Let us explore important aspects of Sukkot connected to our first Patriarch, Abraham.[1] The Torah relates in parashat Vayeria that three angels came to inform Abraham and Sarah that they would finally have a child after a lifetime of barrenness. In fact, even though Abraham first mistook them for three simple wandering men, he nevertheless interrupted a revelation he was receiving from God to greet and take care of them:
And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he ran toward them from the entrance of the tent, and he prostrated himself to the ground. And he said [to God], “God, if only I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass on from beside your servant [as I tend to these guests]. [He turned to the three angels and said:] “Please let a little water be taken, and bathe your feet, and recline under the tree.”[2]
The Midrash relates that it was the merit of Abraham offering these three guests a place to rest under the tree that initially inspired the future holiday of Sukkot.[3] This is yet another classic example of the well-known dictum: “The deeds of the Fathers are a sign for their children.”[4] With this singular act of hospitality “under the tree,” Abraham opened the gates for the holiday of Sukkot to be revealed to all his descendants who would also one day sit and eat under a roof of vegetation in the sukkah.
Go to Yourself
Having established the essential connection between Abraham and Sukkot, we will go one step further by introducing an essential dynamic in the life of Abraham, which is then manifest in the way that we shake the four species taken on Sukkot outwards and inwards to each of the six directions, as will be explained.[5]
The first-time that God speaks to Abraham, He directs him to leave everything behind and to go unquestioningly where God will lead him: “Go (lech lecha) from your land and the place of your birth, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”[6] A close examination of the words lech lecha reveals a profound double meaning: on one hand, God is telling Abraham to go on a physical journey; but, on the other hand, God is instructing Abraham to go on an inner journey as well, for the words “lech lecha” can also be understood as, “go to yourself.” God, in His first direct communication with Abraham, seems to be implying that leaving one’s land and one’s paternal home is more than simply a change of environment. For this move implies breaking out of a lifetime of habits and norms in order to overcome any physical and spiritual limitations that Abraham may not have even known he had. As we know, this archetypal journey will prove to be both a physical journey to the Promised Land, as well as an inner spiritual journey and struggle to change the world.
As the Torah is eternal and is relevant to every individual, in every era, and in every location, the commandment of lech lecha—to go confidently into life and influence both the world around us and our inner psyche and soul—was not given to Abraham alone. All of his descendants (whether by direct lineage or through spiritual identification with him and his cause) are constantly challenged to find God in the innermost recesses of their souls and to simultaneously reveal Him in the material world. This in fact is the message of our shaking the four species both outwardly and inwardly; this mitzvah is a virtual reenactment of the very first communication from God to Abraham, which ultimately forms the nature of the mission of the mission of the Jewish people and all righteous non-Jews who identify as the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
The Dynamic of Run and Return
The energetic dynamic of lech lecha is intrinsically connected to a key concept in Kabbalah known as “run and return,” a phrase borrowed from the vibrant movement of the angels in Ezekiel’s vision.[7] The dynamic pulsation of run and return manifests in countless ways throughout creation: from the contraction and expansion at the very origins of the universe to the beating of our hearts and the pulse of the blood running through our arteries and veins; from the exhalation and inhalation of breath to the highs and lows of human emotions; from the cycles of the seasons to the ebb and flow of the tides; from the give and take of relationships to the pulsating rhythm of motion within every cell and atom.
Shaking the Four Species mirrors and enacts this run and return dynamic inherent in the dynamic of lech lecha in a real and tangible way. The original command from God to Abraham to “go to yourself” is thus replicated in the shaking of the Four Species by all his progeny in perpetuity.
Journeying, Going, Travelling
When Abraham came to the Land of Canaan, he began to traverse the land: “and Abram journeyed, going and travelling toward the south”[8] (וַיִּסַּע אַבְרָם הָלוֹךְ וְנָסוֹעַ הַנֶּגְבָּה). In Kabbalah, the south is associated with loving-kindness (chessed); meaning that, in effect, Abraham was always travelling towards more and more loving-kindness, regardless of the physical direction he was moving towards. This description of Abraham’s travels through the Land of Canaan seems to use redundant language: “Abram journeyed, going and travelling toward the south.” But in truth, each of these three words connotes a different aspect of movement. Furthermore, it is explained by the sages that the term “going” (הָלוֹךְ) paradoxically connotes a state of rest between movements.
It is significant to note that when shaking the four species we do so three times to each of the six directions, for a total of 18 times. The numerical value of 18 equals the word “life,” chai (חַי), as in the popular anthem: Am Yisrael Chai! Meaning, “the People of Israel Live!” Like Abraham, the Jewish people continually move, in the sense of always progressing and growing, as the expression states: “all that is alive—moves.”[9]
In a Larger Context
This archetypal dynamic of Abraham’s travels is repeated on a larger scale by all of Israel during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness. As each encampment along their journey is reviewed in parashat Massei, the same formula is repeated: “They journeyed to… and they camped in….”[10] This repetitive phrasing alludes to the way in which all processes function in a dynamic ebb and flow of starts and stops, activity and rest, constantly transitioning between taking the initiative and passively receiving. This same dynamic forms the basic structure of Jewish time as seen in the six days of work, which are then followed by Shabbat, as well as in the six years of agricultural work, followed by a Sabbatical year.
Greater Than the Angels
A Chassidic teaching admonishes that if you are not ascending the ladder of life, you are by definition descending, in as much as there is no such thing in life as “standing still.” Although the concept of “run and return” is initially learned from the angels in Ezekiel’s vision, as discussed above, nonetheless in a verse in the Book of Zechariah, angels are actually depicted as “standing”: “Then I will give you movement among these who stand by.”[11] The sages taught that in this verse those “who stand by” are the angels. Angels are described as “standing by” because they do not possess free will which ultimately gives humans the real ability to move, change, and develop. Although the angels “run,” they actually merely return to the same place they began. Abraham as the prototype of the Jewish people was always advancing, progressing, and growing. Shaking the Four Species on Sukkot manifests this type of internal and external movement and growth begun by Abraham and engraved in the soul of every Jew.
The Good Name
Another significant connection between Sukkot, and in fact, all the mitzvot, and Abraham, is encoded in the verse we explored above: “and Abram journeyed, going and travelling toward the south.” The initial letters of the second, third, fourth, and fifth words in this verse spell a very important, though less known Name of God,[12] אהוה, which is known as “the good name,” because its numerical value is “good” (טוֹב): וַיִּסַּע אַבְרָם הָלוֹךְ וְנָסוֹעַ הַנֶּגְבָּה. The founder of the Chasidic movement, Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov, whose name means “master of the good Name,” was so-called because he had a special affinity to this Name.
This Name—אהוה—can be found in the Torah’s very first verse in the initials of the words “the heavens and the earth” (אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ), indicating that God’s goodness is woven into the very fabric of Creation and is manifest in the heavens and the earth from their inception. Heavens in this context means everything spiritual that would ever be created, while earth implies all material reality that would be created.
From this we can see that Abraham’s travels in both the external world and his own internal world were always for the sake of endowing creation with chesed and goodness. As this Name of God indicates, he was always uniting spiritual energy within the material realm. This is actually one of the main goals of all the commandments, to take a physical action, a physical object and/or speech and infuse them within the context of a commandment with Godliness.
The sages describe the Patriarchs as God’s chariot, as it were,[13] able to take the place of the Divine Chariot seen by the prophets, most notably Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. Abraham was the chariot, for drawing together heaven and earth, spiritual and physical. Shaking the Four Species produces the same type of unification: infusing a very active physical act with the spiritual energy and meaning of a mitzvah—a commandment prescribed by God to unite the heavens and the earth together.
[1]. The following ideas in this article are contained in Mivchar Shiurei Hitbonenut, vol. 8, Kavanot HaLulav.
[2]. Genesis 18:2-4.
[3]. Tanchuma Vayeira 4.
[4]. Sotah 34a.
[5]. Mivchar Shiurei Hitbonenut, loc. cit.
[6]. Genesis 12:1.
[7]. Ezekiel 1:14.
[8]. Genesis 12:9.
[9]. Mivchar Shiurei Hitbonenut, loc. cit. The English word for something that is alive is “animal,” which stems from movement, anima.
[10]. Numbers 33:5-48.
[11]. Zechariah 3:7.
[12]. Mivchar Shiurei Hitbonenut, loc. cit.
[13]. Bereishit Rabbah 47:6.
