1)

(a)Rav Huna permits a split Lulav - provided the two sides of the slit are parallel, whereas the Beraisa, which invalidates it, speaks when the slit is open 'ke'Hemnek' (like an old-fashioned clothes-peg), where the ends curl outwards.

(b)A Lulav which is Kafuf or Kavatz are both Pasul. ...

1. ... 'Kafuf' - is a Lulav whose top is bent (like a hook).

2. ... 'Kavatz' - is one which has thorns growing out of its spine.

(c)An arched Lulav is Pasul - if the spine bends outwards (i.e. away from the person who is holding it), and Kasher - if it bends inwards ...

(d)... because that is the way it grows.

2)

(a)In the winter, the leaves of the Lulav separate from the stem and become hard - that is called 'Charus' and is Pasul, whereas in the early stages, when they are only beginning to get hard - it merely resembles a Charus and is Kasher.

(b)Rava declares a Lulav Pasul because it is blemished - if all its leaves grow from one side.

(c)Rav Papa describes 'Nifretzu Alav' (which our Mishnah invalidates) - as 'like a broom', because a broom is made of twigs that have broken off from the branch, in the same way as these leaves have broken off from the Lulav.

3)

(a)Rav Papa asks whether a Lulav is Kasher, if the Tiyomes (the double middle-leaf) is split ...

(b)... including the spine down to the next leaves that branch off from it (see also Tosfos DH 'Nechlekah').

(c)Initially, we infer from Rav Masun quoting Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi (who invalidates a Lulav whose Tiyomes has been removed), that if it is split, it is Kasher. The second Lashon quotes him as saying - that if the Tiyomes is split, it is as if it was removed, and is Pasul.

4)

(a)We know that "Kapos Temarim" does not mean ...

1. ... 'Charusa' (see 2a) - because it is not 'Kafus' (since, seeing as the branches that stick out from it are brittle, it cannot be tied together).

2. ... 'Ufta' (the palm-leaf low down on the palm-tree, where it resembles a branch (a sort of stump) - because it is only one piece and there is nothing to tie together.

3. ... 'Kufra' (a young Charusa about one year old which is very spiky) - because, due its spikes, it is highly unpleasant to handle (and the Pasuk in Mishlei writes "Derachehah Darchei No'am").

(b)We know that "Kapos Temarim" cannot mean two bunches of dates - because the word "Kapos" is written without a 'Vav' (implying one branch, not two).

(c)Neither can it mean one bunch of dates - because the Torah would refer to that as "Kaf", and not "Kapos".

5)

(a)Tzinei Har ha'Barzel are Kasher - when the tops of the lower leaves reach the base of the ones above it - and are Pasul when they do not.

(b)The connection between Tzinei Har ha'Barzel and the valley of Gei Ben Hinom lies in the fact - the former (in the form of two date-palms) grow in the valley of Ben Hinom, and, seeing as that location is the entrance to Gehinom, it is hardly surprising that smoke rises from between them.

6)

(a)According to Rav Yehudah quoting Shmuel, the length of the Lulav must be at least four Tefachim, one Tefach more than that of the Hadas. Rebbi Parnach quoting Rebbi Yochanan says that this Shi'ur only reckons up to the top of the spine (from which the middle leaf grows) and does not include the entire length of the middle leaf and the tops of the other leaves that grow beyond that point.

(b)Both opinions emend the Mishnah, to read 'Sheloshah Tefachim uKedei Lena'aneia Bo' - and each one explains the Shi'ur of 'Kedei Lena'aneia Bo', according to his way of understanding.

(c)Rebbi Parnach explains that, when the Beraisa gives the length of the Hadas and the Aravah as three Tefachim, and that of the Lulav, as four - it means apart from the leaves that protrude above the top of the spine.

7)

(a)When Rebbi Tarfon commented on the Tana Kama's words in the above-mentioned Beraisa 'be'Amah bas Chamishah Tefachim - Rava thought that he was giving the measurement of a Hadas as one Amah consisting of five Tefachim.

(b)And he criticized him because, he argued - it is difficult enough to conform with the Tana of our Mishnah's Shi'ur of three Tefachim, so how can Rebbi Tarfon expect us to find Hadasim of five?

(c)Rav Dimi however, corrected him, to leave us with only a small Chumra; he explained Rebbi Tarfon to mean 'Amah bas Shishah Tefachim, Aseh Osah bas Chamishah' - which means that he was only increasing the size of the regular Tefach (of which there are six to an Amah) to one and a fifth Tefachim (where there are five to an Amah), and the size of the Hadasim and the Aravos from three to three and three-fifth Tefachim.

(d)The problem with this is that - since Shmuel rules like Rebbi Tarfon, he should not have then given the Shi'ur as three Tefachim, since it is a leniency, and people who go by it, will not have fulfilled the Mitzvah.

8)

(a)Ravin therefore explained that what Rebbi Tarfon meant to say was - 'Amah bas Chamishah Tefachim, Aseh Osah bas Shishah', meaning that he reduced the size of the Tefach to five sixths of a Tefach, and the size of the Hadasim and the Aravos from three to two and a half Tefachim.

(b)When Shmuel now ruled like Rebbi Tarfon, and then gave the minimum size of the Hadasim and Aravos as three Tefachim - he again gave a round figure, only this time, it was a Chumra, which does not matter.

9)

(a)Most of the Pesulim of the Lulav also apply to a Hadas. The Pesul that is unique to the Hadas is - more berries than leaves.

(b)To render such a Hadas, Kasher - one needs to remove sufficient berries to leave the Hadas with more leaves than berries.

(c)One may not reduce the number of berries on Yom-Tov (in order to render the Hadas Kasher) - because of 'Tikun Mana' (rectifying a vessel to make it fit for use, which is Asur mid'Rabanan).

10)

(a)We learn from the Pasuk in Emor "Anaf Etz Avos" - which is entirely 'Anaf' (meaning a twig covered with leaves) to include a Hadas among the four species.

(b)The Pasuk cannot be referring to ...

1. ... an olive tree, whose twigs are also covered with leaves - because it does not comply with the requirement "Avos" (meaning 'plaited' - i.e. to grow in groups of three).

2. ... a chest-nut tree, whose leaves grow in groups of three, like a Hadas - because it does not comply with "Anaf".

(c)According to Abaye, it cannot refer a poisonous plant called 'Hirdof' (even though it has both specifications), because it has sharp ends, which prick the hands, and the Pasuk in Mishlei says "Deracheha Darchei No'am" (and it is not sweet to have one's hands pricked). Rava - cites the Pasuk in Zecharyah "ha'Emes v'ha'Shalom Ahavu", and a poisonous plant like Hirduf does not have the connotations of truth and peace.

(d)The Tana Kama of a Beraisa compares the appearance of the leaves of the Hadas to a plaited rope. Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov learns a Hadas from the Torah's insertion of the word "Etz" (in "Anaf Etz Avos"), implying that it is from a tree whose wood has the same taste as its fruit (i.e. the leaves).

11)

(a)Rav Yehudah describes "Avos" as three leaves growing out from the same point of the stem; Rav Kahana rules that - even if two of the three leaves grow from the same point and the third one, below, it is also Kasher.

(b)The moment Rav Acha the son of Rava, heard Rav Kahana's ruling - he always tried to obtain Hadasim where two of the three leaves grew from the same point and the third one, below.

(c)Mar the son of Ameimar commented to Rav Ashi - that his father tended to call a Hadas like that a 'Hadas Shoteh' (which is Pasul).

(d)The Beraisa rules that if most of the leaves of a Hadas fall out, it nevertheless remains Kasher, provided there are still three leaves that emerge from the same point. This is possible in the case of an 'Asa Meitzra'a' (meaning either a Hadas that grows on the border of the field, which, because it has plenty of room to grow, does particularly well, or an Egyptian Hadas) whose leaves grow in groups of seven, all of which grow from the same point of the stem. Consequently, even if four fall out, three still remain.