{"id":11037,"date":"2001-01-04T00:04:20","date_gmt":"2001-01-03T22:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=11037"},"modified":"2022-09-14T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T10:03:11","slug":"13-04-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/13-04-04\/","title":{"rendered":"04. What Invalidates the Four Species"},"content":{"rendered":"
There are five categories of disqualification that invalidate the four species:<\/p>\n
If a specimen does not meet these three requirements, it is invalid for the entire festival.<\/p>\n
Thus, to disqualify a specimen, it must have undergone a significant change. It follows that the stress that some people feel when choosing their specimens is unwarranted. True, in the upcoming sections we will deal extensively with the various defects that invalidate the four species, but these issues rarely come up.<\/p>\n
Even though most of the specimens on sale are kosher, Jewish practice is to enhance the mitzva by choosing beautiful specimens, as the Torah says, \u201cThis is my God and I will glorify Him (ve-anvehu<\/em>)\u201d (Shemot 15:2), which the Sages expound to mean: \u201cBeautify (hitna\u2019eh<\/em>) yourself before Him through mitzvot<\/em>: Make a beautiful (na\u2019ah<\/em>) sukka<\/em>, a beautiful (na\u2019eh<\/em>) lulav<\/em>\u2026\u201d (Shabbat<\/em> 133b). This, however, should not be a source of stress.<\/p>\n When circumstances are pressing and it is impossible to obtain kosher specimens, one may fulfill the mitzva using specimens that lack hadar <\/em>or are not whole (requirements 4 and 5 above), such as a lulav<\/em> which is dried out or has a split tiyomet<\/em>. According to most poskim<\/em>, one even recites the berakha<\/em> when taking them; others say that one does not recite it.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n In addition to the five types of disqualification, which relate to the specimens themselves, one also does not fulfill the mitzva with a stolen specimen. On the first Yom Tov, even a borrowed specimen is invalid (as explained below in section 13). Additionally, anything dedicated for idolatry is invalid to fulfill the mitzva (SA 649:3).<\/p>\n