One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
שׁוֹפָר וְסֻכָּה וְלוּלָב
Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 8
Sefer Zemanim · The four species must be beautiful and truly your own, and the chapter ends in the wild joy of the Temple
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Species taken together: lulav, myrtle, willow, etrog
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Day alone that requires the set be flawless and owned
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Myrtle leaves in a single row keep the hadas kosher
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Days of rejoicing before God the chapter builds toward
Part 1The beauty a pinhole can ruin
- Dried, stolen, or idolatrous is unfit. A species dried out, taken by force or stolen, or from an ashera or apostate city is unacceptable; one merely wilting but not fully dry is kosher. (8:1)
- The lulav's flaws. A lulav whose central tip is cut off, or whose heart-leaf splits like a fork, or that bends forward like a hunchback, is unfit. (8:3)
- The etrog's flaws. An etrog pierced straight through by even a needle, missing the slightest substance, or with its pitam removed, is unacceptable. (8:7)
- Only the first day is strict. All these blemishes, and even a stolen one, disqualify only on the first day; from the second day on they are all kosher, but an inedible or idolatrous etrog stays unfit all seven. (8:9)
RememberA blemish of beauty is demanded for one day; a flaw in the substance the calendar cannot cure.
Part 2It has to be yours
- Borrowed does not count. On the first day a borrowed lulav does not fulfill the mitzvah, for the verse says "take for yourselves"; a borrowed sukkah, by contrast, is permitted. (8:10)
- A gift to return is still a gift. A set given on condition it be returned is genuinely yours when you shake it and you fulfill the mitzvah; but if you fail to return it, it is retroactively as though stolen. (8:10)
- Partners and heirs. Partners who bought a set together, or brothers using undivided estate funds, do not fulfill on the first day unless each gives his share to the other as a gift. (8:11)
RememberThe hut may be borrowed, but on the first day the fruit in your hand has to be your own.
Part 3The night the wise men danced
- A celebration beyond the festival's joy. Beyond the joy of every festival, the Temple held Simchat Beit HaSho'evah, beginning the night after the first day, with a gallery so men and women would not intermingle. (8:12)
- Light, music, and torches. Golden lamps lit every courtyard in Jerusalem, Levites played on the steps, and the pious danced with torches of fire; it did not override the Sabbath or festival. (8:13)
- The greatest ones performed. Only the heads of the academies, judges, elders, and men of stature danced and juggled fire, while the whole people came to watch and hear. (8:14)
- Joy is the service. To rejoice in a mitzvah out of love of God is a great service; one who holds back his joy to guard his own honor is called a sinner and a fool. (8:15)
RememberYou perfect the offering so you have a whole self to give, and you give it by letting go in joy.