Daily Talk
The etrog can be ruined by a hole the width of a needle or a bump in the wrong place, and on the first day it does not count unless it is truly yours, not borrowed. And then the same chapter ends with the wisest men in Israel dancing with torches until dawn. How does a law this exacting about a fruit become a law about letting go completely?
The Beautiful Thing You Have to Own
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About This Talk
Chapter 8 of Shofar Sukkah v'Lulav moves from the fine details that make the four species fit or unfit, to the requirement that on the first day the set be your own and not merely lent, and finally to Simchat Beit HaSho'evah, the great rejoicing in the Temple. It is a chapter that begins with perfect standards and ends by asking a person to lose himself entirely in joy before God.