Armed & Ready for Victory

 

 

In 1953, the Israeli general turned historian Yigal Yadin discovered a series of ancient letters in the Judean desert. The letters contain a request for arba minim, the four species:

Shimon to Yehuda, son of Menashe at Qiryat ‘Arabayyah: I have sent you two donkeys [in order] that you send with them two men to Yehonatan son of Ba’yan and to Mesabala [in Ein Gedi, so] that they pack and send to the camp, to you, lulavin and etrogin. And you are to send additional persons from your place and let them bring hadasin and aravin. And prepare them [probably, “tithe them”] and deliver them to the camp, because the population [army?] is large. Fare well (shelam)!

From the signature of the letters, scholars have identified “Shimon” as Shimon Bar Koziba, better known as Shimon Bar Kochba, the leader of the last revolt against to Romans 60 years after the destruction of the Second Temple.

In effect, the last commander of Judea sent letters that were discovered by, essentially, the first commander of a revived Judea, Yigal Allon. And the subject matter was the lulav.

It makes sense for the lulav and arba minim to play such a prominent role in lives of Jewish warriors. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 30:3) explains that when two litigants go to court, the winner leaves carrying a lulav – as a part of a proud victory celebration.

The lulav represents victory.

Maybe that’s why the Gemara (Sukkah 41b) mentions how the people of Jerusalem carried it everywhere:

Rabbi Elazar bar Tzadok says: This was the custom of the people of Jerusalem during the festival of Sukkot. A person leaves the house with lulav in hand; he goes to the synagogue, and his lulav is in his hand; he recites Shema and prays, and his lulav is in his hand…he goes to visit the sick or to console mourners, and his lulav is in his hand;

Why carry the lulav everywhere?

On Sukkot, we try to experience a feeling of victory. Maybe the victory of emerging from the High Holidays written into the book of life. Maybe the historic victory of God protecting the Jewish people. Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (Ha'amek Davar, Devarim 16:15) describes the rejoicing of Sukkot as a celebration of the "continued triumphant existence of the Jewish nation and its dedication to a holy path."

I think these words speak to us right now. These past months have been full of defeats and setbacks of all kinds – physical, emotional, societal. Nevertheless, we made it! Please God, we will make it further!

This Sukkot, we celebrate the fact that we're here. We may not all be exactly where we want to be or how we want to be. We bear the physical and emotional scars of the past six months. But we are, thank God, here - and we will celebrate joyously!

As we wave our lulav, let’s consider it a symbol of victory, celebrating our survival and flourishing even in the face of incredible odds. Let’s think about our role as the carriers of a great tradition and our responsibility to proudly live visible Jewish lives with confidence and commitment. Such a reflection on our incredible past and a commitment to, please God, our glorious future is indeed cause for celebration on this holiday of Z’man Simchateinu.