Choosing a Lulav

0:00I want to discuss the lula, I've had a pickle lula. So first I'll let you know the book that I'm using, what we hear is called the Quixatama, all the picture books that I've seen so far on the market that go through all the different pursuance. This seems to me to be the most practical and well researched of the books. It doesn't only tell you what it says in Scholklerich, but tells you what's out there, what you're gonna find in stores, what are in fact going to be problems, what are not going to be problems. It's just very down to earth, very practical. So the large majority of the information we're sharing with you is literally straight out of this book, the Quixatama written by Abraham Wright, it's an Israeli-Abraham Wright. So it's a Talmud of the Double Fiends team. So let's start with the lula. The reason I want to start with the lula is that in terms of buying an estrog, most people spend most of their time buying an estrog, but really high quality estrog, you could find anywhere, anytime, all of the estrog when we have in stores are pretty much high quality estrog, and run very little risk of actually being puzzled.

1:01The growers of estrog since they know that people are interested in a very beautiful estrog, pay a lot of attention to the estrog, they weed out the bad ones, they classify them, at the time you see it in the store, all the bad ones have pretty much been sorted and been taken out. Estrog and typically do not get damaged during shipping. You don't have any of these issues. Do love them on the other hand, typically speaking, will be, many of them will be puzzled. A lot of them may not have originally been puzzled by the time they get to the store or parcel. A lot of them may not have been puzzled by the time they got to the store, but by the time the five people, 10 people, 20, 30 people who picked it up before you to examine it and start pulling apart the leaves, to look at it by the time they're done with it, it's puzzled. So you have very often, I've noticed myself very often, people will have the most, who are expensive Estrog and a parcel Lula. And of course, the halacha is that if any $1 in minimum is puzzled, then you are not my kind of Mitzvetyl. So in my opinion,

2:02when you go to buy your dollar minimum, the first thing you should look for is a Lula. Try to get to the Lula box before anyone else does, make sure you get yourself a coach, a Lula, then you can work on getting yourself a Mujudarestrog. And you'll figure out how to get yourself a Mujudarestrog. But Lula, most important. Standard Lula of Nassafriti. Standard Lula in Margroni, in a lot of different places. Lula of Margroni in Spain, Maraco, the Jordan River Valley in Egypt. And then there's Lula that's called the Derri Lula, which is a very fancy kind of Lula that's either grown in Arizona or in California. And you have to pay separate for a Derri Lula because the Derri Lula is, we'll see, is much, much more high quality Lula with much less risk of Pso. In Lekki Khatama, he says, he opened up a typical box of 100 Lula of him. And in the typical box of 111, 40 of them are Pussel al Khaladeos, are 100% Pussel, so that's a very significant number. 10 of them have a Knapple, what they call a Nadeh on the top,

3:03which we'll discuss in a moment. 15 of them are barely cusher. 20 are cusher, but not so great. 10 are really good and five are Mujudah. So in the typical box of 111, you're gonna run into a lot of trouble. Now, the Derri Lula of him, what makes them special is that they're much lusher, they're thicker, they're full-bodied, you could have a much deeper green color from top to bottom and from side to side. They don't have so much brown on them, they look much nicer, but more importantly, they can withstand a good deal of abuse. He says here that he took it Derri Lula and banged it against concrete for a while, and it still didn't split the Middle Leafs. So that's impressive. If it could keep the Middle Leaf intact, not only after bumping into the back of the guy in front of you during our channels, or the ceiling of the shoe or whatever, but even banged against concrete, that's pretty good. The downside of Derri Lula is that it costs $60, $80, $100

4:05in that area, separate from the cost of your estrogue. So you can end up spending more money on your Lula than you do on an estrogue. So you have to figure out, if it's your money or your parent's money that you're spending, and B, if you can afford it. So it is very possible and likely that you can find the cost of Lula if you don't buy Derri Lula. So you don't have to buy the, and not all Derri Lula and my cash are also, you need to check them also, just a higher incident, the incidence of cost of Lula and my Derri Lula. So what do you look for in Lula? First thing is, ideally, you want a Lula that leaves shake when you shake it a little bit. So, I'm talking to our Frenchman, and I'll have Sif Tess and Michel Burrow over there and Sif Cutten, and Memdallid essentially emerges at the Mahabhar hold that the Din of Na'Nu of shaking the Lula is that leaves rustle when you shake it. Ramad does not know that way, there are Maholds, shaking the Lula does mean the leaves rustle means pointing the Lula in Derri, it's not a shake, it's the pointing it out in that direction.

5:05We try to be Yotsay both, we point it out in the direction and we shake it. But ideally, to be Yotsay, the sheetal of Mahabhar will be good if you have a Lula that leaves rustle a little bit, but certainly that is not Mahakave. The Lula generally, we view the Lula in two parts, is the Shedra of the Lula of, and then there's the Tiamas. The Shedra is the spine, the hard, dark, woody part of the Lula of, from which the leaves grow out of. It's the spine of the Lula that faces you when you're shaking the Lula of, the Tiamas is the double-centered leaf. The leaf that comes out right in the middle that's a double-dove relief. Usually it's the tallest of the leaves, it's not always. Sometimes one of the side leaves is a little bit taller than the middle leaf, but it's always the center one. The center one is the Tiamas and that's going to be very important because we're going to discuss certain Halakhos of the Tiamas. So let's start with the Shedra though. There any psoon in the Shedra itself and the spine of the Lula.

6:07So the commander already tells us, the specials in order to pass this, that if it's bent in a way like a sickle, like a sea, shaped like a sea, then it's going to be puzzled. You will never see a Lula in a store and it's bent like a sea that the Shedra is bent like a sea because they have to fill into those long narrow boxes for shipping. So we'll never get to the store. It can't fill into the box if it's bent like a sea. So we don't have those psoolins. However, a chronum suggests that even if it looks bent, when you look at the Shari Chuvan, the coverage of my Maze, I've gotten a, says that even if when you first look at it, it looks bent, even though it's not literally totally bent over like a sea, you should try to avoid it. It does not have to be 100% perfectly straight where you have to put it up against the edge of a table or long tiles on the floor to make sure that it's 100% perfectly straight. That is not a psool at all. Is there a number? It has to look straight. It has to look like it's pretty straight. Even if it doesn't look like it's pretty straight, it looks a little bit bent and one direction

7:08and the other it's still gonna be kosher. But in order for it to be a mulludar, it should look basically straight. But to the naked eye, once you're already putting up against the side of a table or along the tiles of the floor, so then it's not to the naked eye anymore that's beyond what you need to do. A lul of that's bent in the direction of the holder. I mean, bent backwards is kosher, even though if it's very bent in that direction, it's certainly a problem of hider. The focus should be on the shedra and not on the lul of the general. A lot of times you'll have a lul of that will have all of its leaves on one side and very few leaves on the other side. So it looks bent because all the leaves are coming out in that way. You have to look at the shedra and not at there are a lot of optical illusions that could fool you when you're looking at the love of Manus Rogan. So don't be fooled by the optical illusions. Look at the shedra itself. That's the issue of what can't be bent, not the leaves. Now that's in terms of the shedra. In terms of the Tiamas, the Middle Leaf, there's a soul called Nistak. The ab soul is probably the one that's easiest to tell

8:10in of all the psalms in a lul of. Approximately according to this to Likhi Khatama, 20% of the love him, have a love that you'll see in a store. Have this soul of Nistak. The idea of Nistak is that it's cracked, lengthwise, and that could easily pass a lul of the way to check is holding it up to the light and seeing if light shines through right in the middle of the Middle Leaf. If light shines through, that means there's space there. And if there's space, that's a problem. So you just hold it up to the light bulb or to the sun and see if light comes through the Middle Leaf. The way not to check it is by using your hands to see if you could pull it apart and see, because by doing that, you will pass it. So and that's a major shilind in Manus. A guy selling a lul of, he's making a living. So granted, he could say, no, it's not any of them. It's because someone's gonna buy it anyway, because no one knows any of the luxuries on a problem. So then it's a dinner in the evening or something.

9:12It's some sort of problem. You don't wanna go past the lul of him that is still gonna be salt. There is a mychloca saposkin. How long the crack has to be in order for it to be a problem. In Tafresh, Mmei, Sif Gimul, and in the Meshubur over there, it quotes many dais when there is a psalm, how much of the crack is a psalm in this talk. Some cracks will not make the lul of psalm, but we still try to avoid any cracks as much as possible, because even if it's not yet psalm, the crack can extend a little bit more over the course of the antif and then it will become psalm. So as a rule, when you're going to buy your lul of, don't look if it's a tefa, achnada tefa. If you see a crack, don't buy it. Just avoid it entirely, because even if it's not psalm yet, it likely will become psalm very soon. There is another issue to look at on a lul of, and that is what we call the kura. The kura is that when the lul of is growing on the tree, it's covered with this brown substance. You see that yucky brown stuff on the lul of? So that's called the kura. As it dries, it sheds, and it doesn't look nice,

10:14it peels off the lul of, but it's not a halachic problem. It is cusher, even though there's peeling kura on the lul of. However, this is where it gets important. If that kura is running down, right down the seam of the teomas, right down the middle part of that middle leaf, where the double leaf is connected, and there's kura running right down the middle of it, it might be that the teomas is held together by that kura, which itself is not a problem, but because kura has a tendency to shed, then there's a concern that as soon as it sheds, the leaf is gonna fall right apart. The leaf is gonna be split, right down the middle, and then it will be possible. So as is with the kura there, the lul of is cusher. Sometimes the pickings are so slim, they have no choice but to by lul of that as kura down the teomas, and pray for the best, and hope that it sticks it out, and that it will stay there for as long as possible. But ideally, certainly, we try to avoid that, because if it goes away, you've been running to trouble.

11:16Then there's a psil-called hemnic. Hemnic means that if the teomas is open at the top, not just where there's a split, where the two middle leaves are apart from each other, but it's open at the top where it's shaped like a y at the top. The two parts of the middle leaf actually go out in different directions. So that's a psil-called a hemnic. It makes it look like there are two different tips to the lul of, so there are two criteria for the psil-of hemnic. Number one, the teomas has to be divided in order for it to be a hemnic. And number two, that division, that separation has to create the impression of dual tips. So a double tip to the lul of, and let's discuss this a little bit. There is a macho focus in the post-com. How wide the gap has to be in order for it to be a hemnic, in order for it to be a problem of dual tips. The more makkel shita, which is the shita de marcham, who's always a big makkel, and the shita de chazanesh, who's not always a big makkel, but they both agree on this issue.

12:16The more makkel shita allows for a very wide and long split, even perhaps as long as it's a tefach. And the most mach-mershita is the shita de marcham, brura, excuse me, that even a very tiny split could make it possible. If the split is not easily noticeable, it's not obvious that there are two tips. You can be sure that it's going to be cautionary even according to the marcham, brura. I mean, a hemnic has to be something that's very, very clear, that you see it right away. Now, when you look at the top of the lul of, you see the leaves are going in different directions. And when you see that, if you don't see that, then even according to the mission, brura, it's going to be fine. The longer you look, the wider the space is going to look. It's going to appear. If you look in it for a couple of seconds, and that's it, if you sit there examining for too long, the lower it looks like a much wider space. Then it can become this, that's also a problem. The reason another issue called NISTRAF,

13:19it's somewhat coming for the tip of the lul of to be brown or black because of exposure to the sun. Now, that is a problem of hidoor, but it's not a halakit problem in terms of the cashrus of the lul of. So if the tip is browned or black, and it's not something that's going to compromise the cashrus of the lul of. Then there's another episode when missioner talks about Niktam Rosho. Niktam Rosho is also somewhat uncommon. I mean that the top of the lul of is chopped off. Now, how do you know what was there and what wasn't there? So anytime the top of the lul of is unnaturally flat, that indicates that it must have been broken at the top. It shouldn't be a naturally fat. It should come to some sort of tip at the top of the lul of. Very often, if you have chura stuck at the top of the lul of, this could be a real issue. Sometimes you have this pointy piece of chura that sticks right up off the top of the lul of, don't buy that lul of because very often when that chura comes off, it will take off with it the very tip of the lul of also. Then the lul of will become Niktam Rosho and will be possible.

14:22So there's like this narrow pointy tip of chura at the top of the lul of. You're not going to want to buy that lul of. If you try to remove the chura at the top of the lul of, you will pass the lul of yourself. And again, not a good idea to do. It's not nice to do to the mohher. And to start peeling off the chura near the top of the lul of, whether it's pointy chura or not, by you peeling it off yourself, unless you know what you're doing and there are tricks that they have, what Q-tips and whatever, unless you know what you're doing, don't start breaking off tops of the lul of him because that will pass the lul of. Now, lul of a lot of times will have what they call a Kineppu. When the leaves at the top of the lul of turn down, that's called the Kineppu on the lul of. That's what the Yiddish term is. That the leaves instead of going straight up, like bends over and turns down. Now, the advantage of the Kineppu is that the leaves don't split as easily because it's held together by the bend in the top of the leaves

15:24so they're not going to split as easily. So, Sun Rishan was said that this is better because you're going to make sure the tiomas remain sealed. However, the Mishrabruh and Tafresh Memhey, so if you've gotten Mem, the Malath Membes, recommends that you should not buy a Kineppu beloved. Hasidim or Makapir on it, they'd do what with a Kineppu. And a lot of times in the litfish world, they're not going to have with a Kineppu. It does not pass, but let's just question what you want, al-Hakheela. Some people won't use anything even with a slight hook because they're worried that it's a problem of hider. Other people are going to avoid, you know, will only avoid it as a real strong hook all the way over because that's a real Kineppu, a slight twist to the side is not really a Kineppu. Also, sometimes the truth you've seen this, the tips of the luluf, sometimes are in the zigzag. That they go zigzag up the top instead of being straight or even just being split, there's zigzag together.

16:24That's not a Kineppu either. And that is perfectly kosher. However, very often with the zigzag leaves, they have other problems and will be split because those zigzag leaves more easily come apart, they're not sure why that's the case, but they more easily come apart from each other. And you likely end up with this stuck or even having a hammock if you have zigzag leaves. So it's just you've got to be very careful with the zigzag leaves. It's something in hider, something. Now, Khadhutsa, sometimes the luluf, the central leaf is not a double leaf. You have a luluf that the center leaf is only a single leaf. So that's the problem called Khadhutsa. That would pass. The thiomas has to be a double leaf. That's a definition of the word thiomas is that it's got to be a double leaf. If it's not a double leaf, that's called Khadhutsa. Most often a luluf with what seems to be a single,

17:28unfolded center leaf is in fact Khadhutsa or else the thiomas is completely split. And if it looks like one leaf, you can see that there's any character to that leaf that it's doubled over. So it's probably either Khadhutsa or it's been so split that you can't even tell that you have two halves of the double leaf that have just been completely split. In either case, it's going to be a puzzle, it's going to be a problem. Now, the double leaf doesn't have to be the exact same height. Two halves of the double leaf don't have to be exact same height or the exact same width. Sometimes it's folded over. It isn't double leaf, but one of them is wider than the other. One will stick out a little more than the other or one will stick up a little more than the other. That's fine. That's going to be kosher. And sometimes it's comforting because then you see that it's a double leaf. You're able to see with your own eyes. It's much easier to tell that it's a double leaf or one side sticks out a little more than the other. That is not a problem.

18:28Now, there is a puzzle called Yavesh. The puzzle exists on the books. It appears in the Mishnais. It appears in the Kamar. It appears in the Shulkhnarch. Does not appear in your local store, though. A lul of a Yavesh should have to be a lul of that is white. That's dried out to the point that it's white. They are not common at all. In fact, even the love that look white, it's an optical illusion. You're looking at it compared to all the other green and yellowish leaves around it. So it looks more white than it really is. More likely, it's really yellow. In this safer, again, he quotes from his rebbeer of double finestein, that Ravmocha Zatsel used to make a brocha on the same lul of. The same lul of for eight years straight. He would just hang in the Shulkh from year to year. Now, granted it was Russia. It wasn't easy to find lul of them. There aren't so many, we went through the countries where the love and grow. Russia's not one of them. They didn't have easy access to lul of them. But he made a brocha. In fact, he made a brocha.

19:28And it shows that he held that it wasn't possible. It wasn't even a shashpsel. If he was koshe, shash, it might have been possible. If he was a shash, it would have been possible. Then he never would have made a brocha on it. So it seems white mostly because of an optical illusion. Another thing that comes up very commonly on lul of, this time in a lul of she was going a little over 10 minutes. Another thing that comes up very commonly on lul of is you'll often see datsun on lul of or mold on lul of. Some lul of them have whitish dats that have gray all around it. They have tiny little gray rings all around it. That comes from that's a type of insect. Those are actually insects that live in a wax cocoon. And they won't pass lul lul of. But they'll continue to expand and grow and more of them will appear. And you'll have more and more dats. So there are ways to wash them off. You just have to be very careful when you do it. It's just going to be, it's just going to ruin the beauty a little bit, but it's not going to pass lul lul of. Every once in a while you'll have a lul of that will have mold on it,

20:31which is this ugly gray coating over the lul of. That also kosher, but certainly doesn't make for the most beautiful lul of the entire world. When examining a lul of, we'll close with this. So first of all, when looking for lul of, like I mentioned to you, first thing you do when you go to the store, go look for lul of them. Best thing to do is look in a box that hasn't been looked at yet. Because again, you're going to see. You go to stores, there are people pulling at the leaves and trying to find where the tea almost is. They're pass luling all the lul of them as they're doing that. So you don't want to go through a box that too many people have been through already, not because they picked out all the kosher ones, but because they pass lul of the kosher ones. Very, very likely they have not picked out all the kosher ones. But so go to that box first. Then examine one at a time. Don't try to pick up five lul of them. Look at them all at the same time. A, you're not going to be able to focus and B, you're not going to be able to hold it right. So you're likely going to pass lul them. Start looking at the top of the lul of first, because that's where the most common pursuit of are.

21:32That's where the only pursuit really are at the top of the lul of. So look at the top of the lul of first. So you could immediately, you know, you could immediately discard any, any, any love in that apostle. And you start looking at the bottom like, oh, nice leaves. And it looks like an eye shape. And then you get to the top and it's possible. So you just wasted your time. So you start at the top. If the leaf looks damaged or split or open, then just don't bother with it. You know, it's, it, it may be the evid, be cusher, you know, depending on the measurement and how split that, don't bother. If it's split, it's open, don't just put it back, not worth looking any further. And then you look at the TMS by following it up from the shidra. Meaning if you see that it looks like it's together, so follow up from the end of the spine and see where the middle leaf is and try to follow the middle leaf all the way up to, to the top. Do this with your eyes, not with your fingers. Again, it can't emphasize that enough. The best way to check if the TMS is open is like we said before, hold it to the light

22:32and see if any light shines through it. If it's open, the crack of light will shine through it. Pressing your fingers against the tip of the TMS is not a good idea. It's a very delicate tip and it can cause it to become, to become possible. So that's, that's essentially the alaqos of ala'u ala'u ala'u ala'u ala'u ala'u ala'u. OK? Good. That's for the left. Yeah.