When We Don’t Shake the Lulav

Sukkot Day 1, 5784

Ah, the first day of Sukkot. One of my favorite holidays. We get to sit in the Sukkah, make hoshanot around the synagogue, and shake our lulav and etrog. After all, we have to shake the lulav and etrog today. The Torah says “וּלְקַחְתֶּ֨ם לָכֶ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן” on the first day you shall take your fruit of hadar trees, and palm, and willow, and leafy trees, and shake them together. That is why, during the period of the Temple, the lulav was only shaken on the first day, and it was only at the Temple where it was shaken every day of Sukkot. It was only after the Temple was destroyed that Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai decreed it be shaken everywhere for all seven days of Sukkot, in commemoration of the Temple. Only the first day of shaking the lulav is a commandment from the Torah. So we should shake it today right? As the Mishnah says,

לוּלָב שִׁבְעָה, כֵּיצַד? יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל חַג שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בַּשַּׁבָּת — לוּלָב שִׁבְעָה, וּשְׁאָר כּל הַיָּמִים — שִׁשָּׁה

That is, the lulav is shaken for seven days, how (or when)? When the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, then the lulav is shaken all seven days. But if the first day of the holiday falls on any other day, it is only six, since then we do not shake on Shabbat. So clearly, since this is in the Mishna, the source of all of our oral law, we’re going to shake the lulav today, right?

You’re hearing this after we’ve done Hallel already, which means you know that no, we don’t. And now you might be asking yourself, why? Why don’t we shake the lulav on Shabbat? Some of you are probably thinking the answer is carrying on Shabbat—that is, we don’t want to accidentally make someone carry their lulav outside on Shabbat, which is forbidden. But the Mishnah already thought of an answer for that: יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל חַג שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּשַׁבָּת, כּל הָעָם מוֹלִיכִין אֶת לוּלְבֵיהֶן לְבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת. When the first day of the holiday falls on the Shabbat, all the people bring their lulavs to the synagogue [the day before]. Simple, right? So that is not the reason. Rather, in the Diaspora, the rabbis started to get nervous: what if our first day of Sukkot was wrong by a day? This is the same logic that prompted celebrating the holiday for two days instead of one. Because the new month was fixed by the courts in Israel, and news traveled slowly, maybe in the Diaspora we are wrong by a day. In that case, maybe the first day of Sukkot is not Sukkot at all, and then we are waving the lulav on Shabbat on a day that is not the first day of Sukkot, which we know from the Mishna that we are not supposed to do! And so, the lulav is not waved in the Diaspora on Shabbat.

Ah, but then you might say, in Israel, where they still only celebrate one day of the holiday, they ought to still wave the lulav on Shabbat. And indeed, at one point the Gemara concludes that they do! Nevertheless, the Gemara ultimately states that when the first Mishna I mentioned says to bring your lulav to the synagogue before the holiday, it was talking about during the time of the Temple, and that nowadays too in Israel they do not shake the Lulav. But why? They know the time of the new month! They only keep one day of Yom Tov where we keep two! Why don’t they shake the lulav on Shabbat in Israel?

Maimonides comes in with an answer. The Sages instituted uniform guidelines, he stated, so as to not cause a rift where some Jews waved the lulav on Shabbat and some did not. But to me, this just raises more questions than answers. We already have a situation some Jews have some customs that others do not. Why should the lulav be the thing that the Sages wanted to keep consistent across Jewry?   What makes the lulav so special? And furthermore, how could the Talmud, how could the rabbis, institute a ruling that actively prevents Jews living in Israel from fulfilling a mitzvah from the Torah? I can’t overstate how much of a big deal that is! The rabbis tells Jews living in the land of Israel to not shake the lulav when the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, even though they acknowledge it is a commandment from the Torah that overrides Shabbat! So don’t listen to the Torah, the rabbis say, to be in solidarity with Jews in the Diaspora who can only start waving the lulav on day 2. Really?

Yes. The mitzvah to shake the lulav happens once a year. That’s it. That’s all we get. One day. And Diaspora Jews found themselves in a situation where, because of the uncertainty of the calendar, every couple of years they might not fulfill that mitzvah. We have kept our custom of treating the first day of the holiday as spread out over two days because of tradition, even though our calendars are now fixed. If the first day of Sukkot really is the first day, then in the Diaspora we miss out on the chance to fulfill the mitzvah. So in Israel too, out of respect and community, they miss out on the mitzvah.

What a sign of Jewish unity! What a sign of respect. If some Jews can’t fulfill the mitzvah, none of us will. The Jews living in the land of Israel gave up a mitzvah to be more inclusive of those who wanted to fulfill the mitzvah, but couldn’t.

This type of radical inclusion, born out of empathy, should serve as a model for us. If Jews want to fulfill a mitzvah, but can’t, it is as if we all cannot fulfill that mitzvah. And many times, we can find solutions that are the opposite of the lulav situation: times where we can change something so that all Jews can participate. If our sanctuary is inaccessible to people with mobility issues, it is in our power to change that. If we don’t have siddurim in braille so blind congregants can pray, it is in our power to change that. If we don’t have accessibility in this building for everyone who wants to be here, it is in our power to change that. And not only is it in in our power, we are obligated to do so. If Jews who want to fulfill the mitzvot can’t, it is as if none of us can.

So my challenge today is simple: As a community, and as individuals, we must think of and implement ways to be inclusive and accessible. To allow all Jews who want to be here and fulfill mitzvot to do so. This is the lesson of not shaking the lulav on Shabbat in Israel: in name of Jewish unity, we are responsible for radical inclusivity.