The concept of peace is related to the Four Species of Succos. The Midrash likens the Four Species to various major organs of the human body. The myrtle leaf is shaped like an eye and the Esrog like a heart. As the Sages have taught, these two organs can unite in a perverted partnership of sin. The eye sees and the heart lusts, with the result that the person's better instincts are inundated by the power of his temptations. The willow leaf is shaped like a mouth, the organ of speech, which is the tool of Torah, prayer, and encouragement, but which is so often corrupted into a weapon that tears away at man's spiritual fiber. The straight, tall Lulav resembles man's spinal column, the organ through which all the brain's impulses are conveyed to the rest of the body.

By combining these species in the performance of a mitzvah, we symbolize our repentance and desire for atonement. Every sin finds atonement when man takes a tool he once used for evil and converts it to good. One who had squandered funds on gluttony and debauchery must use his wealth to support worthy causes. One whose barbed mouth had inflicted pain on defenseless victims must learn to use the divine gift of speech for holy and helpful ends. The taking of the Four Species, which symbolize major organs, represents this resolve to utilize the body and its emotional and intellectual drive for the good -- and thereby, the mitzvah is an instrument of atonement.

There is another organism in addition to the individual human body: the national organism of Israel with its many kinds of people. The Four Species symbolize them all. The Esrog is a desirable food containing both taste and pleasant aroma; it symbolizes righteous people who possess both Torah and good deeds. The Lulav, the branch of a date palm, is odorless but it produces nourishing food, it symbolizes the scholar who possesses Torah knowledge but is deficient in good deeds. The fragrant, tasteless myrtle leaf represents common people who possess good deeds, but lack Torah scholarship. Finally, the odorless, tasteless willow leaf symbolizes someone who lacks both Torah and good deeds.

The nation is often -- too often -- divided, but God wishes it to be a community of Israel. When all segments of Israel come together in the service of the common goal of national dedication to His will, then everyone belongs, from the august Esrog to the lowly willow. And when every shade and manner of Jew joins with every other in pursuit of that good, then God accepts their common repentance.

The Midrash calls the Lulav a triumphant symbol of Israel's vindication in the judgment of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. But the Lulav has no efficacy when it stands alone. Only when the Four Species are held together -- symbolizing peace and harmony -- has the commandment been performed properly. Only when man is at peace within himself and at peace with his fellows can he rejoice in his personal and national festival of completion. This is why the Four Species were chosen to symbolize Israel's victory over the internal and external enemies that condemn and attack it.

UNIVERSAL CONCERN

In this quest for peace, Israel does not limit itself to its own national interests. The Mussaf ("additional") offerings of Succos include 70 bulls that are sacrificed to bring Heavenly blessing upon the 70 nations. The Jewish mission to the nations was expressed in our earliest history in the name of the Patriarch Abraham, whose name is scripturally described as an acronym of a phrase meaning "spiritual father of the multitude of nations" (see Genesis 17:5).

The chosenness of Israel lies in its sole responsibility to carry out all the commandments of the Torah. Thereby it is to serve as an example of Godly service and be a leader to the other nations. When they submit to Israel's leadership, they, too, will experience the blessings prophesied for Messianic times; as we say in the prayers of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur: "May they [the nations] form a single band to do Your will with a perfect heart."

The 70 offerings of Succos display Jewish concern for all humanity. The Jewish national title "Yeshurun" (from the word "yashar," meaning upright or just) literally means "those who make others upright." It expresses the national mission to bring the message of justice to the world at large. Were it to refer only to Israel's own status as an upright nation, the word would have been "Yesharim" - upright ones.

May we all be blessed with a meaningful and spiritual Succos holiday!