Lulav

Four Species

, with the lulav longest in the middle.

Lulav (

). When bound together, the lulav, hadass, and aravah are commonly referred to as "the lulav".

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Codification in the Torah

The Torah mentions the commandments to obtain a lulav for the Sukkot holiday once in

Leviticus 23:40

ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ עבת וערבי נחל ושמחתם לפני ה׳ אלהיכם שבעת ימים

"And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days."[2]

In the

Classical Jewish Biblical commentators

As with all Biblical verses, Jewish law

the manner in which words are utilized, spelled and juxtaposed in the verses of the Torah.

, that the lulav must be bound if its leaves spread away from the spine of the palm. This teaching is derived from the similarity between the spelling of the Hebrew words for "palm" and "binding", which would not be a viable teaching had the word for palm been written in its strictly singular form of kaf.

The

96:12 az yeranenu kol atzei ya'ar (אז ירננו כל עצי יער, "then all the trees of the forest will sing with joy"), is not only a reference to the shaking of the four species but a hint to this Biblical specification: the Hebrew word az (אז, "then") is composed of two letters, an aleph (א), with a numerical value of 1, and a zayin (ז), with a numerical value of 7, hinting that the four species are to be taken 1 day outside of the Temple area and seven days in the Temple.

Regulations of the lulav

kosher, Jerusalem

, 1969

A lulav, as with all mitzvah articles (those used to fulfill biblical and rabbinical requirements within Judaism), must meet certain specifications in order to be kosher and permissible to be used to fulfill the commandment of the four species.

Ideally, a lulav consists of a tightly closed frond of the date palm tree.^[6]

To qualify, the lulav must be straight, with whole leaves that lie closely together, and not be bent or broken at the top. The twin middle-most leaves, which naturally grow together and are known as the tiyomet (תיומת‎, "twin"), should ideally not be split at all; however, the lulav remains kosher as long as the twin middle leaves are not split more than a handbreadth, approximating 3-4 inches.^[7] This rule applies on the first day of Sukkot in the Land of Israel, and on the first two days elsewhere. On Chol HaMoed, the disqualifications arising from using a lulav with a split middle leaf do not apply.^[8]

The term lulav also refers to the lulav in combination with two of the other species—the

for the complete description and symbolism of the waving ceremony.)

Although Jews are commanded to take the four species together, the rabbinically ordained blessing mentions only the lulav because it is the largest and most evident of the four species.^[9]

The biblical reference to the four species in Sukkot can be found in Leviticus Chapter 23, verse 40. The etrog is referred to as "Citrus fruit" (Etz Hadar), and the Lulav is referred to as "Palm branches" (Kapot t'marim).

Each species is said to kabbalistically represent an aspect of the user's body; the lulav represents the spine, the myrtle the eyes, the willow the lips, and the etrog represents the heart.^[10]

References

External links

• The Symbolism of the Lulav and Esrog

Media related to Lulav at Wikimedia Commons