This year, 2023/5784, the first time that we will fulfill the Mitsva of Lulab will be on the second day of Yom Tob: Sunday, October 1st, in the morning.
(מוליך ומביא – למי שהארבע רוחות שלו, מעלה ומוריד – למי שהשמים והארץ שלו” (סוכה לז, ב
“And, you shall take on the first day [of Sukkot] a fruit of a citric tree (etrog), branches of palm trees (lulab), a branch of myrtle (hadas) and willows of the brook (‘araba), and you shall rejoice before HaShem, your God, for seven days”. (Lev. 23).
THE MITSVA:
We are commanded to take the above-mentioned four species of plants during the festival of Sukkot. We take three branches and one fruit. One lulab, two ‘arabot, three hadasim, and one etrog are taken together each time. This Mitsva is called “the four species” (ארבעת המינים) or,, the Mitsva of lulab. We should hold the lulab, the hadasim, and the ‘arabot in the right hand and the etrog in the left hand. Then, we perform the Mitsva of netilat lulab, which means “lifting” the lulab. The four species must be held in the direction that they grow. On the first day of Sukkot, we must carefully perform the Mitsva with our lulab and etrog. During the other days, the four species may be borrowed from somebody else. The Mitzva of the four species is not performed on Shabbat. This year, 2023/5784, the first time that we will fulfill the Mitsva of Lulab will be on the second day of Yom Tob: Sunday, October 1st, in the morning.
BLESSING: Two blessings are said the first day of Sukkot, ‘al netilat lulab and shehecheyanu. The berakha, ‘al netilat lulab, is also said during the other days of Sukkot. Since every Mitsva has to be performed after we say the blessing, some people hold the etrog upside down and turn it back after the blessing, otherwise, the berakha would be said unnecessarily (berakha lebatala). Others would hold the etrog in their hand only after the berakha is said. Women are formally exempted from the Mitsva of lulab. However, the tradition in most communities is that women perform the Mitsva of lifting the lulab, which is meritorious. The Sephardic tradition indicates that women should not say the berakha for the performance of this Mitsva, while the Ashkenazi tradition indicates that women could say the berakha.
THE NA’ANU’IM: Once we say the berakha we move the Lulab in four directions (lena’anea’). And each time, we rattle the Lulab for a few seconds.
See in this video the na’anu’im, the movements of the Lulab, according to Maimonides, and the ancient Jewish tradition.
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THESE MOVEMENTS?
אמר רבי יוחנן: מוליך ומביא – למי שהארבע רוחות שלו, מעלה ומוריד – למי שהשמים והארץ שלו. במערבא מתנו הכי, אמר רבי חמא בר עוקבא אמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא: מוליך ומביא – כדי לעצור רוחות רעות, מעלה ומוריד – כדי לעצור טללים רעים. מסכת סוכה ל“ז:
כל זה רומז שהכוונה לבקש מה‘ יתברך על העתיד ולהודות לו על העבר. מנורת המאור שע“ט
In his book, Menorat haMaor, Rabbi Isaac Abohab explains why we do these movements with the Lulab, quoting a text from the Gemara.
Ribbi Yochanan explains that we move the Lulab forward and backward (towards one’s own body) and then up and down to thank HaShem “who is the owner of the four winds,” and to express our gratitude for those winds that brought the rain in due time during the past harvest. Why do we thank God in Sukkot for the good winds? Because on Sukkot the Jewish farmer had already harvested all of his fruits and produce for the year. Being grateful to God is essential, explains Rabbi Abohab, because when we have all the food we need around us, we are inclined to forget God (זמן בעיטה).
Ribbi Yose Bar Ribbi Chanina provides a different explanation: these movements with the Lulab, symbolizing the winds, represent our prayer asking God to protect future harvests, to prevent damaging winds —which bring drought or locusts— and destructive rains that can ruin all the products of the earth.
Which opinion do we follow? To thank God for the past or to ask God for a promising future? Our tradition is to do both during the famous Hallel prayer.
In order to thank and acknowledge God for what he gave us, we move and wave the Lulab as if it were a qorban, an offering to God, saying as we move, “HODU LASHEM KI TOB KI LEOLAM HASDO” Let us give thanks to God when it is good [=when we have abundance], [saying that] ‘His kindness is infinite’, ” .
And to beg HaShem for a promising material future, we move the Lulab while saying ANNA HASHEM HOSHIA NA, “Please, God, save us.” That is, “save us from the destructive winds, from inclement weather that could leave us without food and at risk of dying.
If these prayers about wind, rain, and dew are not very familiar to us, it is because, in our days of superabundance, we have so much food B”H that it is difficult for us to understand the terrible challenges of a year without harvest.
The Sephardic custom today is to move the Lulab, without shaking it, in six different directions: south, north, east, up, down and west. This order was established by Hakhme haQabbala. In this video, we see Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu z”l doing the na’anu’im, as the Sephardic tradition holds.
