On the Jewish liturgical calendar, we are in the middle of the seven-day holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.
This is when Jews worldwide build huts and have meals in them, to replicate and remember how our Israelite ancestors lived in temporary dwelling spaces as they wandered the desert for 40 years, heading ever so slowly toward the land of promise.
Because of its seasonal timing, it is seen as an agricultural celebration incorporating many of the features of a fall harvest festival. One of the more interesting rituals associated with Sukkot is the requirement outlined in Leviticus 23:40. We are told to “rejoice before the Lord” with “fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of thick trees andwillows of the brook.”
What is this business of branches and fruit all about?
On one level, these items pay homage to the farmers’ feel of this sacred time. The first reference of this holy convocation is referred to in Hebrew as “Chag Ha-asif,” the Holiday of In Gathering (Exodus 23:16).
For millennium, the tradition of actual “rejoicing” with these objects has called for taking the palm frond, myrtle and willow branches and binding them together to form what is called the lulav. The fruit component of theequation is a citron, a citrus fruit grown primarily in the Middle East and in Hebrew called the etrog.
These items are held side by side, with the etrog in the left hand, and shaken or waved toward all four directions, north, west, south, east, and in some Jewish communities up and down as well.
As you can imagine, rabbis for centuries have studied, analyzed and commented on many important messages and metaphors associated with the lulav and etrog.
Some sages of the Talmud believe it was important to take a look at the physical attributes of the lulav and etrog to discern the hidden meaning of the biblical directive. They argued that these products of nature resemble the basic outline and features of a human being. An etrog is essentially the size and shape ofour beating hearts. Not coincidentally, it is held in the left hand, the same half of the body where the heart is actually situated.
The palm represents the spine. You can see in the shape of the myrtle the contour of eyes and the willow leaves look like lips or a mouth. By sanctifying these things we have displayed the essential, fundamental characteristics of any living person.
The lesson the scholars conveyed was about the commonality and universality of every individual. Color of skin and sexual orientation do not matter. Where you live, your language, culture or belief system is simply not relevant. Whether you are disabled, mentally ill or where you stand on the rung of financial status are not factors at all.
The lulav and etrog tell us that every man and woman has a heart, spine, two eyes, a mouth, a nose and two ears - we are at the most foundational and fundamental level all exactly the same.
Pointing the symbols, as part of the process, to all four corners of the Earth underscores the notion that this basic truth applies to all, regardless of where you are from on the planet.
The Torah teaches us in a symbolic and graphic way about the ultimate equality of all people. We can only truly“rejoice before the Lord” and be in a state of promise and paradise when we realize, acknowledge and act as if all of us are really the same, despite inconsequential diff erences.
The pilgrimage holiday of Sukkot, with its requirement of the lulav and etrog, demonstrates this principle of Judaism in an illustrative and powerful way. In the eyesof the Creator, there is no “other,” rather there is but one human race. Understanding this, for people of all faiths, is truly worthy of celebrating.
RABBI JACK ZANERHAFT AND CANTOR DEBBYE ZANERHAFT WILL NEXT LEAD SERVICES AT CONGREGATION ETZ CHAIM IN BENTONVILLE ON OCT. 19. CONTACT THE RABBI AT [email protected].
Religion, Pages 6 on 10/06/2012