Halacha of the day

Complete Hilchos for Choosing Arba Minim

By Editor | 1 month ago

Lulav:

Check if the lulav is straight (it would have to be severely bent to be pasul, but straighter is better).
Each leaf of the lulav is really made up of two leaves that are connected to each other.
Follow the spine up to the top. Check the middle leaf that comes out from the top of the spine to see that it is closed.
There are four levels of how closed the middle leaf should be, in order of preference:
1. Fully closed.
2. Open less than 3 to 4 inches (tefach) from the top.
3. Open more than 50 percent of the way down to the spine.
4. Completely open to the spine, which is passul on the first day.
Open less than three inches (#2 above) is considered kosher and mehudar, and one shouldn’t borrow someone else’s fully closed lulav.
After the first day, even completely open to the spine is kosher.
Even if the middle leaf is mostly closed, if the two middle leaves go in opposite directions, then it is passul (hemneck).
If the top is cut, even if it’s a small amount, it is passul. However, the piece that’s cut off is only a problem if it can be seen to the naked eye.
Brown at the top of the lulav is kosher.
If the top of the lulav zigzags, then it’s kosher, as long as the middle leaves don’t go in the opposite directions.
There are different types of spots that are found on an esrog:
The spots need to be visible to the eye, not with a magnifying glass.

There are five different sections of an esrog:

The ukitz (the stem from where it hangs on the tree) – if it’s entirely missing then it’s passul. If part of it is there then it is kosher.
The main body of the esrog (up until where the esrog starts to slant upwards).
The chotem (the area where it starts to slant upwards).
The pitum (the little piece of wood – many times it’s the color of the esrog – that sticks out of the top of the esrog). If it’s missing from when it’s on the tree then it’s kosher. If it fell off after it was picked, then it’s not kosher unless there’s at least a little piece sticking out. After the first two days, it’s acceptable to be used but no Bracha should be made.
The Shoshanta (the little ball that’s on top of the pitum) – If it’s missing, it’s not a problem.

On the ukitz (1), any discoloration, even black, is fine.
On the main body (2), the problematic colors are only a problem if the discolorations cover most of this area of the esrog or even if a circle can be drawn around multiple spots of discolorations and the circle will cover most of the main body of the esrog, then it’s problematic (this is called spotted or menumar).
On the chotem (3), a problematic color is passul no matter what size it is (must be visible to the eye without a magnifying lens).
On a pitum (4) that’s the same color as the esrog, a problematic color is passul. If the pitum is the color of wood then it’s kosher.
On the Shoshanta (5), any color is acceptable.
The halachos of something missing from the esrog (e.g., peeled, nicked, etc.) are complicated. Therefore, a shaila should be asked. Most of the time, the esrog will be kosher.
These spots are only a problem if they grew on the esrog. If they’re foreign to the esrog, then they’re not a problem (e.g., dirt is fine because it came from someplace else).
Spots that are part of the normal growth of the esrog and that are normally seen on the esrog are kosher.
The only spots that are a problem are the spots that are grown naturally on the esrog but that are not normally seen on an esrog and therefore make the esrog look non-mehudar.

The small beige looking spots that are commonly found on esrogim are called “bletlach”. They’re a normal color and are usually fine.

Should have between 9-12 inches of kosher leaves.
Bidieved, there should be a majority of 9 to 12 inches of kosher leaves.
Kosher leaves are defined as 3 leaves growing on an equal level.
There are three opinions on how to measure the three leaves being on an equal level:
- They should all grow from exactly the same level (extremely difficult to find).
- If the bases of the leaves are even partially next to each other (e.g., the node at the bottom of the left leaf touches the top of the node of the middle leaf and the bottom node of the middle leaf touches the top of the node of the right leaf).
Just eyeball the leaves (without checking the stems). If the leaves look like they’re on an equal level, then it’s considered equal.
Preferably the 9 to 12 inches of kosher leaves should be consecutive. If it’s spread out, it’s still acceptable.