The holy art of having nothing to offer
Every Sukkos we bind four plants together (etrog, lulav, hadas, arava) and we're taught they're four kinds of Jew: the scholar, the doer, both, neither, held as one people. True. But here's a reading I only came across recently, and I can't stop turning it over.
The etrog has taste and smell, that is you at your most balanced , learning and doing in easy harmony. I've got this.
The lulav has taste but no smell, that's the you that needs to pull back from the noise of the world and just know (connect with) Hashem, chase something deeper, even if the world has to wait an hour.
The hadas has smell but no taste, that's the you that says enough theory, someone needs help right now, and drops everything to go do it.
And the arava has neither, that's you on the day you've got nothing left to give . No wisdom, no energy. Just you, sitting in the sukkah with a cup of tea. I'm nothing today. And Sukkos says: that one's holy too.
Here's what I tend to do, and I think all of us do, we pick one "I'm a thinker," "I'm a doer" and call it who we are, maybe even our whole identity. Then every other part gets quietly filed under not me.
But watch the four kinds. Leave one out, even if it’s just one and the mitzvah is invalid. You can't even say the blessing. Four out of four, or its not a mitzvah.
You're the same. Wholeness is about being comfortable with recognizing who you are at this moment, the empty one is just as much a part of you as the balanced one, the seeker, the doer. Wholeness is never about being one thing, it's being able to be the you that you need to be when the moment calls for it, and knowing that all of it is you.
This Sukkos, bring all of yourself and come be with us. Get a lulav and etrog , sit down for the kiddush after services , drop by the Services and Subs , and dance on Simchas Torah everything's at harfordchabad.org/sukkot .
Wishing you and your family a joyous Sukkos and a chag sameach or in Yiddish gut yontif,
- The holy art of having nothing to offer
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- Live your best life!
