top of page

Jewish Unity & The "Me" Shakeup

The two main mitzvahs of Succot are sitting in the Sukkah and shaking the Four Species every day (the Four Species are not shaken on Shabbat).


The Four Species have two famous symbolisms. 


The first is that they symbolize four types of Jews. Every species has either taste and/or smell associated with it in one way or another. Smell represents good deeds because you detect it from a distance. Taste represents Torah knowledge, which you can only detect when you "sink your teeth" into what the other person knows.


The etrog has taste and smell so it represents the righteous and knowledgeable Jew. The hadassim only have a good smell so they represent the righteous but uneducated Jew. The luluv represents the scholar without deeds (because dates taste great) and the aravot represent a Jew with neither deeds nor knowledge as it has no fruit and no scent. We hold them all together and shake to pray for Jewish unity which must include every type of Jew.


Alternatively, the Four Species symbolize the parts of the body. The esrog looks like a heart. The aravot (leaves) look like lips. The hadassim leaves look like eyes and the luluv looks like a spine. We hold them all together, shake, and think I'm shaking a mini-me, and I need to shake myself up and get going with my mitzvah observance

Comentarios


Featured Posts
Recent Posts
Search By Tags
Follow Us
  • Facebook Classic
  • Twitter Classic
  • Google Classic
bottom of page