The Lulav: Yearning and Deveikus Like Aharon

בענין הלולב דכתיב צדיק כתמר יפרח.

Concerning the lulav, of which it is written: "A tzaddik will flourish like a date-palm (tamar)" (Tehillim 92:13).

The Sefas Emes opens his discussion of the lulav (the date-palm branch) with the verse comparing the tzaddik to a flourishing palm.

ובמד' מה תמר יש לה תאוה כן הצדיקים יש להם תאוה להקב"ה.

And in the Midrash: just as the date-palm has desire (ta'avah), so too the tzaddikim have desire for the Holy One, Blessed is He.

Chazal note that the palm "yearns" (it requires cross-pollination); so too the tzaddikim are filled with a burning yearning for Hashem.

ובכח זו התאוה מתדבקין אל הבורא ית"ש.

And by the power of this desire they cleave (misdabkin) to the Creator, Yisborach.

It is precisely this longing that becomes the means of deveikus — clinging to Hashem.

ובאלה הימים אחר יוהכ"פ שנטהרו בנ"י מתעורר זו התאוה בלבות בנ"י.

And in these days after Yom Kippur, when Bnei Yisrael have been purified, this desire is aroused in the hearts of Bnei Yisrael.

Having been cleansed on Yom Kippur, the hearts of Bnei Yisrael are now open, and this yearning for Hashem awakens within them during Sukkos.

ואיתא תמר עולה לזמן רב שאין הצדיק נשלם רק ביגיעה רבה הרבה זמנים.

And it is brought that the date-palm grows over a long time — for the tzaddik is not completed except through great toil over much time.

Just as the palm takes years to mature, the tzaddik reaches completeness only through prolonged, sustained labor in avodah.

אבל בכח בעל תשובה לתקן הכל ברגעא חדא.

But the baal teshuvah has the power to rectify everything in a single moment (rigsa chada).

In contrast to the slow growth of the tzaddik, the penitent can repair all at once, in one instant of return.

ועליו נאמר יפרח כשושנה שפורחת בשעה מועטת.

And about him it is said "yifrach" (he will blossom) — like a rose that blossoms in a short while.

The word "yifrach," "blossom," fits the baal teshuvah, whose flowering is sudden like a rose that opens quickly.

כי לבע"ת כתיב אוהבם נדבה.

For regarding the baal teshuvah it is written: "I will love them freely (ohaveim nedavah)" (Hoshea 14:5).

Hashem responds to the penitent with a free, generous love that goes beyond the natural order.

ומסייע להם ביותר מן השמים לעורר הדביקות למעלה.

And they are helped more from Heaven, to arouse the deveikus (attachment) above.

Heaven grants the baal teshuvah extra assistance, awakening from above the closeness he seeks.

וזה רמז הלולב ונענועיו.

And this is the hint of the lulav and its waving (na'anuim).

The shaking of the lulav in all directions symbolizes this aroused yearning and the drawing of deveikus toward Hashem.

ולכן בשבת א"צ לולב כי השבת עצמו מעלה את האדם אל השורש.

And therefore on Shabbos one does not need the lulav, for Shabbos itself raises a person up to the root.

On Shabbos the lulav is set aside (mid'Rabbanan), because Shabbos on its own lifts a person back to his source — the lulav's function is already accomplished.

כמ"ש במזמור ליום השבת צדיק כתמר יפרח כמו הצדיק בנפש כן השבת בזמן כתמר יפרח.

As it is written in "A psalm, a song for the day of Shabbos" (Tehillim 92): "a tzaddik will flourish like a date-palm" — just as the tzaddik [flourishes] in the dimension of soul, so Shabbos [flourishes] in the dimension of time, "like a date-palm flourishing."

The verse "tzaddik ka'tamar yifrach" appears in the psalm of Shabbos because Shabbos is the "tzaddik" of time — the day that flourishes and elevates, paralleling the tzaddik who is the flourishing point within the soul.

ובמד' דורש צדיק כתמר יפרח על אהרן פרח מטה אהרן.

And in the Midrash, "a tzaddik will flourish like a date-palm" is expounded as referring to Aharon — "the staff of Aharon blossomed (parach)" (Bamidbar 17:23).

Chazal apply the verse to Aharon HaKohen, whose staff miraculously blossomed, marking him as the chosen tzaddik.

שתולים בבית ה' פתח אהל מועד תשבו שבעת ימים ע"ש.

"Planted (shesulim) in the house of Hashem" (Tehillim 92:14) — "at the entrance of the Ohel Moed you shall dwell for seven days" (Vayikra 8:35) — see there.

The Midrash links "planted in the house of Hashem" to Aharon's seven days of inauguration, when he sat at the entrance of the Mishkan, "planted" in Hashem's house.

שכשנבחר אהרן נתדבק באלה ז' ימי מילואים להיות שתול בבית ה'.

For when Aharon was chosen, he cleaved during these seven days of the miluim (inauguration) to become "planted in the house of Hashem."

The seven days of dedication were Aharon's act of deveikus, rooting himself permanently in the service of the Mikdash.

והיה הכנה על כל עבודות שלו לדורות.

And this was a preparation for all his avodah (service) for the generations.

Those seven days established the foundation for all of Aharon's and his descendants' service for all time.

כן בסוכות שנעשין בנ"י כבריה חדשה אחר יוהכ"פ ומיוחדים לעבודת הבורא כמו כהן.

So too on Sukkos, when Bnei Yisrael become like a new creation after Yom Kippur and are set apart for the service of the Creator, like a kohen.

After the purification of Yom Kippur, all of Bnei Yisrael are renewed and consecrated to Hashem's service, taking on a kohen-like status.

לכן בסוכות תשבו שבעת ימים הכנה בפרישה זו על כל השנה.

Therefore on Sukkos "you shall dwell for seven days" — a preparation, through this separation, for the entire year.

The seven days of dwelling in the sukkah parallel Aharon's seven days of miluim: a set-apart preparation that consecrates Bnei Yisrael for the whole year ahead.

ובלולב להיות דבוק בשורש כתמר יפרח.

And through the lulav, to be attached (davuk) to the root, "like a date-palm that flourishes."

The lulav is the means of cleaving to one's source — flourishing like the palm by drawing close to Hashem.

וחג הסוכות הוא בחי' אהרן לכן יש בו סוכה ולולב כנ"ל:

And the festival of Sukkos is the aspect (bechinah) of Aharon; therefore it contains both the sukkah and the lulav, as above.

Sukkos embodies the quality of Aharon — being "planted" and flourishing in Hashem's house — and so it is expressed through both the sukkah (the seven-day dwelling, like the miluim) and the lulav (the flourishing palm of deveikus).

Summary: The Sefas Emes connects "a tzaddik will flourish like a date-palm" to the lulav: the palm symbolizes the yearning for Hashem that awakens in purified hearts after Yom Kippur, the means of deveikus expressed in the lulav's waving. While the tzaddik flourishes slowly through long toil, the baal teshuvah can blossom in an instant through Hashem's free love. Shabbos needs no lulav because it itself raises a person to the root. Finally, Sukkos embodies the bechinah of Aharon — whose blossoming staff and seven days of inauguration parallel the seven days in the sukkah and the lulav, consecrating renewed Bnei Yisrael, "planted in the house of Hashem," for the whole year.