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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The
gematria of lulav is 68 and is equivalent to the gematria of chayim
(life). One symbol of the lulav (and esrog) <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>is:
“Etz chayim” — the “tree of life” (referring
to Torah). And though the physical life is drawn from nature, the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>spiritual
life is ultimately from Torah which is the “Eternal Life that He has <u>planted</u>
within us.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The
fruit of this (detached) lulav tree is the <i><span style='font-style:italic'>esrog</span></i>
which according to some scholars was the original fruit of the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>“tree
of knowledge” of good and evil (not the apple) [Gen. Rabba 15].
Thus the Torah offers what we lost at <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Eden</span></font></st1:City></st1:place><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>:
the potential for life and purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>We
hopefully have been purified through Yom Kippur and we pray that the holiday of
Sukkot infuse in us the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>elements
to refine our lives with lasting values. And if for some reason we haven’t
been purified through the <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:-58.5pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>holidays,
then we have the “mei Noach” — “waters of Noah”
(the largest mikvah in history) to finish the job. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Lucida Sans"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Lucida Sans"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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