Lulav and Etrog: Using the Four Species at Beth Shalom

The students of the Temple Beth Shalom Religious School now have significant experience with the Lulav and the Etrog, fulfilling the commandment to take four species during the Festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, described in the Book of Leviticus. After discussing the week-long Sukkot festival, specific instructions for how to celebrate the holiday are given. Leviticus 23:40 instructs: “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Adonai your God seven days." These are the four species that form the lulav and etrog. The four species are waved in the synagogue as part of the service during the holiday of Sukkot. Traditionally, they are not waved on Shabbat because bringing these items to the synagogue would violate the prohibition against carrying. Some liberal synagogues do wave the lulav and etrog on Shabbat. While it is customary for each individual to have a lulav and etrog, many synagogues leave some sets in the synagogue sukkah for the use of their members. The lulav and etrog may also be waved at home.


It is a positive commandment from the Torah [Leviticus 23:40] to gather together the Four Species during Sukkot:

"The first day" refers to the first day of Sukkot. "Fruit of goodly trees" refers to the etrog (citron). "Branches of palm trees" refers to the lulav. "Boughs of leafy trees" refers to the myrtle. "Willows of the brook" refers to the aravot or hoshanot.

The four are lumped together under the inclusive term lulav, since the lulav is the largest and most prominent. Thus, while the mitzvah is to wave the lulav, this actually refers to the four taken together as one.
How the Four Fit Together
The lulav is a single palm branch and occupies the central position in the grouping. It comes with a holder-like contraption (made from its own leaves) which has two extensions. With the backbone (the solid spine) of the lulav facing you and this holder in place near the bottom, two willow branches are placed in the left extension and three myrtle branches are placed in the right. The myrtle should extend to a greater height than the willows.

This whole cluster is held in the right hand, the etrog is held in the left, and the two should be touching one another. Some have the custom of picking up the etrog first and then the lulav--reversing the order when putting them down--because the etrog is referred to before the others in the biblical verse.

Flagler Jews Announce Sukkot Service Schedule

The Jewish Community of Flagler County has announced its schedule of services celebrating the Festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles also called the Feast of Booths. The Holy Day, ordained by the Biblical Book of Leviticus, Chapter 23, verse 39, "Howbeit, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days!" will be ushered in at Temple Beth Shalom on Wednesday evening, September 26th at an 8 p.m. service.

The opening days of the Festival of Sukkot, the basis for the American celebration of Thanksgiving, will be celebrated at special services on Thursday morning and Friday morning, September 27th and 28th. All morning services begin at 9:15 a.m. and are followed by Kiddush refreshements. All are welcome to attend.

The Festival of Sukkot begins on Tishrei 15, the fifth day after Yom Kippur. It is quite a drastic transition, from one of the most solemn holidays in our year to one of the most joyous. Sukkot is so unreservedly joyful that it is commonly referred to in Jewish prayer and literature as Z'man Simchateinu , the Season of our Rejoicing.

Sukkot is the last of the Shalosh R'galim (three pilgrimage festivals). Like Passover and
Shavuot , Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, Sukkot commemorates the forty-year period during which the children of Israel were wandering in the desert, living in temporary shelters. Agriculturally, Sukkot is a harvest festival and is sometimes referred to as Chag Ha-Asif , the Festival of Ingathering.

The word "Sukkot" means "booths," and refers to the temporary dwellings that we are commanded to live in during this holiday in memory of the period of wandering. The Hebrew pronunciation of Sukkot is "Sue COAT," but is often pronounced as in Yiddish, to rhyme with "BOOK us." The name of the holiday is frequently translated "Feast of Tabernacles," which, like many translations of Jewish terms, isn't very useful. This translation is particularly misleading, because the word "tabernacle" in the Bible refers to the portable Sanctuary in the desert, a precursor to the Temple, called in Hebrew "mishkan." The Hebrew word "sukkah" (plural: "sukkot") refers to the temporary booths that people lived in, not to the Tabernacle.

Sukkot lasts for seven days. The two days following the festival,Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are separate holidays but are related to Sukkot and are commonly thought of as part of Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret worship at Temple Beth Shalom begin at 9:15 a.m. Thursday, October 4th and include the traditional Yizkor Memorial Service. Simchat Torah services will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 4th and continue at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, October 5th.

The festival of Sukkot is instituted in Leviticus 23:33 et seq. No work is permitted on the first and second days of the holiday. Work is permitted on the remaining days. These intermediate days on which work is permitted are referred to as Chol Ha-Mo'ed, as are the intermediate days of Passover.