October 21, 2005--Fanaticisms V: Leave My Lulavim Alone!
I have always thought of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot as a simple, happy holiday. One to really look forward to since so many of the others involve fasting and praying and atonement. Let the kids have some fun already. It’s America.
But then, yet again, the NY Times managed to get in the way of the fun. But before turning to that, a word about Sukkot itself, since I assume not all of you are up to speed about what we Jews do from the 15th of Tishri to the 21st or 22nd of Tishri. Please no questions about the Jewish calendar or why Sukkot can run until either the 21st or 22nd. Blogs are supposed to be brief and pithy and to deal with either of these two matters would take at least 16 volumes. And all in Hebrew.
Historically Sukkot commemorates the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, beginning with the exodus from Egypt and ending 40 years later at Mount Sinai (and everyone knows what happened there). The way the holiday came to be celebrated in non-biblical times was quite quaint, especially for someone like me who grew up in Brooklyn where the only nearby sand was at Coney Island.
One was expected to construct a little hut, or sukkah (we called it a sukkie), a temporary structure outside on a balcony, rooftop, or vacant lot. Most important, it was required that the roof be made of tree branches, which proved to non-observant skeptics that sukkot was really a harvest festival derived from, yes, pagan times and rituals, since it was quite a stretch to think about gathering tree branches in the Negev Desert. And it was in the sukkah that the family was to eat dinner from the 15th to the 21st or 22nd. Whatever.
Which brings me back to the NY Times where there was a story about the shortage of Egyptian lulavim (see story linked below). The lulav is one of four plants that Jews wave during each day of Sukkot while reciting a prayer. Normally the lulav palm fronds are in plentiful supply, but for some mysterious reason (Egyptian environmentalists claim harvesting lulavim harms the trees on which they grow) they were quite scarce this year.
Why not then just use some other frond, from say the Date Palm? Doesn’t that also grow in the Holy Land? Well to the Hassids, the luvlamin must be of a type so that the leaves cleave to each other. Even more exacting laws (we’re talking laws here) relate to the center leaf that extends uppermost along the lulav’s spine; ideally this leaf should not be split, and if it is, one should ask a Rabbinic authority about it. (What that authority might say would take at least another blog’s worth of speculation.) And there’s yet more, but I should stop since I know your eyes are glazing over and my fingers are getting numb.
But please, one more thing--because of the supply and demand curve, the price per lulav in Brooklyn this year was $15 apiece as contrasted with last year when it was just two dollars. So not only do we have a spike in the price of Middle Eastern oil, but now we also an even steeper one in lulavim. What next?
But then, yet again, the NY Times managed to get in the way of the fun. But before turning to that, a word about Sukkot itself, since I assume not all of you are up to speed about what we Jews do from the 15th of Tishri to the 21st or 22nd of Tishri. Please no questions about the Jewish calendar or why Sukkot can run until either the 21st or 22nd. Blogs are supposed to be brief and pithy and to deal with either of these two matters would take at least 16 volumes. And all in Hebrew.
Historically Sukkot commemorates the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, beginning with the exodus from Egypt and ending 40 years later at Mount Sinai (and everyone knows what happened there). The way the holiday came to be celebrated in non-biblical times was quite quaint, especially for someone like me who grew up in Brooklyn where the only nearby sand was at Coney Island.
One was expected to construct a little hut, or sukkah (we called it a sukkie), a temporary structure outside on a balcony, rooftop, or vacant lot. Most important, it was required that the roof be made of tree branches, which proved to non-observant skeptics that sukkot was really a harvest festival derived from, yes, pagan times and rituals, since it was quite a stretch to think about gathering tree branches in the Negev Desert. And it was in the sukkah that the family was to eat dinner from the 15th to the 21st or 22nd. Whatever.
Which brings me back to the NY Times where there was a story about the shortage of Egyptian lulavim (see story linked below). The lulav is one of four plants that Jews wave during each day of Sukkot while reciting a prayer. Normally the lulav palm fronds are in plentiful supply, but for some mysterious reason (Egyptian environmentalists claim harvesting lulavim harms the trees on which they grow) they were quite scarce this year.
Why not then just use some other frond, from say the Date Palm? Doesn’t that also grow in the Holy Land? Well to the Hassids, the luvlamin must be of a type so that the leaves cleave to each other. Even more exacting laws (we’re talking laws here) relate to the center leaf that extends uppermost along the lulav’s spine; ideally this leaf should not be split, and if it is, one should ask a Rabbinic authority about it. (What that authority might say would take at least another blog’s worth of speculation.) And there’s yet more, but I should stop since I know your eyes are glazing over and my fingers are getting numb.
But please, one more thing--because of the supply and demand curve, the price per lulav in Brooklyn this year was $15 apiece as contrasted with last year when it was just two dollars. So not only do we have a spike in the price of Middle Eastern oil, but now we also an even steeper one in lulavim. What next?
posted by Steven Zwerling at
2:41 PM
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