Parashat HaShavua: Emor

The Happy Medium

And you shall take for yourself on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm-trees, and branches of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Hashem, your God, seven days.”

Leviticus 23:40

In Parashat Emor, the different Jewish holidays are enumerated and discussed. Among them, we see the holiday of Sukkot, in whose context the Torah discusses the Four Species the etrog (“Fruit of a beautiful tree”), lulav (“Branches of palm-trees”), aravot (“Branches of thick trees), and the hadassim (“Willows of the brook”). Two of the Four Species species symbolize two different parts of a person's life: the etrog represents this world and the lulav represents the “World to Come”. The hadassim and the aravot, though, represent two different humanistic traits: the hadassim are plain, and are there to remind us to refrain from materialism, and the aravot symbolize humility. Looking at the hadassim, though, a contradiction arises. Were we not commanded to “...be fruitful and multiply and populate the land and conquer it,” (Genesis 1:28) meaning that we, as human beings, should fully indulge ourselves and take advantage of what the world has to offer. In addition, when looking at what the aravot symbolize, we are told that humans were created “...in His own image, in the image of God that created him,” (Genesis 1:27). Why should we not be proud of this fact? After all, we are the only species on earth to be created in God's image!

Looking at the symbolism of the hadassim and the commandment “and conquer it,” we see that they represent a circumstance at one end of a spectrum — either we refrain from all worldly pleasures and never “conquer” the world, or we do the opposite; we “conquer” the world and completely forget to refrain from going overboard. The same applies to the concept of humility and publicly flaunting the fact that we were made in God's image. In both instances, we are presented with rather extreme choices.

Although the hadassim and the aravot, self-restraint and humility, are directly connected to the lulav, or the “World to Come”, they are accompanied by the etrog, which symbolizes this world, and is the brightest of the Four Species, with most pungent smell and taste of all the species. Although self-restraint and humility are required to be a part of the “World to Come”, we must still be able to enjoy some of what this world has to offer, from the color to the taste to the smell. Despite this, we must exhibit self-control.

God has given us free will, He wants us to find the the balance between the two to “Fill up the land and conquer it,” while at the same time, to know when certain pleasures may be considered “too much.” While we were made in God's image, we still must be able to act with humility. Achieving this balance depends on us as individuals. This point of equilibrium may not be a clear 50/50 cut, as some might think. The choice as to where to put this barrier between too much and too little is ours — no one can make this decision for us.