The Four Species • ,)*+)'

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What

The Torah commands us, And you shall take for

yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree
[etrog], the branches of date palms, twigs of leafy trees,
and brook willows, and you shall rejoice before the Lord
your God seven days (Leviticus 23:40). Although the
commandment could be fulfilled just by holding the
Four Species, we add the custom of waving them to the
points of the compass.

How

We recite a blessing over the act of taking the Four

Species. The usual procedure when saying a blessing
over a mitzvah that involves an object is to hold it in
one’s hand while one says the blessing (for example, with the Chanukah candles, one
holds the shammash while reciting the blessings, then lights the candles). But, once
you take the Four Species in your hand, you’ve fulfilled the mitzvah! However, our
Rabbis cleverly solved this problem: “Holding” the Four Species was defined as doing
so in the direction in which they normally grow. Therefore, if you hold the etrog with
the pitam (the little remnant of the flower, not the stem) facing down, you are not
fulfilling the mitzvah.
• Take the four species with the etrog in your left hand, (some have the custom
of taking the etrog first because it is mentioned first in the Torah) and the lulav
in the right, holding your two hands close so that the Species are all close
together. The lulav is held with its “spine” facing you, the willows (aravot) to the
left and the myrtles (haddasim) to the right.
What if you are left-handed? According to Ashkenazic custom, a lefty holds his
lulav in his left hand. However, the setting of the haddasim and aravot is the
same as everyone else, which is that the haddasim go on the right of the lulav
(as you hold the lulav with its spine facing you). The Sephardic custom is that
even a lefty holds the lulav in the right hand.
• Say the blessing, (plus, on the first day, the she-hecheyanu), and then turn the
etrog around so that the pitam is on top.
• Then wave the Four Species by stretching your arms away from your body, and
then drawing them back toward your chest, three times. We do this to the
compass points—east, south, west, north—and then up and down. 6
directions, 18 wavings (chai—life).
Why
Why do we do this odd thing? First a few explanations of the Four Species in general:
• They naturally cause us to feel joy because they are very beautiful, so we use
them to add to our joy during Sukkot. (Sefer HaChinuch)1
• They remind us of the rejoicing the Israelites felt when they came out of the
wilderness into the promised land, a country full of fruit-trees. (Maimonides)2
• From Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, we work our way back from
disintegration to wholeness and happiness. On Sukkot we reach the finish line
and celebrate becoming whole again. As part of this celebration of wholeness,
we take the Four Species and wave them toward the four corners of the world,
as well as up and down. (Rabbi David Aaron)
And of each in particular:
• They represent parts of the human body: Lulav — the spine. Etrog — the heart.
Myrtle — the eyes. Willow — the lips. By bringing them all together we show
that we unite our whole being in serving God.
• Just as the etrog has taste as well as fragrance, so there are Jews who have
learning and good deeds. Just as the lulav has taste (dates) but not fragrance,
so there are Jews who have learning but not good deeds. Just as the myrtle
has fragrance but not taste, so there are Jews who have good deeds but not
learning. Just as the willow has neither fragrance nor taste, so there are Jews
who have neither good deeds nor learning. To fulfill the Mitzvah, all Four
Species must be waved together. This means that all Jews are united in destiny
and all Jews are needed, even those who neither know nor do. “Therefore,
when you hold the Four Species together, you are not only expressing the
wholeness within yourself, you are acknowledging that you are connected with
the whole nation of Israel, all your fellow Jews, no matter who they are. You
then wave the Four Species toward the four corners of the world as well as up
and down, to show that the whole world, all of humanity, heaven above and the
earth below, all belong to God.” (Rabbi David Aaron)
• The wavings are explained by the Talmud (Sukkah 37b): “One waves them back
and forth to Him Who is the Master of the four directions; up and down to God
Who is the Master of Heaven and earth, Thus, the Four Species symbolize
God’s creation of all existence, and testify that there is none besides God.”
How to wave during Hallel (facing East):

Hodu L’Adonai Ki Tov Ki L’olam Hasdo

Front Pause Right Back Left Up (front) Down

Ah Nah Adonai Ho Shi Ah Nah

Front Right Pause Back Left Up (front) Down

1
A list of all 613 commandments, with explanations of each one, written in the 14th century.
2
One of the great rabbis and scholars of all time, he was born in Spain and lived most of his life in
Egypt (1135-1204)