Four Species, Many Meanings

Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree (ets hadar)" - this is [referring to] the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written about Him (Psalms 104:1), "You were dressed in splendor and beauty (hadar)." "The branches of a date palm" - this is [referring to] the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written about Him (Psalms 92:13), "The righteous One flourishes like a date palm." "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - this is [referring to] the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written (Zechariah 1:8), "and He is standing among the myrtles." "And brook willows (arvei nachal)" - this is [referring to] the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written about Him (Psalms 68:5), "praise the One that rides in the skies (aravot), with His name of the Lord."

Should one join the etrog and the lulav together when waving the two together, or should one wave only the lulav and its bundle in one hand, while the left hand – the one holding the etrog – stays still? This question has not been explained in the Gemara nor has it been settled by the poskim, but Rabbi Menachem Recanati wrote, in his commentary to the Torah portion of Emor… ‘this secret was revealed to me in a dream, on the evening of the first day of the festival of Succot, when an Ashkenazic Hassid, Rabbi Yitzhak, spent the night with me as my guest. In this dream, I saw him write the four letters of the name of God, but as he did so, he separated the last letter, the Heh, from the other three letters. “What did you do?!” I asked him. He responded, “This our custom, where I live.” I rebuked him and wrote God’s name as a complete word. I grappled with what I had seen, failing to understand. The next morning, when my guest took his lulav, I noticed that he would only wave the lulav and the two species bundled with it, without the etrog. It was then that I understood the meaning of my dream, and our sages, of blessed memory, hinted to this secret in Vayikrah Rabbah...

translation from https://eng.beithillel.org.il/castle-built-on-ships-jewish-unity-stability-gods-throne/

Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree (ets hadar)" - this is [referring to] our father, Avraham, who the Holy One, blessed be He, graced (hider) with a good old age, as it is stated (Genesis 24:1), "And Avraham was old, had come along in days;" and it is written (Leviticus 19:32), "and you shall grace (hadarta) the old." "The branches (kappot) of a date palm" - this is [referring to] Yitschak, who was bound (kafut which is spelled with the same letters as kappot) and tied up on top of the altar. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - this is [referring to] Yakov. Just like this myrtle bustles with leaves, so too was Yakov bustling with children. "And brook willows" - this is [referring to] Yosef. Just like this willow gets withered before these three [other] species, so too did Yosef die before his brothers. Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree (ets hadar)" - this is [referring to] Sarah, who the Holy One, blessed be He, graced (hider) with a good old age, as it is stated (Genesis 18:11), "And Avraham and Sarah were old." "The branches of a date palm" - this is [referring to] Rivka. Just like this date palm, it has food and it has thorns, so too Rivkah brought up a righteous one and an evildoer. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - this is [referring to] Leah. Just like this myrtle bustles with leaves, so too was Leah bustling with children. "And brook willows" - this is [referring to] Rachel. Just like this willow gets withered before these three [other] species, so too did Rachel die before her sister.

Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this citron (etrog), which has taste and has smell, so too Israel has among them people that have Torah and have good deeds. "The branches of a date palm" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this date, which has taste and has no smell, so too Israel has among them those that have Torah but do not have good deeds. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this myrtle, which has smell and has no taste, so too Israel has among them those that have good deeds but do not have Torah. "And brook willows" - these are [referring to] Israel. Just like this willow, which has no smell and has no taste, so too Israel has among them people that have no Torah and have no good deeds. And what does the Holy One, blessed be He, do to them? To destroy them is impossible, but rather the Holy One, blessed be He, said "bind them all together [into] one grouping and these will atone for those." And if you will have done that, I will be elevated at that time. This is [the meaning of] what is written (Amos 9:6), "He Who built the upper chambers in the heavens" (indicating his elevation). And when is He elevated? When they make one grouping, as it is stated (Ibid.), "and established His grouping on the earth." Hence Moshe warned Israel, "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day."

Rabbi Mani opened, "'All of my bones shall say, "Lord, who is like you"' (Psalms 35:10). This verse was only stated for the sake of the lulav (the four species). The spine of the palm branch is similar to the spine of man. And the myrtle is similar to the eye. And the willow is similar to the mouth. And the etrog (citron), is similar to the heart. David said, 'In all of the limbs, there are no greater ones than these, as they are compared to the entire body.' This is [what is meant] by 'All of my bones shall say.'"

Another explanation: "The fruit of a beautiful tree (ets hadar)" - this is [referring to] the Great Sanhedrins (high courts) of Israel, who the Holy One, blessed be He, graced (hider) with a good old age, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:32), "And you shall get up in front of a venerable one." "The branches (kappot) of a date palm" - this is [referring to] the Torah scholars who force (kofin) themselves to learn one from the other. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - this is [referring to] the three rows of students who would sit in front of them (since three myrtle branches are customarily waved). "And brook willows" - this is [referring to] the two judges' scribes who would stand in front of them and write down the words of those who would render innocent and the words of those who would render guilty (since two willow branches are customarily waved).

Another explanation: "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day" - in spite of all of that wisdom that is written about Shlomo (II Chronicles 2:1), "wisdom and knowledge are granted to you;" (I Kings 5:10-11) "And the wisdom of Shlomo grew... And Shlomo was wiser than all men," these four species were perplexing to him, as it is stated (Proverbs 30:18), "Three are there that are wondrous beyond me" - these three are the Pesach sacrifice, matsa and marror (bitter herbs) - "and four which I did not know" - these four are the four species of the lulav, that he sought to understand: "The fruit of a beautiful tree" - who will tell me that it is a citron (etrog)? All of the trees make beautiful fruit (and are hence called beautiful trees). "The branches of a date palm" - the Torah said, "take two palm branches (as 'branches' is in the plural) to praise with" and he only takes a [singular] lulav, which is the heart of the date palm. "And a branch of a braided tree (a myrtle)" - who will tell me that it is a myrtle? Behold, in another place it says (Nechemiah 8:15), "Go out to the mountain and bring olive branches, etc" (the verse continues to list several species and mentions myrtles alongside branches of a braided tree, seemingly indicating that they are two different species). "And brook willows" - all trees grow in the water! [Hence,] "and four which I did not know." He came back and mentioned them a different time, as it is stated (Proverbs 30:29), "There are three that are good, etc." - these are the four species, that each and every one in Israel goes and runs and takes from them for himself, to praise the Holy One, blessed be He. And [the four species] appear small in the eyes of man but they are great in front of the Holy One, blessed be He. And who explained to Israel that they were these four species, which are the citron, the palm branch, the myrtle, the willow? The Sages; as it is stated (Ibid., verse 24), "they are very wise sages."

.... As regards the four species [the branches of the palm tree, the citron, the myrtle, and the willows of the brook] our Sages gave a reason for their use by way of Agadic interpretation, the method of which is well known to those who are acquainted with the style of our Sages. They use the text of the Bible only as a kind of poetical language [for their own ideas], and do not intend thereby to give an interpretation of the text. As to the value of these Midrashic interpretations, we. meet with two different opinions. For some think that the Midrash contains the real explanation of the text, whilst others, finding that it cannot be reconciled with the words quoted, reject and ridicule it. The former struggle and fight to prove and to confirm such interpretations according to their opinion, and to keep them as the real meaning of the text; they consider them in the same light as traditional laws. Neither of the two classes understood it, that our Sages employ biblical texts merely as poetical expressions, the meaning of which is clear to every reasonable reader. This style was general in ancient days; all adopted it in the same way as poets [adopt a certain style].... I believe that the four species are a symbolical expression of our rejoicing that the Israelites changed the wilderness, "no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, or of water to drink" (Num. 20:5), with a country full of fruit-trees and rivers. In order to remember this we take the fruit which is the most pleasant of the fruit of the land, branches which smell best, most beautiful leaves, and also the best of herbs, i.e., the willows of the brook. These four kinds have also those three purposes: First, they were plentiful in those days in Palestine, so that every one could easily get them. Secondly, they have a good appearance, they are green; some of them, viz., the citron and the myrtle, are also excellent as regards their smell, the branches of the palm-tree and the willow having neither good nor bad smell. Thirdly, they keep fresh and green for seven days, which is not the case with peaches, pomegranates, asparagus, nuts, and the like.