From Bat Ayin by Rabbi Avraham Dov, the
Avritcher Rebbe, who lived in Tsfat,
as translated by Jonathan Glass
"You
shall take for yourselves on the first day."
(Lev. 23:40)
The Sages
comment on this: "Is it in fact the first day? Is it not the fifteenth
day [of the month]? Rather, it is the first regarding the reckoning of
transgressions." ( Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 22)
We can
explain this as follows: The People of Israel fully accepted the yoke
of Heaven upon themselves on Rosh Hashana, as they would recite the phrase
"Holy King" and "King of Judgment" [in the holiday
liturgy]. The nations of the world, however, did not accept the yoke of
Heaven upon themselves over Rosh Hashana. It is the task of the People
of Israel to bring the glory of G-d's kingdom to all of creation, even
to the nations of the world, and the offering of the seventy bulls on
the festival of Sukkot is in order that the influx of G-d's kingdom flows
to all of the seventy nations.
This
is alluded to in the verse "You shall take for yourselves".
The word "for yourselves" [in Hebrew, "l'chem"] contains
the same letters as the Hebrew word for "king" ["melech"].
This means that you should accept the yoke of Heaven upon yourselves "on
the first day". This question of the Sages - "Is it in fact
the first day? Is it not the fifteenth day?" - should be understood
thus: Is it the first day of accepting the yoke of Heaven? Is it not the
fifteenth day following Rosh Hashana, when the People of Israel accepted
the yoke of Heaven upon themselves?
The answer
of the Sages is that regarding the People of Israel it is the fifteenth
day, but regarding the nations of the world it is the first day since
they did not accept the yoke of Heaven upon themselves on Rosh Hashana.
The meaning of the phrase "regarding the reckoning of transgressions"
is that it refers to the nations of the world for regarding Israel the
Blessed Holy One does not regard their transgressions because of His great
love for them.
This
then is the meaning of "You shall take for yourselves ["l'chem"]
on the first day...": You shall take the aspect of divine kingship
on the first day and bring its influx to all the seventy nations. Then
"G-d will be King over all the earth" (Zachariah 14:9).
May it
happen speedily in our days Amen.
From the translator:
Divine influx,
the consciousness and intensity of awareness of divine sovereignty, flows
into the world through the spiritual leaders of Israel to the People of
Israel to the nations of the world to all of Creation. The verse which
speaks of taking the four species on the first day alludes to bringing
the awareness of divine sovereignty to all of creation. It is called "the
first day" because this awareness is new for the nations of the world
- it is a "first" - for they did not experience it on Rosh Hashana.
Interestingly,
the idea of bringing divine awareness to Creation is expressed as "taking
for yourselves". When one takes the four species for oneself and
infuses one's being with the awareness of the Divine, one actually becomes
a "no-self". When one brings the awareness of the Divine to
places that lie beyond one's habitual limits - that is a true taking for
oneself. What you have is what you give.
~~~~~~~~~
Reprinted with permission from http://www.geocities.com/ravjglass/avritchertorah.htm
Rabbi Jonathan Glass a descendent of the
Avritcher Rebbe's family, was ordained by Israel's Chief Rabbis in
1994.
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