From hyssop to four species: chesed earned through deeds

ולקחתם לכם כו'.

"And you shall take for yourselves [on the first day…]" (Vayikra 23:40).

The Sefas Emes opens on the mitzvah of the arba minim, focusing on the word "u'lekachtem" (and you shall take).

במד' וגמ' למדו לקיחה לקיחה גז"ש מן ולקחתם אגודת אזוב ע"ש במד' אמור.

In the Midrash and Gemara they derived "taking"–"taking" by a gezeirah shavah from "and you shall take a bundle of eizov (hyssop)" (Shemos 12:22) — see there in the Midrash on Emor.

Chazal link the "taking" of the lulav to the "taking" of the hyssop used in Mitzrayim, drawing a connection between the two mitzvos through identical wording.

כי הנה ביציאת מצרים היו בנ"י שפלים כמ"ש את ערום וערי'.

For behold, at Yetzias Mitzrayim Bnei Yisrael were lowly, as it is written, "you were naked and bare" (Yechezkel 16:7).

At the time of the Exodus, Klal Yisrael were spiritually destitute, stripped of merit, like the lowly hyssop.

לכן כ' ביד חזקה שלא היינו ראוים לגאולה ונק' לחם עוני.

Therefore it is written "with a strong hand" — that we were not worthy of redemption; and it is called "lechem oni" (bread of affliction/poverty).

Since we lacked merit, the geulah had to come by Hashem's overpowering "strong hand," a redemption of pure chesed — hence the matzah of that night is the "poor man's bread."

ואח"כ כשזיכה הקב"ה אותנו בתורה ומצות נתעלו בני ישראל שיזכו אל הגאולה בכח מעשיהם הטובים.

And afterward, when the Holy One granted us Torah and mitzvos, Bnei Yisrael were elevated so that they could merit the redemption through the power of their own good deeds.

Once given Torah and mitzvos, Klal Yisrael rose to a level where they could earn redemption by their own avodah, not by chesed alone.

לכן כתיב כאן ולקחתם לכם בזכותכם.

Therefore it is written here, "and you shall take for yourselves" — by your own merit.

The word "lachem" (for yourselves) on Sukkos signals that now the mitzvah is performed and earned through Yisrael's own zechus.

ושם כתיב אגודת אזוב כתב שם במד' אעפ"י שאתם שפלים כאזוב ע"ש.

And there [in Mitzrayim] it is written "a bundle of hyssop"; the Midrash there explains, "even though you are lowly as the hyssop" — see there.

The hyssop at the Exodus represents Yisrael's lowliness at that stage — chosen and redeemed despite having no standing of their own.

כי כן מדת הקב"ה עושה חסד לשפל ודל ומרומם אותו.

For such is the way of the Holy One: He does chesed with the lowly and poor and raises him up.

Hashem's manner is to first lift the lowly purely through chesed, giving him a standing he did not earn.

עד שיוכל אח"כ בעצמו לזכות במעשיו לאותו מדריגה שהי' מקודם בחסדו בלבד.

Until afterward he is able, by himself, to merit through his own deeds that same level which beforehand he had reached through His chesed alone.

The initial gift of chesed is a stepping-stone: it raises a person so that he can eventually attain that very same level on his own, through his deeds.

וכמו כן בגאולת מצרים רצה הקב"ה שאנחנו נברר במעשינו.

And likewise with the redemption from Mitzrayim, the Holy One desired that we should clarify [our worthiness] through our own deeds.

Hashem's ultimate will was that we should retroactively justify the geulah by our own avodah, rather than leaning forever on the original chesed.

ויתחדש לנו הגאולה עפ"י המשפט.

And that the redemption should be renewed for us according to mishpat (justice).

The geulah is to be re-established on the firm footing of justice — earned and deserved — not merely granted as a gift.

וזה זכירת יציאת מצרים אחר ר"ה ויוהכ"פ.

And this is the remembrance of Yetzias Mitzrayim after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Recalling the Exodus specifically after the days of judgment reflects this: now, having been judged, we re-experience the redemption on the basis of merit.

כי בניסן הגאולה בחסדו בלבד.

For in Nissan the redemption was through His chesed alone.

The original springtime redemption was an act of pure, unearned chesed.

ועתה נתברר הגאולה במשפט.

And now [in Tishrei] the redemption is clarified through mishpat.

In Tishrei, after the Yamim Nora'im, the same redemption is reaffirmed through justice — we have now earned it.

ומלקיחת אזוב בתחלה רוממנו הקב"ה עד לקיחת הד' מינים שהם מדריגות רמות ונשגבות.

And from the taking of the lowly hyssop at first, the Holy One raised us up to the taking of the four species, which are lofty and exalted levels.

Hashem lifted us from the humble "taking" of hyssop at the Exodus to the elevated "taking" of the arba minim — a journey from lowliness to greatness.

ובזה מתקיים מה שנאמר מקימי מעפר דל כו' להושיבי עם נדיבים.

And through this is fulfilled what is said, "He raises the poor from the dust… to seat him with princes" (Tehillim 113:7-8).

This is the realization of the verse: Hashem lifts the destitute from the dust (the hyssop) and seats him among nobles (the four species).

ולכן ארז"ל כי הד' מינים הם מאני קרבא שבנ"י נוצחין בדין.

And therefore Chazal said that the four species are "weapons of war" (manei kerava), with which Bnei Yisrael are victorious in judgment.

The arba minim are likened to weapons of victory because, by taking them, Klal Yisrael demonstrate they have triumphed in the din of the Yamim Nora'im.

היינו שמבררין הגאולה למפרע שהיו ראוין לכך:

That is, they retroactively clarify the redemption — that they were [indeed] worthy of it.

The "victory" is that, through their avodah, Yisrael prove in hindsight that they truly merited the redemption all along — the gift of chesed has become a deserved inheritance.

Summary: Chazal connect the "taking" of the four species to the "taking" of the lowly hyssop at Yetzias Mitzrayim. At the Exodus Yisrael were spiritually destitute and were redeemed purely by Hashem's chesed ("a strong hand," "lechem oni"); Hashem's way is to first raise the lowly by grace so that they can later earn that same level through their own deeds. Thus the Tishrei redemption, recalled after the Yamim Nora'im, is the geulah re-established through justice — and the four species, our "weapons of victory" in judgment, show that Klal Yisrael have retroactively proven themselves worthy of the redemption.