On Succot we read Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). The Talmud tells us that the Rabbis wanted to hide this book as many of King Solomon’s sayings seem contradictory, but they did not as it begins and ends with Torah. It begins “what profit has man of all his labour, wherein he labours under the sun”, and this is taken to mean that everything man creates under the sun is human, but Hashem wrote the Torah before he created the sun and it is therefore eternal. The book ends with “the end of the matter is fear Hashem and keep his commandments”.
R Baruch HaLevi Epstien explains that what Solomon is telling us that real profit or joy of Torah is when you labour and have to sit and study and make an effort to understand and work things out. That is what Hashem told Jonah when he moaned bitterly over the loss of his shade under the gourd tree, “You were upset about the gourd tree which you did not work for!” We are prouder of work we have done, when we have to put in the effort.
He relates that the Vilna Gaon would sometimes dream of angels giving interpretations to difficult Torah issues. However, the Gaon would not accept these interpretations without deeply studying the topic himself. As the pleasure of Torah is only through learning it yourself.
To continue some of the story of Reb Shmuel Kelmer, who often stresses in his letters to his son Arye Leib, that he must put great effort into his learning and expects him to send learned essays, we can add a Succot story. Reb Shmuel’s adventures in getting to the holyland and Jerusalem, just before Rosh Hashana, were in fact during his second Aliya, as he had actually made the journey ten years earlier, with a plan to bring his wife and family. However, there were many problems and he returned to Lithuania three years later to marry off his children.
In his first Aliya, he lived in Jerusalem and earned his keep teaching. In his letters, one of his main concerns is the economic survival of his family back in Lithuania and he manages to send money through various travelers and friends. He then comes up with the idea of sending 300 – 400 Lulavim and Hadassim (myrtle leaves) to Lithuania. It would appear that the quality of the produce of the land of Israel, even then, was good and he should be able to get what are halachically considered the most perfect Hadassim, whose leaves grow evenly, in sets of three on the stalk. The family agree, and he buys the Lulavim and Hadassim, which were grown near Zefat, and organizes the packaging and transportation by boat and train. In the shipment he also sends, earth from various holy sites and “Ezov.” Ezov is a plant, usually translated as hyssop, or locally as Zatar, and is mentioned as the plant used to daub the blood on the doorposts in the Exodus from Egypt. Reb Shmuel notes in his letter, that it is known by the frankim (sefaradim) to be an excellent remedy for stomach ailments.
Sadly, as the shipment took quite a while, as the train was seriously delayed, and the Lulavim did not hold out and arrived unusable in Lithuania. But not all was not lost, as the Hadassim and Ezov were in good shape and Shmuel’s wife Fruma was able to sell them and the herbs and make some money in time for Succot.
Wishing all a pleasant and healthy Succot and that your Lulav, and Hadsasiim stay fresh, wherever you may be.