For the Ilui Neshama of Avraham ben Ester ZT’L, Haviva bat Yocheved Z'L & Yissachar ben Yona Z’L. It is known that the Arba'at HaMinim (the Four famous species of Sukkot, Etrog-Lulav-Hadas-Arava) resemble the four different types of Jews. The two extremes make up a tiny percentage of Am Yisrael and then the other two in betweens make up the majority. The two extremes: Etrog and Arava are complete opposites. The Etrog resembles the Jew who has great Ma'asim Tovim (good actions) and is big in Torah Learning while the Arava has neither. The Lulav resembles a Jew with Torah learning but lacking the Ma'asim Tovim, while the Hadas symbolizes a Jew with Ma'asim Tovim but slacking in Torah learning.
With siyata dishmaya (help from Shamayim) here is a piece of Malbim directly connected with this beautiful Four-Species piece of Torah. If we look at previous CLDs we see that the Etrog also symbolizes the heart of an individual. The second Perek of the Second Part of Melachim in the Nevi'im (Kings 2 in the Prophets) explains the story of Elisha and Eliyahu HaNavi and his departure from the world. The Malbim on Melachim (2:2:3) explains that a Rabbi to his student is like a heart that provides life to the other organs in the body.
As stated before, the etrog resembles the heart and an individual who has both Ma'asim Tovim (good deeds) and Torah learning. We can learn from this that especially in Sukkot, in a time where we have a spiritual shield, we can rise to higher levels of spirituality! But how can we receive and even take advantage of this vacuum of life being given to us by holy people? The only way is by surrounding ourselves with holy individuals who rise above nature and channeled their efforts to fight away the yetzer hara (evil inclination)!
It is known that if you look at a person's friends then you know who the person is. If you look at your friends you will know what level you are on and where you are going. Living a life with an etrog type of person around you means not having spiritually low people around you all the time. Nothing is wrong with them, its just that friends have influence. End of discussion. Also note how beautiful the words of The Malbim are, how he explains the strength behind having someone spiritual and holy to lean on and how important it is to see that a religious individual is like adding more LIFE to your life.
Shabbat Shalom & Khag Sameakh!
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