In his thought-provoking book, Zero Degrees of Empathy: A New Theory of Human Cruelty, Simon Baron-Cohen makes a salient point:
The four species allude to the four-letter name of God. The four are held together to signify the Unity of God.
The lulav implies the symbolism behind taste and smell. While the etrog has taste and smell, the lulav has taste but no smell. The myrtle has smell but no taste, and the willow has neither. Therefore the lulav is a depiction of every type of man: each being different, as a community they stand together.
There is also a masculine-feminine theme inherent in the four species. The lulav represents masculinity, whilst the etrog is seen as feminine, in its form. As symbols of divinity, they must be perfect in every way; therefore, the branches are chosen with care.
The four species celebrate the diversity of man and the many different forms of God’s presence.
Image: Sukkot-to-me, Arab Spring 2011
Image: Bee on Viper's Bugloss, attorlade one of the Nine Herbs of Odin. In Australia Viper's Bugloss is often confused to Paterson's Curse, to which it bears a resemblance. Both plants can be toxic to grazing animals.
Empathy is our ability to identify what someone else is thinking or feeling, and to respond to their thoughts and feelings with an appropriate emotion. There are at least two stages in empathy: recognition and response. Both are needed, since if you have the former without the latter you haven't empathised at all.
This 'if you have the former without the latter' brings to mind the tradition of Sukkot from Judaic mysticism and the inner meaning of the Four Species. It reminds me that my own journey sprung from the backbone of Judaism when I was a child in the Sixties, and not the wishbone of the Human Potential Movement.
In was in 2004 that I came in through the bathroom window to Judaic mysticism whilst researching an essay I wrote about lemons, entitled "The Goodly Tree". On a warm Spring day I had been relaxing on a sunlounge under a lemon tree, enjoying the citrus scent and thinking about how much I love lemon trees. How a lemon tree in the backyard is as iconic to an Australian as the Hills Hoist washing-line. How this humble little tree is taken for granted. How happy yellow lemons are. How when I was in primary school, I was assigned to the sports house of Wills, whose house colour was yellow and how the colour yellow was considered a garish colour back then.
Yet the colour for the House of Wills wasn't flat lemon-yellow. It was deep yellow-gold. Changing the hue makes all the difference. At East Reservoir PS we had four houses: Mitchell, Sturt, Burke and Wills. Named after famous explorers of Australia except I can't recall being taught about these explorers at all. A significant oversight in the curriculum for certain.
When Harry Potter became a phenomenon, I missed the parallel between the sport houses of muggle East Reservoir PS and those of magical Hogwarts' : Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor that supposedly correspond to the Four Elements of earth, air, water and fire respectively.
Or do they?
The Four Species (Arbah haMinim)
The Arbah haMinim, or the Four Species, is a ritual object used during synagogue services for the festival of Sukkot. Four specific types of trees are arranged together in a special way.
It is ordained in Leviticus 23:40: “On the first day (of Sukkot) you shall take the product of hadar (goodly) trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.”
The four species as mentioned above are collectively called the lulav (palm) as it is the largest of the species.
The “fruit of goodly trees” has been interpreted to mean the etrog (citron). “Branches of palm trees” are the lulav; “boughs of leafy trees” refers to the myrtle; and “willows of the brook” are the aravot or hoshanot.
The four species allude to the four-letter name of God. The four are held together to signify the Unity of God.
Each species has a particular reference to God, according to a Midrash in Leviticus Rabbah, 83: the etrog is symbolic of Psalm 104:1: “You are clothed in glory and majesty”; the palm is used because it is said Psalms 92:13: “The righteous bloom like date-palm”; the myrtle signifies Zechariah 1:8: “And he stood among the myrtle-trees”; the willow is significant because it is written in Psalms 68:5: “Extol Him who rides on the clouds (aravot), the Lord is His name.”
The lulav implies the symbolism behind taste and smell. While the etrog has taste and smell, the lulav has taste but no smell. The myrtle has smell but no taste, and the willow has neither. Therefore the lulav is a depiction of every type of man: each being different, as a community they stand together.
Each of the four species signifies a limb of the body: the etrog refers to the heart; the lulav the upright backbone; the myrtle symbolizes the eyes, and the willow the lips. Each of the limbs is a means through which man serves God.
The lulav, whose central pillar is referred to as its "backbone" (shidrah) resembles
the backbone of man.
The leaves of the myrtle branch (hadas) resemble the eyes of man.
The leaves of the willow branch (aravah) resemble the lips of man.
The etrog resembles the heart of man.
The cluster stays together with a special holder made from the leaves of a lulav. The two willow branches are placed to the left of the lulav, the three myrtle branches to the right. The etrog remains separate.
The four species celebrate the diversity of man and the many different forms of God’s presence.
Image: Sukkot-to-me, Arab Spring 2011
Image: Bee on Viper's Bugloss, attorlade one of the Nine Herbs of Odin. In Australia Viper's Bugloss is often confused to Paterson's Curse, to which it bears a resemblance. Both plants can be toxic to grazing animals.
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