"U'le'kachtem lachem bayom harishon, pri eitz hadar, kapos temarim, ve'anaf eitz avos, ve'arvei nachal." Leviticus 23:40 "You shall take for yourselves on the first day (of Sukkos) a tree of splendor, fronds of date palms, branches of a cordlike tree and brook willows."
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The ta'amei hamikra (trup) or accent on the phrases in this verse are
instructive as to its meaning. The first phrase, "you shall take for
yourselves" has the ta'am of an azla geiresh to indicate that this commandment
shall be pursued with great alacrity and zeal as if one was banished from his
resting place and must therefore find safe refuge. The word azla means going
and geiresh beens banishment. In Exodus 12:39 the verse tells us that the
Jews were banished from Mitzrayim and they could not stay in one place for too
long. The ta'am on the phrase, "on the first day" is a revia or munach revi'i. This indicates that the first day of Sukkos is blessed with the kindness within the kindness found in the internal light and the kindness within the kindness of the ohr hamakif -- combined both these pairs of "kindnesses" equals four and thus the ta'am revia (meaning four) is used here. Alternatively, the revia may allude to the four species which have to be taken as one in order to satisfy the requiremnets of the Torah commandment. The ta'amim on the phrase "fruit of a tree of splendor" are a shofar, mehupach and kadma. The fruit referred to in this verse is an esrog and the esrog is a symbol for King David a"h. The meaning behind these ta'amim suggest that kingship (shofar or shafrirus) will be restored and returned (mehupach or turned back) to the line of David ; the crown of royalty remains forever vested in King David and his progeny. "Fronds of date palms" (lulav) has the ta'am of zakeif katan because this specie alludes to Yosef Hatzadik, a"h. Yosef Hatzadik was one of the smallest (katan or small) of his brothers and had a lowly status of a slave in the land of Mitzrayim, yet nonetheless he raised himself up (zakeif) and elevated himself to the level of royalty by becoming second only to Paroh. "Branches of a cordlike tree" (hadassim) is accented by a ma'arich tircha for they allude to the three Patriarchs, may their merits continue to protect us. Our Patriarchs toiled (tircha) at length (ma'arich) in their attempt to make the world a more perfect place. And the final phrase, "brook willows" (aravos) contain the ta'am of the esnach for they symbolize Moshe and Aharon, a"h. The fruit of the toil of the Patriarchs finally came to a rest (esnach) on the generation of Moshe and Aharon who were the first generation worthy to receive the Torah from Hashem.
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