The willow of simple faith and inherited minhag

ליום הושענא רבה.

For the day of Hoshana Rabbah.

The Sefas Emes turns to the avodah of Hoshana Rabbah, centered on the aravah (willow).

ערבה היא רומז לאותן שאין להם טעם וריח כדאיתא במד'.

The aravah (willow) alludes to those who have neither taste nor smell, as is taught in the Midrash.

The willow, lacking both taste and fragrance, represents Jews who have neither Torah nor good deeds — those with seemingly nothing to offer.

א"כ מאי מעליותא דערבה.

If so, what is the special virtue of the aravah?

If the willow symbolizes one bereft of merit, the Sefas Emes asks: why is it singled out for its own special day of honor?

אך הוא בחי' אמונה כדאיתא שהיא משוך כנחל.

But it is the aspect of emunah, as is taught that it [the willow, "arvei nachal"] is drawn along like a stream (nachal).

The willow's virtue is pure emunah. Like a stream flowing along its course, it represents simple faith that is "pulled along" after Hashem without questions.

והוא בחי' אחריך נרוצה נמשכנו אחריך כבהמה, וזהו נשאר לעולם בישראל מאמינים בני מאמינים.

And it is the aspect of "we will run after You" (Shir HaShirim 1:4) — we are drawn after You like an animal; and this is what remains forever in Yisrael, "believers, the children of believers."

This simple, instinctive following of Hashem — like an animal led by its master — is the enduring quality of Klal Yisrael, "maaminim bnei maaminim," an emunah that never leaves them even when taste and fragrance are gone.

ואיתא ערבה מנהג נביאים ולא יסוד נביאים.

And it is taught: [the taking of the] aravah is a "custom of the Prophets" (minhag nevi'im), and not a "fixed institution of the Prophets" (yesod nevi'im).

Halachically the aravah of Hoshana Rabbah is rooted in the prophets' minhag rather than a formal enactment — and the Sefas Emes finds deep meaning in that distinction.

דאיתא מנהג ישראל תורה.

For it is taught, "a custom of Yisrael is Torah" (minhag Yisrael Torah hi).

A Jewish minhag carries the force of Torah itself — so being "merely" a custom is no lesser status.

כי בנ"י יורשים כח אבות בבחי' דעת כדאי' מוח הבן ממוח האב וזה בגדלות.

For Bnei Yisrael inherit the power of the Avos in the aspect of daas (knowledge), as is taught, "the brain of the son derives from the brain of the father" — and this is in [the aspect of] gadlus (maturity).

One mode of inheriting from the Avos is through daas — conscious, mature understanding, a son grasping his father's wisdom. This is the dimension of "greatness" / adulthood.

אבל יש עוד ברא כרעא דאבוה והוא בבחי' קטנות שדרך הבן להמשך במנהג אבותיו.

But there is also "a son is the leg of his father" (bra kar'a de'avuha), and this is in the aspect of katnus (smallness), that it is the way of a son to be drawn after the custom of his fathers.

A second, humbler mode: a child is like an extension ("leg") of his father, naturally following his parents' practices even without understanding. This is the dimension of "smallness" — pure inherited loyalty.

ועל זה כתיב אם לא תדעי לך כו' צאי בעקבי הצאן.

And about this it is written, "If you do not know [where to graze], O fairest of women… go out in the footsteps (b'ikvei) of the flock" (Shir HaShirim 1:8).

When one lacks daas — "if you do not know" — the path is to follow in the "footsteps of the flock," to walk in the ways and customs of those who came before.

ומנהג אבותיהם בידיהן הרמז מה שהי' לאבות מנהג בעלמא ואצלינו הוא יד וכח לאחוז בזה, ודרגא תחתונה שלהם הוא הראש אצלינו וידינו אוחזת בעקביהם.

And "the custom of their fathers is in their hands" — the hint is that what was for the Avos a mere custom is for us a "hand" and a power to grasp hold of; and their lowest rung is for us the head, and our hand grasps their heels.

What the Avos held as a casual practice becomes for us our very handhold and strength. Their lowest level (their "heels," their minhagim) is our highest reach — we grasp their heels, and that contact is our greatness.

ובאמת תחלתן של ישראל הי' דור המדבר קודם שניתן להם התורה ונמשכו אחריו ית'.

And in truth, the beginning of Yisrael was the generation of the Midbar, before the Torah was given to them, when they were drawn after Him.

Klal Yisrael's foundational moment was following Hashem into the wilderness before Matan Torah — pure emunah, with no Torah-knowledge yet, simply being "pulled after Him."

וכמו כן בסוף הדורות שאין לנו דעת כאדם צריכין להתחזק בדרך אמונה.

And likewise at the end of the generations, when we do not have daas like Adam, we need to strengthen ourselves through the path of emunah.

In our later, diminished generations, lacking the clear daas of earlier times, our strength must come precisely from this same path of simple faith.

והוא חביב לפניו ית"ש כדאי' במדרש ומדברך נאוה מדברתיך במדבר כו' הקימו לי צדיקים ע"ש וכל עלויך לא הי' אלא מן המדבר.

And it is beloved before Him, as is taught in the Midrash: "and your speech (midbarech) is comely" — your "midbar" (wilderness): in the Midbar… "they set up tzaddikim for Me," see there — and "all your elevation came only from the Midbar."

This faith of the wilderness is precious to Hashem. The Midrash plays on "midbarech" (your speech / your wilderness): all of Yisrael's greatness — the tzaddikim, the elevation — sprang from that desert of pure emunah.

וכמו כן בסוף הדורות כתיב עם עני ודל וחסו בשם ה' והיא בחי' ערבה:

And likewise at the end of the generations it is written, "a poor and lowly people, and they shall take refuge in the Name of Hashem" (Tzefaniah 3:12) — and this is the aspect of the aravah.

The "poor and lowly people" of the final generations who simply take shelter in Hashem's Name are the embodiment of the willow: no taste, no fragrance, only emunah — and that is precisely their greatness and the secret of Hoshana Rabbah.

Summary: The aravah, lacking taste and smell, represents Jews with neither Torah nor mitzvos — yet its virtue is pure emunah, the quality of being "drawn after Hashem" like a stream or like an animal following its master. This is the inheritance of "smallness" (katnus), where a son simply follows his fathers' minhag without daas, grasping the Avos' "heels" — and that handhold is our true strength. Just as Klal Yisrael's beginning was the wilderness generation following Hashem before Matan Torah, so in the lowly final generations our greatness lies in this same simple faith, "a poor and lowly people who take refuge in Hashem's Name" — the aspect of the willow honored on Hoshana Rabbah.