Lulav (לולב) — the palm branch and the four species

Core definition

The lulav — the palm branch — is taken on Sukkos together with the esrog (citron), hadasim (myrtle branches), and aravos (willows): "three hadasim, two aravos, lulav, and esrog" — seven mitzvos in the species [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 60–63]. The Midrash reads Israel's victory in the Heavenly judgment from these species in their hands: "go out from before the Holy One, blessed be He, with their lulavs and esrogs in their hands — we know that they are the ones who were victorious" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 78–84]. In Kabbalah the lulav is the aspect of Yesod, and the esrog is Malchus — or, with a key refinement, the esrog is the ateres (crown) of Yesod: the impression Malchus left, "the point of Malchus included in Yesod," the final Hei of Havayah [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 99–126; Chunk 1 summary].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Meheitavel. The Idra Zuta identifies "'and Hadar reigned in his place' = the esrog; 'Meheitavel his wife' = the lulav." The apparent contradiction with the Arizal (lulav = Yesod) is resolved: Tohu was "the Malchuyos of all the sefiros"; after the breaking, the eighth king Hadar was "the Yesod of all the sefiros," and his wife — the miluy (filling) — is revelation: as Chavah is the miluy of Adam (מ״ה = 45, its miluy = 19 = Chavah), so "Meheitavel = the revelation included in Ze'ir Anpin." Since miluy is revelation, "which exists only in Tikkun — in Tohu there was ratzo and withdrawal, no effluence" — the lulav (Yesod) includes this revelation: "Meheitavel = Tikkun." "Meheitavel" contains מ״ה explicitly and the remaining letters = ב״ן (52) [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 2 summary]. "That is: the joining of the aspects of מה and ב״ן — which is the idea of the lulav, in the aspect of Yesod, with included in it the aspect of Malchus" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 687].

The shaking. "The shaking of the lulav and esrog must reach the chest — for this is the drawing-down" — the lulav and esrog are brought to the chest, "the drawing-down to Malchut at Ze'ir Anpin's chest" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 193].

Hidur — beauty. "In the lulav must be — hadar (beautiful). And in particular, this is in the esrog, of which it is said, 'the fruit of a beautiful tree.'" The esrog is "green but not leek-green; its main color is 'gel' (Yiddish, yellow) = 'Esther was greenish, yet a thread of chessed drawn upon her'" — the refinement of the sparks: "the eighth king Hadar refining Tohu" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 699; Chunk 7 summary]. Esrog is roshei teivos of "al tevi'eni regel ga'avah" (let not the foot of pride come upon me) — the opposite of Tohu's yeshut; "through this, drawing from the Essence above Tohu and Tikkun" [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 7 summary].

The palm's mesirus nefesh. The lulav is "'tzaddik katamar yifrach' (the righteous shall blossom like a palm)": the Midrash — "the palm's heart directed heavenward = Israel's heart to their Father in heaven; the palm yields no fewer than three clusters = Israel never lack three tzaddikim" — Yackov, Yitzchak, Yackov; Chananya, Mishael, Azaryah. "Chananya, Mishael, and Azaryah had actual mesirus nefesh — hence 'directed to heaven'; the fathers too had actual mesirus nefesh in their trials" [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 7 summary]. The four species "are to draw down the aspect of Da'as in the Nukva" — and "Da'as needs a root above Da'as — reached in avodah through mesirus nefesh: 'One,' 'with all your might,' actual mesirus nefesh — drawing from the Essence of the Ein Sof" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 1581; Chunk 7 summary].

"We know that ours were victorious." "Bayom harishon" (on the first day) = gematria Kesser; "take for yourselves" — "the Essence/interior Kesser shall be yours in revealed interiority." How? "Pri eitz hadar" — the esrog, the eighth king Hadar — through it the refinements; "Esther was greenish, a thread of chessed" from the Essence; "kapos tamarim" = actual mesirus nefesh; "anaf eitz avos" = the three fathers — "actual mesirus nefesh is our inheritance from them"; "arvei nachal" have no taste and no smell: "teshuvah is above taam vadaas" — and mesirus nefesh is "in the essence of the neshamah, unrelated to interiority at all." "The four species in unity — the opposite of Tohu — draw from the Essence; through them, 'ulekatchtem lachem': the Essence of the Ein Sof shines in interiority in the souls of Israel." This is what the lulav and esrog "indicate" — the refinements accomplished through the teshuvah of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, "the drawing from the Essence enclothed in interiority in keilim of bitul hayeshut — the total opposite of Tohu" [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 8 summary].

Key distinctions

Esrog vs. Malchus. The esrog is not Malchus itself but "the ateres (crown) of Yesod — the impression Malchus left, the point of Malchus included in Yesod — hence the esrog is the final Hei of Havayah" [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 1 summary].

Lulav vs. Meheitavel. The lulav is Yesod; as including the revelation (miluy) of מה and ב״ן joined, it is Meheitavel — the aspect of Tikkun, opposite to Tohu's yeshut [58837/maamar_002 :: Chunk 2 summary].

The four species in unity. Each species has its symbolism — esrog as the eighth king's refinement from the Essence; lulav as the palm's mesirus nefesh; hadasim as the three fathers; aravos as teshuvah above taam vadaas — but "the four species are in the aspect of unity — as is known — for all this is the opposite of Tohu" [58837/maamar_002 :: עב׳ 1738].

Related concepts

Sources