I would like to begin my column with hakarat ha-tov, an expression of gratitude to all those who contributed to make Elul in Yeshiva perhaps the most successful on record. First and foremost, my most capable board - Aryeh Morris, Adam Scheier and Avi Oppenheimer; also, our talented committee heads - Amichai Erdfarb (Seforim), Jonathan Gross and Donny Rose (Bagels), Ben Skydell and Azik Schwechter (Cholent and Mussar), and of course, Ephraim Shapiro (Web), as well as our Gabbaim, Yechiel Morris and Rachmiel Rothberger, all of whom put in much effort this month to ensure the success of our endeavors. I need also mention our sisters at TAC, and Shlomit Zauderer at their helm, who were all instrumental in ensuring the success of our Toward Tishrei shiur and have been generally helpful and synergetic. Thanks must also be expressed to Andrew Leibowitz and the Office of Student Services, as well as Stu Verstandig (YC Alumni) and Alumni Affairs, as well as Dr. Nissel, Rabbi Spivak and Residence Halls, and Facilities Management and Security; without their cooperation and counsel, all of our undertakings would have proven futile. Finally, acharon acharon chaviv, special recognition to the Rabbeim who participated in our programs - Rav Blau, Rav Y. Cohen, Rav Goldwicht, Rav Kahn, Rav Neuburger, Rav Reichman, Rav H. Schachter, Rav Tendler, Rav Willig and Rav Yudin; your involvement has immeasurably intensified our ru'ach ha-yeshiva.

Sukkot is upon us. The festival of booth's rituals stand among the most puzzling of the time-bound commandments in the Jewish calendar; each of us will soon take the arba minim, the four species, and unite them and shake them to and fro, possibly in a thatched hut built for the occasion. What is the meaning of Sukkot?

Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l noted that the central theme of Sukkot is unification. Midrash Rabbah notes three possibilities as to the symbolism of the four minim - either they reflect parts of the human anatomy, the human personality shattered by sin throughout the year and reunited by repentance on Yom Kippur; they may reflect the Avot, and as such, their igud underscores the importance of identification and union with Jewish history. Finally, they may reflect four types of Jews - those with ta'am and reyach, pleasant taste and smell, i.e., Torah and good deeds, as symbolized by the ethrog; those with ta'am and no reyach, as symbolized by the lulav; those with reyach but no ta'am, as epitomized by the hadas, and those with neither, as represented by the aravah. The Torah enjoins us to unite the species in an egged and thereby symbolically unify Jews of all stripes, from all backgrounds and with diverse approaches. The Sukkah, too, is a symbol of this form of unity, as is expressed in a Halakhic ruling in the Talmud (Sukkah 27b): "...All the residents of Israel shall dwell in Sukkot - this teaches that all of Israel is worthy to sit under one Sukkah." The Zohar develops the idea of Sukkah as tzila d'mehemnuta, the shadow of faith; as Jews, we are all share a common destiny, but we must not fear, for we dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Sukkot is the festival of Jewish unity.

The lesson of Sukkot is most important in our context. At Yeshiva University, we have those who possess ta'am, those who make the most of their opportunity at Yeshiva to better themselves in scholarship and personal piety, whose accomplishments can best be appreciated by conversing with them and 'tasting' the riches they have accumulated. Others exude reyach - they are active in numerous clubs and assume leadership positions, doing their utmost to smooth the rough edges of student life; their accomplishments are perceptible to all, even those with whom they maintain little contact. Lamentably, there is often a tendency for the lulav to look askance at the hadas, to assert that the latter's time would be better spent in study; likewise, hadasim are often critical of lulavim for their minimal involvement and sincere passion for personal advancement, which the former often perceive as affectation. Yet, both paradigms are absolutely necessary; not everyone can be an ethrog, and it is important to invest one's God-given talents in the area in which one can expect to excel. Our student body constitutes an abject paradox; we are at once the least diverse and yet perhaps the most diverse a group of students ever assembled. We all hail from a single general ethnic group, yet we allow our mostly artificial distinctions to carve us into interlocking pieces of which ne'er the twain shall meet.

The challenge of Sukkot is clear. We must weld together the scraps riven asunder by our ignorance or apathy; hadasim must engage lulavim in, at the very least, conversation, and vice-versa. If you are a Yeshiva University student, the worlds of the Beis Midrash, Library and the MSAC are open to you; make an effort to familiarize yourself with the denizens of each. If you are not an ethrog, at least be sure that you are an agent of reconciliation, that you are firmly within the egged that binds us all.