Being that Parshas Bereishis is always the first Shabbos after Succos, I would like to take this week’s opportunity to discuss what exactly should be done with the arbah minim once Succos is over. Additionally, as you will see below, the widespread minhag of pregnant women biting off the pitam from the esrog, is based on something that happened in this week’s parsha, which gives us another reason to discuss the topic this week.
May the arbah minim simply be thrown in the garbage? Should they be stored away somewhere? Should one use them for another mitzvah? What are the various segulos that can be done with them? Why do people throw their hoshanos on top of the aron hakodesh? If one’s wife is pregnant, should he specifically buy an esrog with a pitam? Should one keep his hadasim and use them for the mitzvah of besomim? What if they don’t really have any smell left? Of this and more below.
Tashmishei Mitzvah [Item’s Used for the Performance of a Mitzvah]
The Shulchan Aruch (664:8) writes: “Some say regarding the hoshanos from the lulav, that even though they may be thrown out, one shouldn’t step on them.” The Rema references siman 21 in Hilchos Tzitzis, where it is clear that even after one’s tzitzis have been torn, they shouldn’t be treated in a degrading manner, and they shouldn’t be thrown in a filthy place. The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 7) explains: It is forbidden to throw them directly with one’s hands into the garbage, however, they don’t require genizah [burial], and if as a result of not performing genizah they get thrown out, it is not a problem. Some are careful and do perform genizah, and those who are stringent and meticulous in mitzvos will see great blessing.
Performing Another Mitzvah With Them
1. Use It for Burning Chometz and Baking Matzos
There is a well-known rule, that if an item was used for a mitzvah, it is virtuous to use it again to help with the performance of another mitzvah.
Based on this, the Rema (664:9) writes: The minhag was to store away the hoshanos and to use them for baking matzos, in order to use them for another mitzvah. Another minhag, mentioned by the Mishnah Berurah (445 s.k. 7) based on the same reasoning is that it is virtuous to burn the chometz using the wood from the hoshanos, since one mitzvah was done with it, we want to do another mitzvah of tashbisu [the mitzvah of destroying chometz] with it as well.
Interestingly, the Shulchan Aruch HaRav (445:12) differentiates between which aravos should be used for burning the chometz and which one should be used for baking matzos. He writes: Some have the minhag to use aravos that were beaten on Hoshanah Rabbah to burn chometz, and some have the minhag to use the aravos from the lulav to help bake matzos.
2. Quill
The Hagoas Maimonis (Hilchos Lulav, 7:26) writes: The Rivak would use his aravos to make quills to write with, and also to burn the chometz, like we find by the eruv, that once one mitzvah was done with an item, we like to do an additional mitzvah with the item.
3. Besomim for Havdolah
The Shulchan Aruch (297:4) writes: The minhag is to use the hadasim for besomim, as long as it is still possible. The Mishnah Berurah (297:8) explains: There is a special inyan [idea] to recite the berachah of “borei minei besomim” on motzei Shabbos, on the hadasim that were used on Succos, as once one mitzvah was done with an item, it is virtuous to use it for another mitzvah. However, this is only during the rest of year, and not on Succos itself, as on Succos itself the hadasim are set aside for the mitzvah. The reason the Shulchan Aruch writes “as long as it is still possible”, is because they can only be used whilst the smell remains, once the smell goes from the hadasim, they can no longer be used.
The Rema writes: Some say one shouldn’t use dried out hadasim for besomim as they don’t smell so much. However, if one mixes the hadasim together with other besomim, then he fulfills all opinions.
The sefer Mishmeres Shalom (siman 44) writes: One should weave together the leaves from the lulav and place inside them leaves from the hadasim, and use this for besomim on motzei Shabbos.
Whilst we are discussing using hadasim for the mitzvah of besomim, I would like to share with you a fascinating story which I saw brought down from Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair he writes as follows:
I once heard a remarkable story from someone named Shragi. Shragi had been listening to a lecture from Rabbi Ephraim Wachsman, who told the story of a man who used to drive into Manhattan every day. Each day, he was confronted with challenges to guarding of the eyes; maintaining moral and spiritual discipline in a world filled with temptation. Determined to overcome his struggle, the man made a small but powerful resolution. He placed a tzedakah box in his car, and every time he resisted temptation and looked away, he would put one dollar into it. Day after day, dollar after dollar, he built a quiet treasury of self-control. When Chanukah arrived, he opened the tzedakah box, and found two thousand dollars inside. Two thousand moments of victory. Two thousand times he had chosen holiness over impulse, mastery over desire, eternity over the fleeting. With that money, he bought himself a beautiful silver menorah. And that Chanukah, as its candles shone in the window, their light told his story; the story of two thousand triumphs of the neshama.
Shragi was deeply moved. Inspired by the idea, he decided to do something similar. He placed a glass jar in his car. Each time he was tested and chose to look away, he dropped a quarter into the jar. By the time Succos came, he had collected $40 worth of quarters — one hundred sixty moments of victory. With that money, he bought himself the finest hadasim he could find. Chazal teach that the hadas represents the eyes, as its leaves are shaped like the human eye. Each of those branches symbolized one of those 160 times that Shragi had looked away, 160 moments of spiritual strength, 160 times he had turned his eyes from desire toward Heaven.
Throughout Succos, Shragi was filled with joy. Each time he lifted his lulav and looked at those hadasim, he felt the holiness of every small battle he had won. As the Yom Tov drew to a close, he felt a touch of sadness. The mitzvah of the hadasim was ending. Then he remembered a teaching from Chazal: “Objects used for one mitzvah should be used for another.” So, after the Yom Tov, he gathered his hadasim and used them as spices for the havdalah ceremony that marks the end of Shabbos. There was only one problem: his spice holder was an old plastic container. So, he decided that soon he would buy a beautiful crystal and silver spice box, something worthy of the mitzvah.
Shortly after Succos, his in-laws returned from Eretz Yisrael. They invited him over, saying they had brought back gifts for the grandchildren. The children were delighted with their presents of shirts, toys, and souvenirs. Then his in-laws turned to him and said, “Shragi, we have something for you, too.” They handed him a neatly wrapped box. Inside was a black velvet case. He opened it, and there it was: the most stunning crystal and silver spice box he had ever seen. He stood there speechless. Sometimes G-d doesn’t show us how precious our mitzvos — our acts of holiness — are to Him. But once in a while, He lets us see a glimpse, a Divine smile, a quiet sign of affection. Every motzei Shabbos, when Shragi holds that spice box during havdalah, he feels a surge of joy. It reminds him of those 160 moments of inner strength and self-mastery. It reminds him that G-d saw, G-d cared, and G-d responded.
The Minhag of Throwing Hoshanos on Top of the Aron Hakodesh
There is a widespread minhag to throw the hoshanos on top of the aron hakodesh, where does this minhag come from?
The sefer Malbushei Yom Tov (on the Levush 664:4) brings a minhag Yisrael that after using the hoshanos on Hoshanah Rabbah they should be thrown:על ה'זיזים' שבבית הכנסת – “on the ledges in the Beis Haknesses” (he doesn’t mention aron hakodesh). He then writes:ובכך משליכים את ניצוצי הדין, וזורקים אותו לסיום של ימי הדין – “By doing this we throw away the sparks of harsh judgement, at the conclusion of the Yemei HaDin and don’t take them back home.”
R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Mo’adim U’Zemanim 2:131) offers a different explanation. He writes: The minhag is a facsimile of what happened in the Beis HaMikdash. On Hoshanah Rabbah, היו זוקפים את הערבות על גבי המזבח משני צדדיו – they would bend the aravos over the top of the mizbayach from both sides, and the aron hakodesh in shul is in place of the mizbayach, therefore, we place the aravos over the top of the aron hakodesh.
The Munkatcher in his sefer Darchei Chaim Vesholam (ois 793) writes that it is not fitting to throw arovas on top of the aron hakodesh, as it is a disgrace to do so, rather, one should take them home and burn them with his chometz. The Maharsham (Shu”t 4:57) answers the minhag and he says that since this is the minhag, there is a לב בית דין מתנה (a stipulation made when sanctifying the aron hakodesh) that one is allowed to throw hoshanos on top of the aron hakodesh.
It’s important to add, that even if one has such a minhag, if he is in a shul were they clearly don’t have such a minhag, and doing so will just annoy the gabbah, certainly it shouldn’t be done.
Segulos
The Eleph HaMagen (660:7) writes that on motzei Succos one should take the lulav and the other species and keep them in a protected place, in order that they remain, and they should be kept in a place that one can see them. This should serve to keep one protected and saved from tragedies and bad tidings. He adds, that they shouldn’t be thrown in the garbage, כי הם רומזים לענין גדול – as they signify important things.
In Kuntros Achron he brings the minhag to take the esrog and make from it jam with sugar, and to eat it on the night of Tu BiShvat. This serves as a segulah for an easy birth, and a pregnant woman should eat from such an esrog.
The Menoras HaMeor (siman 53, Klal 4) writes: “I heard that the aravos from Hoshanah Rabbah serve as a shemira [protection] for one who is traveling,והכל לפי כושר מעשיו וטוב כוונתו, והבוטח בה' בצל ש-ד -י יתלונן – however, it all depends on the goodness of one’s actions and his intentions. One who places his trust in Hashem, can dwell in the shade of Hashem.”
The sefer Yefeh Lelev writes: If one is scared of the night and has bad dreams, he should place the aravos from Hoshanah Rabbah under the pillow that he sleeps on.
The Likutei Maarich writes that one should cook the aravos in water and drink the water. He writes that this is a segulah for לזרע של קיימא – long-lasting children. A remez to this is that the word ערבה has the same gematria as זרע. He continues: Pregnant women have the minhag to bite off the pitam from the esrog as a segulah for an easy birth, as some say the Eitz HaDaas that Adam HaRishon ate from was an esrog, and this acts as an atonement. They should also give money to the poor.
When doing this they should recite the following tefillah brought down in many seforim:
רבש"ע בשביל חוה שהיתה אוכלת מעץ הדעת גרם אותו חטא מיתה בעולם ואם הייתי באותו זמן לא הייתי אוכלת ולא הייתי נהנית ממנו, כמו שלא רציתי לפסול אתרוג זה בשבעת ימי החג שעברו, והיום שפסלתי אין בו מצוה, וכשם שיש לי הנאה בפיטום זה, כך הייתי נהנה לראות העץ הדעת שאמר הקב"ה לאדם וחוה לא תאכל, ולא הייתי עוברת את ציוויו, ותקבל ברצון את תפלתי ואת תחנתי שלא אמות מלידה זו ותושיעני לילד בנחת ובלי צער, ולא יהיה לי ולא לוולדי שום נזק כי אתה האל המושיע.
Ribbono Shel Olam, Chavah who ate from the Eitz HaDaas caused through her sin that death should exist in the world. If I had been there at that time, I would not have eaten it and would not have enjoyed it, just as I did not want to invalidate this esrog during the seven days of the Chag that has just passed. Today that I invalidated it, there is no longer a mitzvah. And just as I have pleasure in this pitam, so I would have enjoyed seeing the Eitz HaDaas that Hakadosh Boruch Hu said to Adam and Chavah “Don’t eat from it”, and I would not have transgressed on Your command. Please accept willingly my prayer and my supplication that I may not die from this birth and that you will save me and the child in peace and without sorrow, and that there will be no harm to me or my children, for you are the G-d who saves.
This minhag is cited in the sefer Nazir Shimshon and the Likutei Maarich quotes it. It is also brought in the sefer Chaim U’Berachah (ois 228) and Mo’ed Lekol Chai (siman 24, ois 25).
The Toras HaMo’adim (siman 664, s.k. 13, ois 5) brings from R’ Chaim Kanievsky zt”l that women can already do this on Hoshanah Rabbah,דלא הוקצה רק שלא להשתמש בו שאר הנאות, אבל בנגיסה שאין שום הנאה ממנו שהרי רק נושכים את הפיטם וזורקים אותו מותר – as the esrog is set aside that it can’t be used for other pleasures, however, biting it, where there is no pleasure as one only bites the pitam and then throws it away, there is no problem and it’s allowed.
The sefer Darkei Chaim Vesholam (ois 796) brings from the Minchas Elozor that one should wait until after Shemini Atzeres. The sefer Segulas Yisrael brings that eating from the esrog after Succos, serves as a segulah to be saved from heart illness.
Lulav – A Segulah to Remove Back Pain
The sefer Sifsei Nevonim (Perek 1, siman 23) brings that a tried and tested segulah for one suffering from back pian, is to take his lulav after Succos and place it underneath the mattress that he sleeps on. Support for this is the Medrash (Tanchuma, Emor 19; Rabbah, Emor 30:14) which says that the lulav is like the spine.
The Kovetz Iyun HaParsha (Gilyon 160, ois 26) brings that R’ Gamliel HaKohen Rabinovitz is in doubt if it is permissible to move a lulav on Shabbos to place it underneath a mattress to try out this segulah.
There are two shailos involved: 1) Is a lulav muktzeh? 2) Is one allowed to do such a segulah on Shabbos for purposes of refuah [healing]?
We see that a lulav isn’t muktzeh from the Shulchan Aruch (308:20) which says: ענפי דקל שקצצם לשריפה, מוקצים הם ואסור לטלטלם, ואם ישב עליהם מעט מבעוד יום מותר לישב עליהם בשבת – “Leaves from a palm tree that were cut down to be burnt, are muktzeh and can’t be moved, if, however, they were sat on a little bit whilst it was still day, then they may be sat on, on Shabbos.” The Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 85) writes: שאפילו במחשבה לשבת עליהם מותר, ואין צריך מעשה – “Even simply thinking about sitting on them helps, and one doesn’t need to do an action to make them not muktzeh.”
Regarding the shailah of refuah via segulos, it is clear from the Mishnah Berurah (328, s.k. 143) and Sha’ar HaTziyun (ois 104) that it is permissible to do segulos for refuah on Shabbos, therefore, it would seem that one may move a lulav on Shabbos to place under a mattress for purposes of refuah.
