Pure prayer of the simple Jew

ערבה נגד אלו שאין להם טעם וריח.

The aravah (willow) corresponds to those who have neither taste nor smell.

Among the four minim, the willow — lacking both taste and fragrance — represents Jews who have neither Torah (taste) nor mitzvos (smell).

א"כ מה חשיבותם.

If so, what is their importance?

The question arises: what worth do such people have, that they too are taken up with the lulav?

אך הפה שהוא עיקר כחן של ישראל הקול קול יעקב.

But the mouth, which is the essential strength of Bnei Yisrael — "the voice is the voice of Yaakov." (Bereishis 27:22)

The willow resembles a mouth, and the mouth — the power of prayer — is the core strength of Bnei Yisrael, the "voice of Yaakov."

והיא בחי' דוד המע"ה.

And this is the aspect of Dovid HaMelech, peace be upon him.

The willow corresponds to Dovid HaMelech, whose entire being was bound up with tefillah.

כי ג' מינים הם ג' אבות ודוד המע"ה אמר ואני תפלה.

For the three other species are the three Avos, and Dovid HaMelech said, "And I am prayer." (Tehillim 109:4)

The esrog, lulav, and hadas correspond to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, while the aravah corresponds to Dovid, who declared, "I am prayer" — wholly given over to tefillah.

אם כי בודאי קול הצדיקים שיש להם טעם וריח עולה למדריגות רבות ביותר.

Although certainly the voice of the tzaddikim, who possess both taste and fragrance, ascends to far greater levels.

The prayers of those rich in Torah and mitzvos surely rise to lofty heights.

אעפ"כ יש להם תערובות מעשים טובים.

Nevertheless, theirs is mixed together with good deeds.

Yet the tefillah of such tzaddikim is intertwined with their accumulated merits, so it is not pure prayer alone.

ומי שאין לו טעם וריח הוא רק תפלה בלבד.

But one who has neither taste nor fragrance — his is prayer alone.

The simple Jew with no merits to lean on offers prayer in its purest form, with nothing else to rely upon.

וז"ש תפלה לעני כי יעטוף היינו שמתעטף כולו בתפלה כמ"ש ואני תפלה.

And this is the meaning of "a prayer of the poor man when he is faint (ya'atof)" (Tehillim 102:1) — that he wraps (mis'atef) himself entirely in prayer, as in "And I am prayer."

The "poor man" who has only tefillah wraps his whole self in prayer, becoming, like Dovid, prayer itself.

וזה ערב לפניו ית' ונקראת ערבה.

And this is sweet (arev) before Him, and it is called aravah.

Such pure, selfless prayer is "sweet" and pleasing before Hashem — hence the willow, "aravah," sharing the root of arev (sweet/pleasing).

ולכן נק' הושענא רבה כי ביום זה נושעים בו גם השפלים שאין להם טעם וריח כנ"ל.

And therefore it is called Hoshana Rabbah, for on this day even the lowly ones, who have neither taste nor fragrance, are saved, as above.

Hoshana Rabbah, the day of the willow, brings salvation specifically to the simple Jews who have only their prayer.

והוא ישועה גם לדורות השפלים שלנו שאין לנו רק תפלה.

And this is salvation also for our own lowly generations, who have nothing but prayer.

Our generations, too, lacking the merits of earlier ones, are saved through tefillah alone on this day.

וביום זה נפתח שערי תפלה בפיהם של ישראל.

And on this day the gates of prayer are opened in the mouths of Bnei Yisrael.

Hoshana Rabbah is when the sha'arei tefillah (gates of prayer) open through the very mouths of Bnei Yisrael.

והוא גמר יוהכ"פ כמ"ש לעיל בענין מוצא פי ה'.

And it is the completion of Yom Kippur, as explained above regarding "that which comes forth from the mouth of Hashem." (cf. Devarim 8:3)

Hoshana Rabbah seals the judgment of Yom Kippur, completing it through the power of the "mouth" — prayer.

והמשכיל יבין:

And the discerning one will understand.

The Sefas Emes leaves the deeper layers for the thoughtful reader to grasp on his own.

Summary: The aravah, lacking taste and fragrance, represents the simple Jew who has neither Torah nor mitzvos to lean upon — yet who, like Dovid HaMelech ("I am prayer"), offers pure, unmixed tefillah. Wrapping himself entirely in prayer, his service is uniquely "sweet" (arev) before Hashem. On Hoshana Rabbah, the day of the willow, the gates of prayer open and even the lowliest — including our own generations who have only tefillah — are saved, completing the judgment of Yom Kippur.