Arba Minim

Arba Minim Questions:

1. What is special about these four species that they are the ones selected?
2. Why are three of them tied together while the esrog remains separate but is placed next to the others?
3. Why do we make the brocho Al Netillas Lulav stressing the Lulav more than any of the other three species?
4. Why are the Arba Minim only mentioned once in the Torah while the festival of Sukkos is mentioned five times?
5. What is the significance of there being four species?
6. Where is the best place to shake them?
7. The Torah only says to take them on the first day of Sukkos. Why then do we shake them all seven days (besides for Shabbos)?
8. Why do we do the nanuim do the arba minim? Why shake them in all six directions?
9. Why shake them during certain places of Hallel?
10. Why do we take the Arba Minim around during Hoshanos?
11. What is special about the different shapes of the Arba Minim?
12. What is the significance of all the Arba Minim having the yellowish/green colour?
13. What lies behind the positioning of the Arba Minim – the esrog in the left hand with the other three species in the right hand. The Lulav in the middle with the hadassim on the right and the arovos on the left?
14. Why not have only one of each species? Why have one lulav and one esrog while two hadassim and three arovos?
15. What are the different criteria for each of the four species?

Ideas for answers on the Arba Minim:

3. The Gemora Sukka says that this is because it naturally is the tallest of the four species. Perhaps another idea is that since it is the central one out of all the four species – two others are tied onto it and then the esrog is brought to join together with the other three.
5. Chazal say that these four species parallel the four letters of Hashem’s Name – the Tetragrammaton…
6. Chazal say that the best place to shake them is in the Sukka. This has sources in kabbala.
7. This was instituted by the Rabbis to remember how it was done in the Beis Hamikdosh for seven days.
10. It appears that the Arba Minim comes as a merit and protection for the Jews and therefore is said together with Hoshanos that is where we ask Hashem to save and help us.
11. The Arba Minim and their shapes reflect different parts of the body – see below.
13. The right hand is usually the stronger of the two and therefore is treated with greater importance. It therefore takes the three minim that are bound together with the left hand holding the esrog. …
14. This is actually the opinion of one Tanna in the Mishna. However, we go after the other opinion…

Questions on the esrog:

1. What does the esrog represent?
2. What is special about the esrog fruit more than other fruits?
3. Why in the list of Arba Minim in Parshas Emor is the esrog mentioned first?
4. What is the significance of hiddur only being mentioned in the Torah by the esrog?
5. There is an opinion that the fruit that Odom sinned with was the esrog. Does this have anything to do with why we take esrog by Sukkos?

Ideas for answers on the esrog:

1. It represents the heart.
2. The Gemora Sukka 35a brings that the taste of the tree is like the taste of the esrog (like was meant to be to all the fruits when they were created).
3. Perhaps this is because the esrog a fruit as opposed to the other three species that are plants…
4. Perhaps since the esrog represent the heart that controls the desires of man, this requires extra vigilance seen in the requirement of hiddur for the esrog.
5. Sukkos is a continuation to the days of atonement of the Yomim Noiroim. Perhaps this explains that after atoning for our personal sins, we then do something to try rectifying the sin of Odom with the fruit. Being that the fruit was an esrog we therefore take the Arba Minim. (See Rabbeinu Bechai, Emor)

Questions on the lulav:

1. What does the lulav represent?
2. What is the significance of the lulav being the tallest of the arba minim?
3. Why when we make the blessing over the Arba Minim do we make explicit reference only to the Lulav – Al Netillas Lulav?
4. Why do we call it Lulav when in the Torah it is called Kapos Temorim (P’ Emor)?
5. Is there any significance behind the name of Lulav?
6. Of all the four species when we take them we also do Na’anuim and this is where we make sure to make sure that the leaves of the Lulav shake. What lies behind this?

Ideas for answers on the lulav:

1. The lulav represents the spine.
3. This is because the Lulav is the tallest and has another two species attached to it.
5. The Rokeiach says that it can be split into two – Lu+Lav and these are the first and last letters of the Torah and also of the Nach.

Questions on the hadassim:

1. What do the haddisim represent?
2. Why have three hadassim?
3. Another name of Ester from the Purim story is Hadassa. What is the connection between Ester and hadassim?
4. What lies behind the shape of the hadass having three leaves on each row?
5. Why do the hadassim go on the right side of the Lulav?

Ideas for answers on the hadassim:

1. The hadassim represent the eyes seen in their shape.
2. Perhaps it is the idea that the right eye looks at the good (representing the midda of chesed) and the left eye represents looking at the bad (symbolising the midda of din). Therefore there needs to be a third eye that balances it to direct when exactly to focus on the good and with the right amount of limitations (representing the midda of rachamim).

Questions on the arovos:

1. What do the arovos represent?
2. Why do we have two arovos?
3. Why do the Arovos go on the left side of the Lulav?

Ideas for answers on the arovos:

1. The arovos represent the lips seen in their shape.
2. Perhaps because the Gemora in Sanhedrin says that really we should have two mouths – one for eating and one for speaking. Here we therefore take two to express both these functions.