Drying Up
The seventeenth of Tishrei, 5762: A posek renowned for
his expertise in hilchos lulav was davening at
a local shul on chol hamoed Succos. Before the holiday
had begun, he had checked hundreds — if not thousands
— of dalet minim, including many of those held
by men standing around him at that moment. Now, as he caught
a glimpse of the lulavim and esrogim of the
members of the minyan, his heart dropped. It was an
unusually hot Succos. Three days into the holiday, the
beautiful, glistening, fresh minim that he had checked
and approved were now wilted, droopy and dry.
By the time the minyan concluded, he was convinced
that many of the dalet minim in the congregation were,
in fact, invalid, and he could no longer hold himself back
from passing comment. He got up and said, "Everyone spent so
much time and effort looking for a beautiful lulav and
esrog before Succos. It's a pity now to make a
brochoh on dalet minim that may no longer be
kosher."
One by one, the members of the minyan showed him their
dalet minim, and afterwards everyone thanked him
profusely.
If one doesn't take special care to preserve the moisture of
his lulav, esrog, hadassim, and arovos, they
are in danger of becoming posul during Succos. By
keeping the lulav in an airtight plastic case,
wrapping hadassim and arovos in a slightly
moist cloth and storing them in an airtight bag or in the
refrigerator, and keeping the esrog in a closed
sandwich bag, we can ensure that our minim will stay
kosher, fresh and beautiful for the entire holiday. (Some are
careful to change their arovos every day, as these
plants are especially prone to wilting and are relatively
easy to obtain (Remo 654:1).
Anaf Eitz Ovos
The gemora suggests that the "anaf eitz ovos"
referred to in the Torah is not the hadass but the
harduf (oleander) plant. Abaye rejects this
possibility, citing the verse, "and her ways [i.e. those of
the Torah] are ways of pleasantness" (Mishlei 3:17).
Holding a harduf branch is not a very pleasant
experience, as its stem is covered with prickly thorns that
inevitably cause one to bleed.
The gemora concedes that the mitzvah of anaf eitz
ovos is performed with a hadass, and adds that a
hadass Mitzri (a myrtle that grew on the meitzar
[border of a field] or in Mitzrayim —
[Egypt]) is kosher, even though it has a nickname.
Is this not obvious? And what's wrong with a nickname? In
order to answer this question, we must first resolve a more
fundamental problem: Since the Torah does not reveal the
identity of the four species, how do we know which plants to
take for the dalet minim?
The Rambam explains that Moshe Rabbeinu was given a precise
description of each of the four species (Hilchos Lulav
7:4). Since Hashem was careful to reveal to Moshe Rabbeinu
the exact identity of each plant, one might think that
absolutely no variation is permitted. Therefore even a
deviation as slight as a change in name prompts the gemora
to question whether or not one could use this plant for
the dalet minim (Machatzis HaShekel 648:23).
Hadass Shoteh
"A hadass is considered kosher as long as the leaves
are in configurations of three. Rav Kahana said, `Even if the
leaves are positioned two and one.' Even though
hadassim in configurations of three are halachically
preferable, Rav Acha used to look specially for
hadassim that were positioned two and one in order to
show others the teachings of his Rebbe, Rav Kahana. Mar bar
Ameimar told him, "My father used to call this type of
hadass, `hadass shoteh'" (Succah 32b).
The word shoteh generally conjures up visions of a
fool who lacks the straightforward thinking that is a
prerequisite to functioning in normal society. Chazal applied
this appellation to a hadass whose leaves are not
aligned. Since it shares the muddled nature of its human
counterpart, our Sages referred to it as a hadass shoteh
(Ran, Ibid.).
It is difficult to explain how far apart the leaves must be
in order to be considered a hadass shoteh without
diagrams or photos. Some poskim say that the stems of
the hadass should be aligned (Chazon Ish as cited in
Likutim of Kehillas Yaakov on Succah).
Others say that as long as the leaves look connected, even
though the stems may not be of equal height, the hadass
is kosher.
The later Rishonim were baffled by the custom
prevalent in their time of using hadassim whose leaves
were positioned in sets of two. Many of them bend over
backwards to find a source for such a minhag, but are
bothered by the fact that this practice contradicts the
gemora, which says that the leaves must be positioned
in sets of three. Some suggest that since all of the leaves
are symmetrical, two leaves can also be considered a complete
set (Oruch HaShulchan 646:3). However, the practice
today is to use only hadassim that are positioned in
sets of three (Mishnah Berurah 646:16 in the name of
the Gra).
Fallen Leaves
There are two primary conditions for a hadass to be
kosher: First, it must be at least three tefochim
long, and second, it must contain clusters of three
leaves (as explained above). Does this mean that if even a
single leaf is unaligned or falls off within three
tefochim, the hadass is invalid?
The halochoh generally recognizes that any item to be
used for a mitzvah which fulfills most of the halachic
requirements, has its status determined by the majority
(rov) of its parts. Thus, even though it is a mitzvah
to find a hadass that has three tefochim of
clusters of three aligned leaves, if a majority of the plant
meets this requirement but a minority does not (i.e. even if
all of the leaves of the cluster have fallen), the
hadass is kosher (Shulchan Oruch 646:5). Even
if the sets are not consecutive, many poskim consider
the hadass to be kosher (Biyur Halochoh
646:5).
Some Rishonim rule that if every cluster is missing
only one leaf, since a majority of each set is intact, the
hadass is kosher. One may rely on these opinions in a
situation of great need (Mishnah Berurah 646:18).
The Biyur Halochoh (Ibid.) poses an intriguing
question regarding a hadass in which a majority of the
clusters are missing one leaf and the rest are missing two or
more leaves. Can we use both majorities simultaneously and
say that since a majority of the three tefochim
contain clusters of a majority of three leaves, the
hadass is kosher? The Biyur Halochoh concludes that
this is stretching things too far; unless there are no other
hadassim to be had in the city, one should not use
it.
If the hadass is dried out to the point that its
leaves crumble in one's hands, but the leaves are still
attached to the branch, then the hadass is kosher, as
long as some of its color still remains. If all its greenness
has gone but the top of each hadass still has three
leaves that are still fresh, the hadass is kosher.
Since the issue of how much color loss invalidates the
hadass is not straightforward, when possible, a
halachic authority should be consulted (Shulchan Oruch
646:6-8).
Gan Eden
Chazal tell us that when Yaakov Ovinu came before Yitzchok
Ovinu to receive his blessings, he was wearing bigdei
chamudos, the garments that Hashem fashioned for Odom in
Gan Eden. The spiritual scent of Gan Eden still
clung to these garments. Therefore, before blessing Yaakov,
Yitzchok commented, "The scent of my son is like the
fragrance of a field (i.e. Gan Eden) that Hashem has
blessed" (Bereishis 27:27).
Every Shabbos our neshomos are clothed with the same
beautiful fragrance that emanates from Gan Eden. When
Shabbos departs, this cloak is removed and we must comfort
our souls over this loss. The Zohar reveals that we
can only truly console the neshomoh through the
smelling of hadassim. This mystical teaching was
accepted as the halochoh, and the poskim
suggest that one should mix the leaves of his hadassim
with the spices that one uses for Havdoloh (Zohar, Parshas
Vayakheil 208b as cited by Darkei Moshe 297:2).
We are also privileged to a tiny sampling of this aroma on
weekdays. Every time a Jew does a mitzvah, a cloud of this
fragrance surrounds him and envelops his entire being. This
scent ascends to the next world and is kept there as part of
his reward in the World to Come (Ruach HaChaim
introduction to commentary on Pirkei Ovos).
In this vein, we can gain a deeper understanding of what our
Sages meant when they compared the pleasant smell of the
hadass to a Jew who actively performs mitzvos
(Yalkut Shimoni, Emor 23). The sensual pleasure one
gets from inhaling a pleasant smell corresponds to the
spiritual satisfaction that one's neshomoh gains from
doing a mitzvah.
In the merit of taking the hadassim and the rest of
the dalet minim, may our neshomos enjoy the
ultimate pleasure of smelling the scent of Gan Eden,
both in This World and the Next.
