Leviticus 23:40
ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפת תמרים וענף עץ עבת וערבי נחל ושמחתם
לפני ה׳ אלקיכם שבעת ימים
"You shall take for yourselves on the first day: an etrog, a lulav,
hadassim and aravot. Be joyous in the presence of Hashem your God for
seven days."
In the Oral Torah, the Mishnah comments that the biblical commandment to
take the lulav, along with the other four species, is for all seven days
of Sukkot only in and around the Temple Mount when the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem is extant, as indicated by the verse as "in the presence of
Hashem, your God, for seven days." In the rest of the Land of Israel, as
well as in the Diaspora, the four species are biblically mandated only
on the first day of Sukkot. After the destruction of the Temple in 70
CE, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai legislated a rabbinical enactment to take
the four species for the entire seven days of the holiday in all
locations as a commemoration of what was done in the Temple.[2]
[edit] Classical Jewish biblical commentators
Isidor Kaufmann: Child with Lulav
As with all biblical verses, Jewish law derives numerous details and
specifications relating to the commandments by interpreting the manner
in which words are utilized, spelled and juxtaposed in the verses of the
Torah.
Rashi, the foremost rabbinical biblical commentator, focuses on the
spelling of the words in the verse that refer to the lulav: kapot
t'marim (כפת תמרים, "palms [of] dates").[3] The first word refers to
"palms" and is written in plural form (kapot - כפת) instead of singular
form (kaf - כף), in order to indicate that the commandment is not to
take merely a single leaf of the entire palm. However the word is
written in a deficient manner, without the letter vav, as the plural
word would normally contain (כפת instead of כפות). Rashi explains that
the missing letter vav is to indicate that only a single palm is to be
taken, based on the Talmudic discussion on the matter.[4] The Talmud
also uses this spelling irregularity to suggest, according to the
opinion of Rabbi Yehudah in the name of Rabbi Tarfon, 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 Keli Yakar comments that the words verse in Psalms 96:12 az yiraninu
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 7 days
in the Temple.
[edit] Regulations of the lulav
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.[5]
To qualify, the lulav must be laser-beam straight, with whole leaves
that lay 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.[6] 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.[7]
The term lulav also refers to the lulav in combination with two of the
other species—the aravah and the hadass—that are bound together to
perform the mitzvah of waving the lulav. These three species are held in
one hand while the etrog is held in the other. The user brings his or
her hands together and waves the species in all four directions, plus up
and down, to attest to God's mastery over all of creation. This ritual
also symbolically voices a prayer for adequate rainfall over all the
Earth's vegetation in the coming year. (See Four Species 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.[8]
The tiyomet, or twin middle leaf of the lulav, shown split.
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.
[edit] References
^ A Hebrew/English Bible According to the Masoretic Text: Leviticus 23
^ Mishna Sukkah 3:11
^ Leviticus 23:40 + associated commentary of Rashi
^ Bavli Sukkah 32a
^ Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 645:1, Rema, based on the Ran in the 3rd
chapter of Bavli Sukkah
^ Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 645:3
^ Goldwurm, Rabbi Hersch (September 1982). Succos: its significance,
laws, and prayers: a presentation anthologized from Talmudic and
traditional sources. ArtScroll Mesorah series. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Mesorah
Publications. "The Laws: The Lulav", p. 86, §81. ISBN 0-89906-166-4.
Citing Kagan, Rabbi Yisrael Meir (c. 1900). Mishnah Berurah. 645:3.
^ Kolatch, Alfred J. A Handbook for the Jewish Home, Jonathan David
Company, Inc. 2005, page 279. |
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