One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
שׁוֹפָר וְסֻכָּה וְלוּלָב
Shofar, Sukkah and Lulav 7
Sefer Zemanim · The four species - named exactly, bound as one, and ruined by a missing or an extra part
4
Species bound into a single mitzvah
1-1-2-3
Lulav, etrog, willows, myrtles - the exact count
4
Handbreadths - minimum lulav, by the spine
3
Handbreadths - minimum myrtle and willow
Part 1Naming the four, exactly
- The lulav is the young frond. It is the palm branch taken before its leaves separate and spread apart, while it still stands closed and straight like a scepter. (7:1)
- The etrog and the myrtle. The etrog is the fruit of the beautiful tree; the kosher myrtle is the one with three or more leaves in each ring, so dense that they cover the branch. (7:2)
- The willow of the brook. This is a species, not merely any plant growing by water: a long narrow leaf, a smooth edge, and a red stem. (7:3)
RememberEach species is a checklist of fixed signs, not a rough resemblance.
Part 2The imposter and the indispensable
- The tzaftzefah is unfit. It resembles the willow but has a rounded leaf, an edge serrated like a saw, and a stem that is not red - a look-alike from the same brook, and invalid. (7:4)
- All four, or none. The four are one mitzvah and each is indispensable; if one is missing or unfit, the others cannot be lifted in its place. (7:5)
- Bound is best, separate still counts. Ideally bind lulav, myrtle, and willow in the right hand with the etrog in the left; taken separately the mitzvah is still fulfilled if all four are present. (7:6)
RememberGrowing by the right river is not the same as being the right species.
Part 3Count and measure
- The exact numbers. One lulav, one etrog, two willow branches, three myrtle branches; extra myrtle is a permitted adornment, but adding to or subtracting from the other species invalidates. (7:7)
- The lulav by its spine. No shorter than four handbreadths, measured by the spine, which must rise a full handbreadth above the myrtle and willow bound beneath it. (7:8)
- The others' measures. Myrtle and willow at least three handbreadths each; the etrog no smaller than the size of an egg. (7:8)
RememberThe set fails by too much as surely as by too little.