One Bundle

Both Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot show the complete unity of the Jewish people. On Rosh Hashanah “You are standing today all of you”; all Jews alike, from “your heads” to “your drawers of water.” Spiritual service then stems from the innermost soul, where there are no distinctions among Jews. On Sukkot the four species represent four groups of Jews, and “G-d said, ‘Bind all of them into one bundle and each will atone for the other.’“

However, the unity of Rosh Hashanah is unlike the unity of Sukkot, which gains a new dimension. On Rosh Hashanah all Jews are unified based on the inner soul, a level on which all Jews are equal. On Sukkot, by contrast, the unity is outward and revealed, based on the interdependence of all Jews.

This distinction can be illustrated with an analogy drawn from two types of unity in the bodily limbs: unity of inner content and external unity. The former derives from each limb’s having a similar content-both are parts of the same body. However, based on the external dimension, in which each limb differs from the others-the unity is in each one’s needing and complementing the others.

The wording of the Midrash cited above alludes to these two modes: “Bind them all into one bundle” refers to the unity of Rosh Hashanah. “Each will atone for the other” refers to the unity of Sukkot.

(Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1159)