The willow as the power of speech and silence

קבעו חכמים הרבה בקשות ביום הערבה.

The Chachamim established many requests (bakashos) on the day of the aravah [Hoshana Rabbah].

The Sefas Emes notes that Hoshana Rabbah, the day of the willow, is filled with many tefillos and supplications.

כי כחן של ישראל בפה.

For the strength of Yisrael is in the mouth.

Klal Yisrael's distinctive power lies in the mouth — in tefillah and Torah — which is why the day of the willow is given over to so much prayer.

וערבה דומה לשפתים ופה כמ"ש חז"ל.

And the aravah resembles the lips and the mouth, as Chazal said.

Chazal teach that the willow leaf is shaped like lips, making the aravah a symbol of the mouth and its powers.

והנה יש ב' שפתים.

Now, there are two lips.

The Sefas Emes draws attention to the fact that a person has two lips — a duality he will now interpret.

ונראה הרמז כי שבח הפה הוא בדיבור ובשתיקה כמ"ש מלה בסלע משתוקא בתרין.

And it appears that the hint is that the praise of the mouth lies in both speech and silence, as it is said, "a word is worth a sela, but silence is worth two."

The two lips correspond to the mouth's two virtues: speaking the right words, and knowing when to be silent — and silence is valued even more highly than speech.

והרמז ב' ערבות ב' שפתים הם בחי' אהרן ומשה.

And the hint of the two willows [taken on Hoshana Rabbah] and the two lips is the aspect of Aharon and Moshe.

The pair of willows, like the two lips, represents the two brothers Moshe and Aharon — each embodying one of the mouth's two powers.

כי משה רבינו הוא כח הפה בתורה.

For Moshe Rabbeinu is the power of the mouth in Torah.

Moshe represents the power of holy speech — the mouth that gives forth Torah.

ואהרן כתיב בי' וידום אהרן והוא כח השתיקה.

And concerning Aharon it is written, "and Aharon was silent" (Vayikra 10:3) — and he is the power of silence.

Aharon, who responded to the death of his sons with silence, embodies the power of holy silence — the second "lip."

ומאחר שמצינו כי גדול לשון הרע מכל העבירות נמצא הבולם פיו בשעת מריבה גדול כחו.

And since we find that lashon hara is greater [in severity] than all the [other] transgressions, it follows that one who restrains his mouth at a time of strife — his power is great.

Because evil speech outweighs even other grave sins, the one who holds back his words during a quarrel accomplishes something of enormous spiritual magnitude.

וכמ"ש ז"ל תולה ארץ על בלימה על הבולם פיו כו'.

And as Chazal said on "He suspends the earth upon nothingness (belimah)" (Iyov 26:7) — upon the one who "bolems" (restrains, bolem) his mouth.

Chazal read "belimah" as "bolem peh" — the whole world is sustained in the merit of the person who restrains his mouth from forbidden speech.

והוא אהרן אוהב שלום ורודף שלום.

And this is Aharon, who loved peace and pursued peace.

This power of restraining the mouth is the trait of Aharon, the great pursuer of shalom — for silence is the foundation of peace.

ובאמת ב' אלו תלוין זה בזה.

And in truth these two are dependent on one another.

Speech and silence are not separate; each depends on and enables the other.

כי כפי שמירת הפה כך יכולין לפתוח הפה בתורה.

For according to the degree of guarding the mouth, so is one able to open the mouth in Torah.

The capacity to speak words of Torah is in direct proportion to one's guarding of the mouth from forbidden speech — the silence empowers the speech.

וזה הרמז שפתים ישק משיב דברים נכוחים.

And this is the hint of "he kisses the lips who gives a fitting answer" (Mishlei 24:26).

The verse about "kissing the lips" — pressing the lips together — hints at the link between sealing the lips in silence and being able to give a "fitting answer."

פי' המשיק שפתותיו שלא לדבר דברים בטלים הוא משיב דברים נכוחים ואולי זה החילוק בין ערבה שבלולב שהוא בחי' הדיבור בתורה ומתחבר בד' מינים שהם עמודים גדולים.

The meaning: one who presses his lips together so as not to speak idle words (devarim beteilim) is the one who [is able to] give fitting words; and perhaps this is the distinction between the aravah of the lulav — which is the aspect of speech in Torah and is joined with the four species, which are great pillars —

Sealing the lips against idle chatter is precisely what enables fitting, truthful speech. The Sefas Emes suggests this explains the two roles of the willow: the aravah bound into the lulav represents the power of speech in Torah, joined with the other "pillars" (esrog, lulav, hadas).

וערבה בפ"ע היא כח השתיקה ושמירת הפה לכן אמרו חביט ולא בירך כי היא בחי' השתיקה כנ"ל:

— and the aravah on its own [of Hoshana Rabbah] is the power of silence and the guarding of the mouth; therefore they said "one beats it but does not recite a berachah," for it is the aspect of silence, as above.

The separate willow of Hoshana Rabbah, by contrast, embodies silence and guarding the mouth. That is why one beats it without a berachah — the absence of spoken blessing itself expresses the middah of silence.

Summary: Because the strength of Yisrael is in the mouth, the willow — shaped like lips — is the focus of the bakashos of Hoshana Rabbah. The two lips, like the two willows, correspond to Moshe (the power of speech in Torah) and Aharon (the power of silence, "va'yidom Aharon"). Restraining the mouth from lashon hara is so great that the world is sustained on the one who does so, and the two are interdependent — guarding the mouth in silence is what empowers fitting speech in Torah. Hence the aravah in the lulav represents holy speech joined to the other species, while the lone willow of Hoshana Rabbah, beaten without a berachah, represents the silent guarding of the mouth.