Shaking Shailos

Shimshon recites the brachos of “Al netilas lulav” and “Shehechiyanu” and shakes his lulav and esrog.

Borcuh: The Gemara implies that even if tying the lulav, hadassim, and aravos together is not an integral part of the mitzvah, it is nevertheless a mitzvah. The Maharsha says that binding the lulav is akin to building an altar in the Beis Hamikdash! (ibid 45) So I would have thought that you would have bound the lulav yourself and recited Shehechiyanu at that point.

Shimshon: I could have (MB 651:29), but as a matter of practical halacha, we usually recite the bracha of Shehechiyanu when actually holding the arba minim for the first time on Sukkos. The Smag says that this is due to the fact that one individual may put together 100 lulavim for 100 people. Those 100 people will have no choice but to say the bracha on Sukkos proper. So therefore, we prefer the process to be uniform and have everyone recite the blessing at the time of the new mitzvah on Sukkos. Interestingly enough, the Ritva advises that one should not bind his own lulav. He notes that there is a difference of opinion as to when Shehechiyanu is recited, at the time of binding or at the time of the first use. Therefore, he advises one to remove oneself from a position of doubt and have someone else bind their lulav.

Boruch: That esrog looks mighty nice. May I smell it?

Shimshon: No. I’m sorry. That would be inappropriate.

(Unidentified third party): Shimshon, may I please use your lulav and esrog?

Shimshon: Sure!

Shimshon hands over his lulav and esrog.

Boruch: Now, wait one minute! I know the Gemara clearly says that one may smell the esrog on Sukkos (37b). I likewise know that Mishna says clearly that one cannot fulfill his obligation with a borrowed lulav on the first day of Sukkos. (41b) You’re all mixed up! You should have let me smell your esrog and not let your friend borrow your lulav!

Shimshon: You are correct. The Gemara says it is perfectly permissible to smell the esrog on Sukkos. However, the Shulchan Aruch (653:1) notes that there is a question of whether or not one recites the bracha of “HaNosen Rayach Tov BaPeros” before smelling the esrog that is being used for the arba minim on Sukkos. Therefore, to stay out of doubt, it is better not to smell it. After Sukkos, you may borrow my esrog, enjoy the fragrance, and recite the bracha. Although you may not use a borrowed lulav on the first day of yom tov, you may give it to your friend as a present on the condition that he returns it.

Boruch: I know about that trick – it’s called matanah al menas lehachzir. But Rava (41b) says that the trick works when you specify at the time that you hand the lulav to your friend that it’s a present. You said no such thing!

Shimshon: True. But the Magen Avraham writes that when you’re dealing with two people who know the halacha, there is no need to specify that it’s a present. It’s understood that it’s a present because otherwise, the recipient can’t fulfill the mitzvah. (MB 649:15) Truth be told, I really should have specified it was a conditional present, because that is the initial course one should follow. (Ibid)

The unidentified man hands the lulav and esrog back to Shimshon. Whereupon, Shimshon recites the blessings of “Al netilas esrog” and “Shehechiyanu” and shakes the lulav and esrog.

Boruch: OK. Now you’ve completely lost your mind. For starters, everyone knows you only recite the bracha of “Shehechiyanu” on the lulav and esrog once the entire Sukkos. You already recited it earlier! Second, you fulfilled the mitzvah already. How can you recite another bracha today? There is no new mitzvah until tomorrow. The Gemara says (42a) that once someone picked up the arba minim, he fulfilled the mitzvah. The Gemara says clearly (38a) that even if one did not shake the lulav and esrog he still fulfilled the mitzvah! So there is no mitzvah left today for you to recite a bracha on. The righteous people of Yerushalayim would hold the lulav and esrog all day (41b), but that was only to show how dear the mitzvah was to them. They weren’t getting additional mitzvos! In fact, with your second bracha you may have transgressed the biblical injunction of Baal Tosif! (Chayei Adam 68:23) Even if you somehow escape the first two questions, I know that the bracha you recited was clearly formulated incorrectly. The proper bracha is “Al netilas lulav.” The Gemara (37b) says the reason lulav is chosen out of all the four species, is because the lulav plant is the tallest. There simply is no such bracha as “Al netilas esrog!”

Shimshon: I see you are an erudite scholar. While you were pestering me with questions, I forgot to turn my esrog right side up after I recited “Al netilas lulav.” It was upside down the whole time I held it until I handed it off. Since I had all four minim in front of me, I technically do not need to pick up again the three minim that were right side up. I only need to pick up the esrog again, albeit this time correctly. But there was already an interruption between my original bracha and my taking of the esrog. So I need to recite a new bracha. How can I recite “Al netilas lulav” if I technically do not need to pick it up anymore? The only bracha I can recite is “Al netilas esrog.” Furthermore, this is the first time this holiday I am properly fulfilling the mitzvah of Esrog. So I need to recite “Shehechiyanu.” To fulfill all opinions in the best manner, I took all the four species again and waved them together. (MB 651:56)

Boruch: That is interesting. My family follows the Minhag HaGra, and we don’t turn the esrog upside down before the bracha of “Al netilas lulav.” That’s why I wasn’t familiar with your practice. We hold the lulav and esrog normally, but have in mind not to fulfill the mitzvah until after the bracha. Perhaps the Gra didn’t like the idea of turning the esrog upside down because it doesn’t help with the lulav. The person holding the esrog upside down definitely did not fulfill the mitzvah of esrog, but he has already fulfilled the mitzvah of lulav to some extent as you just explained. So the bracha of “Al netilas lulav” is not totally before the mitzvah.

Shimshon: Interesting point. Rav Elyashiv, zt”l, suggested that by turning the esrog upside down you are also fulfilling the opinion of the Gra. Perhaps the Shulchan Aruch didn’t want to suggest people follow the abstract instructions of having in mind not to be yotzei. Instead, he advised people to turn over the esrog which is a concrete way of demonstrating that he doesn’t want to be yotzei yet. True, according to the Shulchan Aruch, one can fulfill the mitzvah of arba minim in a piecemeal fashion. However, since as a practical matter, we take all the four minim at the same time, this divergence from the accepted practice demonstrates that he doesn’t want to be yotzei yet. This also explains why the Shulchan Aruch left out the Gra’s practice which was already mentioned by the Rishonim.

Boruch then tells Shimshon, “Excuse me but your esrog is still upside-down.”