The Book of Laws of the Lulav
Introduction
[ . . . ] We are also obligated to take four species on the first day [of the festival], and they are: the heart of the date palm, the myrtle, the willow, and the etrog, as it is said: You shall take on the first day the fruit of citrus tree, branches of date palms (Leviticus 23:40). One of the sages has already explained the reason for taking these four species, suggesting that it is because of our need for rain. That is what R. Eliezer said:
The reason is that these four species come only to placate [God] about the water. Just as these four species cannot survive without water, so the world cannot survive without rain. [b. Ta‘anit 2b]
I expounded this issue to this point only because my aim in this book is to explain the rulings concerning the commandments, I mean, the [commandment concerning] the lulav, and to clarify and to elucidate the obligations related to it, therefore I now begin to explain and clarify it. I have collected what has been said about it, and I have found that it comprises fifteen subchapters. I will enumerate these one by one, and after that I will explain and clarify each of them. I will cite the prooftexts for what I say from the written tradition and from the oral tradition, depending on what is necessary for understanding what we disclose. I cling to the Father of the fatherless [see Psalms 68:6], and I rely on Him, and from Him I seek my success in what pleases Him, and [from Him I seek that thing] through the realization of which I can approach Him, and the inspiration that will lead me to the paths of right guidance, and that which may grant me the share of the pious and of those who are desirous of obeying Him in His religion and the matters of His world, as His prophet said: I am with you wherever you go and I cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones in the earth (2 Samuel 7:9). [ . . . ]
Chapter 14
Discussion about the Fact That This Commandment Is Not Fully Carried Out by the Believer on the First Day [of the Festival] Unless He Possesses It [i.e., the Lulav] Rightfully. It Also Contains the Reason for the Prohibition against Taking It on the Sabbath
I say that God said: You shall take for you on the first day (Leviticus 23:40). Our rational faculty and understanding have reached the correct conviction that our Book never contains a statement, or even an additional letter, without conveying certain [additional] meanings, since otherwise putting it into writing would be superfluous, would not convey any teaching, and would be useless, but our Creator is far above that. Now, the passage that has been mentioned, that is: You shall take for you, contains a superfluous “for you,” since had it [only] written: You shall take on the first day, we would still know the obligation of taking these species for ourselves. Therefore, “for you” was added in order to indicate that it is to be taken on the first day as our own property. Otherwise we do not fulfill this obligation. [It also indicates] that we must possess it rightfully, whether through purchase as our own property or as a gift from someone who owns it. As for borrowing it or seizing it forcibly, or anything else that does not pertain to the two categories defined above, on the first day the obligation cannot be fulfilled by these means, but on the remaining days of the festival, it can be.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.
