The four species (Hebrew: ארבעת המינים arba'at ha-minim, also called arba'a minim) are four plants—the etrog, lulav, hadass, and aravah—mentioned in the Torah (Leviticus 23:40) as being relevant to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Observant Jews tie together three types of branches and one type of fruit and wave them in a special ceremony each day of the Sukkot holiday, excluding Shabbat. The waving of the four plants is a mitzvah prescribed by God in the Torah, and it contains symbolic allusions to a Jew's service of God.
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👉 Four species in the context of Hadass
Hadass (Hebrew: הדס, pl. hadassim - הדסים) is a branch of the myrtle tree that forms part of the netilat loulav used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Hadass is one of the four species (arbaʿath haminim – ארבעת המינים). The others are the lulav (date palm frond), aravah (willow), and etrog (citron). Three hadassim are incorporated into the Four Species and are bound together with the lulav and aravah. Together with the etrog, the lulav is waved in all four directions, plus up and down, to attest to God's mastery over all creation, and to voice a prayer for adequate rainfall over all the Earth's vegetation in the coming year.
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Four species in the context of Sukkot
Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Biblically an autumn harvest festival and a commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt, Sukkot's modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a sukkah, a temporary wood-covered hut, and the taking of the four species.
The names used in the Torah are "Festival of Ingathering" (or "Harvest Festival", Hebrew: חַג הָאָסִיף, romanized: ḥag hāʾāsif) and "Festival of Booths" (Hebrew: חג הסכות, romanized: Ḥag hasSukkōṯ). This corresponds to the double significance of Sukkot. The one mentioned in the Book of Exodus is agricultural in nature—"Festival of Ingathering at the year's end" (Exodus 34:22)—and marks the end of the harvest time and thus of the agricultural year in the Land of Israel. The more elaborate religious significance from the Book of Leviticus is that of commemorating the Exodus and the dependence of the Israelites on the will of God (Leviticus 23:42–43).
Four species in the context of Etrog
Etrog (Hebrew: אֶתְרוֹג, plural: etrogim; Ashkenazi Hebrew: esrog, plural: esrogim) is the yellow citron (Citrus medica) used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the lulav, hadass, and aravah, the etrog is taken in hand and held or waved during specific portions of the holiday prayers. Special care is often given to selecting an etrog for the performance of the Sukkot holiday rituals.