Another Shake of the Lulav

Moshe was in Israel for Sukkos and came to the Kosel HaMa’aravi on Chol HaMo’ed to daven Shacharis there. The Kosel plaza was packed with people coming and going; groups of people gathered to form minyan after minyan.

After davening, Moshe remained for a while to say Tehillim. It was special standing there on Yom Tov, surrounded by so many people performing the mitzvos of the day. Eventually, he made his way out of the plaza, carefully carrying his four minim.

Just then, he noticed a familiar face approaching the Kosel.

“Good Mo’ed, Rabbi Dayan!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“Good Mo’ed, Moshe!” Rabbi Dayan replied warmly. “It’s so nice to see you!”

After inquiring about Moshe’s family, Rabbi Dayan’s eyes fell on Moshe’s four minim.

“Can I request a favor?” Rabbi Dayan asked. “Can I have your four minim for a minute as a gift, matana al menas l’hachzir, so that I can shake them here?”

“Of course,” Moshe replied, opening his case.

He paused. “Didn’t you already take your four minim this morning?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rabbi Dayan answered with a smile, “but I’d like to take them again here at the Kosel.”

Moshe was puzzled. Although it was a special opportunity to take the four minim at such a holy place, he wondered what the deeper reason might be for taking them again if Rabbi Dayan had already fulfilled the mitzvah that morning.

“Is there something special in halacha about taking the four minim here?” he asked.

“There may be,” Rabbi Dayan replied, grinning broadly.

Moshe handed him the four minim, his curiosity piqued. He asked:

“What is the reason for taking my four minim here if you already fulfilled the mitzvah?”

“The Torah commands us regarding the four minim: ‘You shall take for yourselves on the first day a fruit of a hadar tree [esrog]… You shall be joyous before Hashem seven days (Vayikra 23:40),” replied Rabbi Dayan, “which seems to present a contradiction between one day and seven.”

“Chazal explain that the mitzvah d’Oraysa to take the four minim on the additional six days is only ‘before Hashem’ – meaning, in the Temple (Sifra 23:40). Thus, the Mishna (Sukkah 3:12) teaches that initially the four minim were taken in the Temple all seven days of Sukkos, but outside the Temple, they were taken only on the first day throughout Israel.

However, after the destruction of the Temple, R’ Yochana b. Zakkai instituted that they should be taken everywhere for seven days, as a remembrance of the Temple (O.C. 658:1).

There is a dispute between the Rishonim regarding the status of Yerushalayim of old (which refers to its boundaries during the Temple era). Rambam, in his commentary on the Mishna (Sukkah 3:12), writes that the d’Oraysa seven-day obligation in the Temple extends to Yerushalayim of old. Rashi disagrees; he considers Yerushalayim to be like the rest of the country, so that there too, the mitzvah d’Oraysa is only on the first day.

In addition, we derive from the verse: “You shall take for yourselves (lachem) on the first day…” that on the first day a person cannot fulfill the mitzvah with a borrowed set of four minim, only with a set that is granted to him as a gift (Sukkah 41a-b; O.C. 658:3).

Tosafos (Sukkah 29b) indicate that in the Temple, the requirement of lachem exists all seven days as it does on the first day. However, Ritva and Ramban (ibid.) maintain that even in the Temple, it applies only on the first day.

Therefore, several Acharonim maintain that – according to Rambam – a person who fulfilled the mitzvah d’Rabbanan of the four minim during Chol HaMo’ed, and later in the day arrived at the Kosel HaMaaravi, has the opportunity, and perhaps even the obligation, to take the four minim again there to fulfill the possible mitzvah d’Oraysa in the Temple environs. According to Tosafos, he should also ‘acquire’ the four minim to fulfill the Torah’s language of ‘lachem.’

Many maintain, though, that a person is not required to take the minim again if he has already fulfilled the mitzvah elsewhere (see Piskei Teshuvos, Dirshu Mishna Berurah and Yalkut Yosef 658:1).

“For this reason,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “I asked for your four minim as a matana al menas l’hachzir, to gain the opportunity of the possible mitzvah d’Oraysa here.”

Verdict: Rambam indicates that the mitzvah d’Oraysa to take the four minim in the Temple for seven days includes Yerushalayim of old; Rashi disagrees. There is a further dispute about whether “lachem”applies in the Temple on the additional days. Therefore, some poskim advise one who arrives at the Kosel on Chol HaMo’ed to take the four minim there, and even acquire them as a matana al menas l’hachzir.