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TORAH PORTION

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The Four Species:
Jews Must Unite

Shabbat Hol Hamoed Sukkot
(Parshat Nitzavim): Exodus 33:12-
34:26; Numbers 29:28-29;
Ezekiel 38:18-39:16.

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ne of the special observanc- knowledge and observance together
es we have for the holiday
with good deeds.
of Sukkot is the mitzvah of
• The date palm has taste but no
the four species. (The other obser-
fragrance ... so, too, there are those
vance is to spend the week dwelling in with Torah but without good deeds.
the sukkah.) These commandments
• Myrtle has no taste, but does have
are found in the book of
fragrance ... so, too, there
Leviticus (23:40-43).
are those with good deeds,
After more than 20 chap-
but no Torah.
ters dealing with sanctity,
•And the willow has
we are commanded con-
neither taste nor fragrance
cerning the various "holy
... so, too, there are those
days" which epitomize
amongst the Jewish people
the sanctity of the Jewish
who have neither Torah nor
people and the potential to
good deeds
sanctify time itself thor-
God says, "Bind them
ough our observance.
together into one unit, and
What is particularly puz-
Rabb Eliezer
they atone for each other:'
zling, then, is the end of
C ohen
Even those without any
the Torah portion with its
Spec ial to the
sense of Torah or good
story of a "half-breed" Jew
Jewi sh News
deeds are precious to God
who commits the ultimate
and are absolutely neces-
desecration of blasphemy, cursing God sary — for one cannot fulfill the
Himself (Leviticus 24:10-23). This
mitzvah of the four species if one is
fellow, whose father was an Egyptian,
missing.
gets into a row with
All Jews need each
someone and in his
other. We must truly
anger curses God.
live as brothers, dedi-
Also, the verses dis-
cated to our mutual
cussing the eventual
welfare to actualize
execution deal with
the sanctity that
civil law and dam-
the Torah tells us is
ages — a complete
inherent in the Jewish
non sequitur.
people and that is
It seems to me
manifest through all
that the Torah is teaching us that in
Torah observance, especially the holy
spite of all our ritual observance and
days. ❑
commitment, if we can't live together
in harmony and peace, mutual respect Eliezer Cohen is rabbi of congregation Or
and true justice and fairness — even
Chadash in Oak Park.
toward the outsider — then rather
than sanctity, desecration of God and
His Torah may result.
Conversations
This very same lesson can be seen
Why is it so difficult to achieve
from the observance of the four
unity with those with whom we
species, according to the Midrash
disagree? Why is it that religion
(Leviticus: Raba 30:11): (The four spe-
so often causes dispute and
cies) these are the Jewish people.
hatred instead of respect and
• The citron has taste and fragrance;
love? What can we do to help
so too the Jewish people. There are
achieve the unity of the Jewish
amongst them those with Torah
people?

Bind them together
into one unit, and
they atone for each
other.

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