Hadass

Hadass (Hebrew: הדס, pl. "hadassim" - הדסים) is a bough of the myrtle tree. It is one of the Four Species ("arba'ah minim"–ארבעת המינים) used in a special waving ceremony during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other species are the "lulav" (palm frond), "aravah" (willow), and "etrog" (citron). The leaves of the "hadass" grow in tiers of three leaves each. According to the Halakha, the most perfect "hadass" is one whose leaves grow evenly in each set of three. Each leaf is about the size of a thumbnail.

Three "hadassim" are incorporated into the Four Species and are bound together with the "lulav" and "aravah" (this bundle is also referred to as "the "lulav"). Together with the "etrog", the Species are waved in all four directions, plus up and down, to attest to God's mastery over all of creation, and to symbolically voice a prayer for adequate rainfall over all the earth's vegetation in the coming year. "(See Four Species for the complete description and symbolism of the waving ceremony.)"

ee also

*Four Species
*Sukkot

References

*Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). "The Book of Our Heritage". Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 0-87306-152-7.