye to see the true value of a
diamond.”
“Aha”, said the Rebbe. “You need to be a
diamond dealer to know a diamond. You need
to be a ‘soul dealer’ to recognize the most
precious soul.”
Rabbi Jacobson continued and explained that
souls are measured by the journey, the
challenges one undergoes. He added that he
was taught that when Moshiach comes, those
with the greatest challenges will lead the line.
He only hopes to stand behind them.
After that story, there was no need for a song.
There is yet another understanding to the Arba
Minim. The Sefer HaChinuch teaches that
each one of the four alludes to a different body
part. The heart-shaped esrog reminds us of a
place of understanding, sensitivity and
compassion. The lulav stands tall and straight,
symbolizing the spine. To have backbone and
stand up for what is right, true and just. The
hadassim, are shaped like an eye. To have an
ayin tov and see the good in others. Arovos are
lip-shaped, cautioning us to be careful with
our words. Speech is a G-d given gift. Use it
well.
I think of my husband, who on erev Succos is
busy weaving palm leaves to make rings that
hold the lulav together. The lulav is then
encircled by the hadassim and aravos, which
together with the esrog will create the aguda
achas, the one bundle of all four species.
The Talmud teaches (Menachos 27a) that just
as it is required to hold all of the Arba Minim
together in order to perform the mitzva, so
too, when the Jewish people turn to HaShem,
their tefillos are only answered in the merit of
their being “bundled together”, united as one.
With everything our nation is experiencing,

from the war in Gaza to increased anti-
Semitism, more than ever we need HaShem to

answer our tefillos. May we merit to stand
together, united in heart and purpose and greet
Moshiach, quickly in our days.