Also associated with the Sukkot festival is the taking of the lulav (palm frond along with myrtle and willow leaves) and etrog (Citrus medica- a yellow citrus fruit). Detailed laws prescribe the specific qualifications for these “four species.” Many homiletical explanations for this ritual extend its significance beyond its origins in asking God for rain and a successful harvest.

3-1 A stolen or withered palm branch is unfit. If it came from an asherah⁸⁸ or from a condemned city⁸⁹ it is unfit. If its tip was broken off or if its leaves were split, it is unfit. If its leaves were spread apart, it is valid. Rabbi Judah says, “It may be tied up at the top.” The thorn-palms of the Iron Mount⁹⁰ are valid. A palm branch three handbreadths long, which is long enough to shake, is valid.

3-2 A stolen or withered myrtle branch is unfit. If it came from an asherah or from a condemned city it is unfit. If its tip was broken off or if its leaves were split, or if its berries exceed its leaves, it is unfit. But if one removed a number of its berries it is fit, though one may not remove them on the festival day.

3-3 A stolen or withered willow branch is unfit. If it came from an asherah or from a condemned city it is unfit. If its tip was broken off or if its leaves were split, or if it was a mountain willow, it is unfit. If it was shrivelled, or had lost some of its leaves, or had grown in a field and not near a body of water, it is fit.

3-4 Rabbi Ishmael says, “The commandment consists of taking three myrtle branches, two willow branches, one palm branch, and one citron, even if two of the myrtle branches have their tips broken off and one does not.”

Rabbi Tarfon says, “…even if all three have their tips broken off.”

Rabbi Akiva says, “Just as there is one palm branch and one citron, so too there is one myrtle branch and one willow branch.”

3-5 A stolen or withered citron is unfit. If it came from an asherah or from a condemned city it is unfit. If it was of orlah⁹¹ it is unfit. If it was of impure terumah⁹² it is unfit. If it was of pure terumah he should not take it, but if he took it, it is fit. If it was demai⁹³ the House of Shammai declares it unfit, but the House of Hillel declares it fit. If it was of the second tithe⁹⁴ it should not be taken even in Jerusalem, but if it was taken it is valid.

3-6 If lichens arose on most of the citron, or if its tip⁹⁵ was gone, or if it was peeled, or split, or had a hole and was missing something, it is unfit. If lichens arose on a minority of the citron, or if its stem was gone, or it had a hole and was not missing anything, it is fit. A black citron is unfit. A citron which is green like a leek, Rabbi Meir declares it fit and Rabbi Judah declares it unfit.

3-7 The minimum size for a citron, Rabbi Meir says, is the size of a walnut. Rabbi Judah says, the size of an egg. The maximum size is such that two can be held in one hand, according to Rabbi Judah. Rabbi Yose says, “Even one that must be held in two hands.”

87. Trans. S. Berrin.

88. A tree devoted to idolatry.

89. A city condemned to destruction as a result of its idolatrous worship (Deut. 13-13-19).

90. Mentioned in Josephus (War IV, 454) among the mountains that are located to the north of Moab,
opposite Jericho.

91. Fruit grown in the first three years of a tree’s fruit-bearing.

92. The priests’ portion.

93. Produce about which there is a doubt as to whether it has been properly tithed.

94. Produce to be brought to Jerusalem and eaten there.

95. Most etrogim have a protuberance at the tip (the opposite end from the stem). If removed, it renders the
etrog unfit.