The lone willow: humility of the final generation

מנהג ערבה בהושענא רבה.

The custom of the aravah (willow) on Hoshana Rabbah.

The Sefas Emes addresses the practice of taking a separate bundle of willows on Hoshana Rabbah and beating them on the ground.

כי הנה איתא במדרש שהד' מינים הוא בעלי תורה ומצות ופשוטי בנ"י ונעשין אגודה אחת.

For behold, it is found in the Midrash that the four minim represent the masters of Torah, the masters of mitzvos, and the simple folk of Bnei Yisrael, and they are made into a single bundle (agudah achas).

The famous Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 30) reads the four species as four types of Jews — from those rich in both Torah and mitzvos down to the plain, "tasteless" willow — bound together as one, teaching the achdus (unity) of all of Klal Yisrael.

אבל בעוה"ר עתה אינם יכולין להתאסף ושנאת חנם שהחריבה ביהמ"ק עדיין מרקד בינינו.

But, to our great sorrow, now they are unable to gather together, and the baseless hatred (sinas chinam) that destroyed the Bais Hamikdash still dances among us.

In our times of galus, that unity is hard to achieve; the very sinas chinam that caused the churban still divides us and keeps Yisrael from truly coming together as one bundle.

ולכן צריכין ישועה גדולה אפילו בבחינת ערבה בלבד כי בודאי בחג הסוכות בכח הלולב מתחברין נפשות בנ"י.

Therefore we need a great salvation even on the level of the aravah alone — for certainly on Chag HaSukkos, through the power of the lulav, the souls of Bnei Yisrael are joined together.

During Sukkos itself the lulav-bundle does unite the neshamos of Yisrael. But because that unity is fragile in galus, we need a yeshuah great enough to reach even the lowest level — the plain willow, the simple Jew.

ותקנו הנביאים להיות נשאר הארה מאגודה זו גם על כל השנה שאינם יכולין להתחבר.

And the prophets instituted that a radiance from this bundle should remain for the entire year as well — when they are unable to join together.

The Nevi'im established the aravah custom so that some glow of the Sukkos unity would carry over into the rest of the year, when Yisrael cannot easily come together.

ולכן מצות ערבה דוקא בפ"ע כמ"ש אין אדם יוצא ידי חובתו בערבה שבלולב.

Therefore the mitzvah of aravah is specifically on its own, as stated: one does not fulfill his obligation with the willow that is in the lulav (bundle).

The Hoshana Rabbah willow must be taken by itself, separate from the lulav — for its whole point is to reach the "willow" alone, the simple Jew, even when not bound up with the other species.

ובאמת סדר הדורות הוא ג"כ כפי המינים.

And in truth the sequence of the generations also corresponds to these species.

The four species also map onto the descent of the generations: earlier, loftier generations were like the esrog and hadas, later ones like the lowly willow.

ודורות השפלים הוא בחי' ערבה.

And the lowly generations are the aspect of the aravah.

Our own late, spiritually impoverished generations correspond to the willow — which has neither taste nor fragrance.

כדאיתא במד' פנה אל תפילת הערער כו' תכתב זאת לדור אחרון.

As is found in the Midrash on "He turned to the prayer of the destitute (arar)... let this be written for a later generation" (Tehillim 102:18-19).

The Midrash links "arar" (destitute) to "aravah" and reads the pasuk as a promise for the "later generation" — that Hashem will yet turn to the tefillah of those stripped bare, our generation.

שאין בנו צדיקים רק כערבה שאין לה טעם וריח.

For there are no tzaddikim among us — we are only like the willow, which has neither taste nor fragrance.

We can no longer claim the "taste" of Torah or the "fragrance" of mitzvos; we stand like the bare willow, lacking the merits of earlier generations.

א"כ מה נשאר רק לידע שאנחנו כערער וריק מכל דבר.

If so, what remains for us is only to know that we are like the destitute one (arar), empty of everything.

Our remaining avodah is the honesty of this recognition itself — to know that we are barren of merit, the very willow with nothing of our own.

וע"י הכנעה אמיתית יתקיים בנו עם עני ודל וחסו בשם ה'.

And through true submission (hachna'ah amitis), there will be fulfilled in us "a poor and lowly people, who take refuge in the Name of Hashem" (Tzefaniah 3:12).

Paradoxically, this very emptiness becomes our strength: genuine humility, knowing we have nothing of our own, drives us to take refuge entirely in Hashem — which is itself the fulfillment of the prophecy about the "poor and lowly people."

ולכן איתא חביט חביט כי ערבה שבלולב הוא בנטילה שמתנשא ומתעלה גם ערבה ע"י איגוד עם שאר המינים.

Therefore it is taught "beat it, beat it" — for the willow that is in the lulav is taken by lifting and waving, whereby even the willow is raised up and elevated through being bound with the other species.

During Sukkos the willow is held high in the lulav-bundle and is elevated by its connection to the loftier species — uplifted by its bond with the greater members of Klal Yisrael.

ועתה הוא בחבטה שהוא רק בחי' הכנעה ותפלה כנ"ל:

But now (on Hoshana Rabbah) it is by beating it down — which is only the aspect of submission and tefillah, as above.

On Hoshana Rabbah the willow stands alone and is struck downward — embodying not elevation through others but pure hachna'ah and tefillah, the avodah of the lowly generation that has only its humility and its prayer.

Summary: The four minim, bound as one, represent the unity of all types of Jews — but in galus, sinas chinam keeps Yisrael from uniting, so the prophets instituted the lone willow of Hoshana Rabbah to carry the year's unity even to the simple Jew. The willow also represents our lowly final generations, who lack the "taste" of Torah and "fragrance" of mitzvos; our avodah is the honest recognition of our emptiness, and through true hachna'ah and tefillah — symbolized by beating the willow down rather than lifting it up — we become "a poor and lowly people who take refuge in Hashem."