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The Four Species The mitzvah of waving the four species on Sukkot appears in the Torah: “Mark, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month… you shall observe the festival of the Lord [to last] seven days... On the first day, you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook.” (Leviticus 23:39-40) According to tradition, the “fruit of the hadar (citrus) trees” is the Etrog (citron), the “branches of palm trees” are the Lulav (a closed frond of the date palm), “boughs of leafy trees” are identified as the branches of the Hadass (myrtle tree) and the “willows of the brook” refers to Arava (willow tree) branches. During the Temple Period, Jews only performed the waving of the four species in Jerusalem but after the destruction of the Temple, scholars broadened the mitzvah and determined that it should apply to everyone, “to commemorate the destruction”. The Torah, as with most mitzvoth, did not provide a reason or explanation for waving the four species and over the years, the Sages offered various interpretations regarding the essence of this mitzvah. One explanation, which appears in Vayikra Midrash Rabbah (interpretations of the Book of Leviticus) 20:12, as well as other sources, likens the four species to different parts of the People of Israel: As the Etrog has both flavor and aroma, thus Israel has people who live by the Torah and perform good deeds… As the date has flavor but no aroma, thus Israel has people who live by the Torah but do not perform good deeds… As the Hadass has an aroma but no flavor, thus Israel has people who perform good deeds but do not live by the Torah… As the Arava has no flavor and no aroma thus, Israel has people who do not live by the Torah nor do they perform good deeds… Despite the wide range of qualities possessed by the different groups that comprise the Jewish People, the midrash emphasizes that they are all part of one People, who are strengthened by the fact that they are all bound together with no discrimination and no part should be excluded. Waving the four species together, as they are bound together and gripped as one, symbolizes the heights that the People of Israel can reach when they work together. And the Lord said: they shall be bound together and support one another. And they rise up, when they come together as one. All the Philatelic items which have been Issue September 2024
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