“And, you shall take on the first day [of Sukkot] a fruit of a citric tree (etrog), branches of palm-trees (lulab), a branch of myrtle (hadas) and willows of the brook (‘araba), and you shall rejoice before HaShem, your God, for seven days”. (Lev. 23).
What is special about these plants that we take in Sukkot?The Tora does not explain why we should take specifically these four species during Sukkot. One possible explanation for this omission, in line with the thinking of Maimonides, is that at the time the Tora was given the reason for this commandment was so obvious that it needed no further explanation.The Hakhamim (the Rabbis of the Talmud) offered some interpretations, focusing on what these plants visually represent (four organs of the body -spine, heart, eyes, mouth- all united to serve HaShem); or their perfume and taste ( four individuals of the Jewish people, their study and their virtuous deeds).
PERENNIAL PLANTS My teacher, Rabbi Sa’adia Benzaquén, z “l, used to say that what these four plants represent the “vegetable kingdom” because all of them are perennial plants, i.e., they do not die or lose their leaves in the winter. This is particularly characteristic of the etrog, a fruit, that as the Gemara explains “remains in its tree throughout the whole year (haddar beilano mishana leshana). These four plants also grow in four completely different habitats. The etrog grows in the valleys, the lulab in the desert, the myrtle (hadas) in the mountains, and the ‘araba (willows) on the shores of lakes and rivers.
Their need for water is very different.
THE LIFESPAN OF A PLANT I also noticed a few years ago that these plants get dry at a completely different pace. The plant that dries faster than all other plants is the ‘araba. Willow branches, once cut from their tree, would dry up within a few days. Sometimes, the branches of ‘araba might not survive even the seven days of Sukkot. Then we have the myrtle leaves, hadasim, which would dry up completely in a few weeks. The lulab, the palm branch, dries very slowly, it takes months not weeks to dry up. And finally, we have the etrog. There are several elements that make the etrog a special fruit. But perhaps the most characteristic aspect of the etrog is that it does not decompose, and might last for years. If one leaves, for example, a lemon or any other citric fruit for a few days outdoors, or even in a refrigerator, it will inevitably turn white or green and moldy . The etrog, however, never decays. The etrog will shrink and dries up and it would loss its color, but it would not decompose, and it would preserve its aroma, not for months but for years!
BY DESIGN? Are these characteristics by chance? Although I’m not quite sure how to interpret the meaning or symbolism of these features –and perhaps at the time the Tora was given the reason was absolutely obvious — I do not think that it is just a coincidence that the Tora mentions these specific plants. Why? First, because a fundamental element of the festival of Sukkot is water / rain. During Sukkot we start thanking HaShem for rain (mashib haruah, morid hageshem) , and we also pray and ask HaShem to have a year of generous rainfall, at its due time, knowing that at this time God decides the fate of our crops and produces (בחג נדונים על המים). And these plants seem to represent four different levels of “dependence” on water, and the humidity they contain and preserve. The etrog and the ‘araba seem to be at opposite ends in terms of how long the moisture they keep inside lasts. The main reason why I do not think this interpretation is a coincidence is the order in which these four plants are presented in the Tora. The Tora mentions these four species in a specific order: first, the Tora mentions the fruit that lasts the longer, the etrog. Then, the lulab (palm branch), then the hadasim (myrtle), and at the end the ‘araba (willow): the longer the plant last, the earlier it is mentioned in the pasuq.
MY GARDEN OF EMUNA
This year I planted in my backyard a few tomatoes plants. And I noticed that the tomatoes don’t grow all at the same time: they produce their fruits, one or two at a time, thus, allowing us to have tomatoes for the entire season. I was so amazed and grateful to HASHEM when I noticed that! Then, this year as I was reviewing what I wrote about the reason for these plants I thought of a similar idea: the main reason why the Tora tells us to take these plants and being grateful and “rejoice before HaShem, your God” is because Sukkot happens at the end of the harvest. It should be noted that in ancient times there were no refrigerators or food preservation methods like we have today. And of course it was always necessary for farmers to have food reserves that could last until the next harvest. There are perishable foods that, just like the “‘araba”, won’t last for a long time once they are harvested and they must be eaten while they are fresh. There are also foods that like “hadasim” and “lulab” can last for a few weeks. And there are other foods that can be left to dry like the “etrog”, like figs, dates, and most grains. In His infinite wisdom and goodness the Creator designed perishable foods that need to be eaten fresh, and foods with no expiration date. Perhaps the arba’at haminim, four plants with very different expiration date, represent these characteristics and they give us one additional reason to thank HaShem for his Awesome Creation.
