You should take the lulav, together with the bundle, the stem [spine] of the lulav facing you—in your right hand, and the esrog in your left hand.¹ you have not fulfilled your obligation and you must take them again with two hands as prescribed. According to Mishnah Berurah we should be stringent and follow this ruling but another berachah should not be said. (Mishnah Berurah 651:15) As in all mitzvos, you must say the berachah on the lulav before performing the mitzvah. You must also hold the esrog in the manner it grows, that is, that the stem from where it was cut off the tree should point downward and the pitam [knob on top] upward. Therefore, when you pick up the esrog before saying the berachah, you should hold it upside down, with the stem facing upward and the pitam downward, in order not to fulfill the mitzvah² there is another option—to have in mind that you are not fulfilling the mitzvah until you have them all in your hand. Vilna Gaon writes that this is the best way. (Ibid 651:25) before saying the berachah. Then, while standing, you should say the berachah Al netilas lulav [Concerning the taking of the lulav]. (Because the lulav is taller than any of the other species, it is considered more important, and the entire bundle is called by that name.) On the first day of Sukkos you should also say Shehecheyanu.³ on the first day, you may say it on any of the other days. (Ibid 651:29) If the first day of Sukkos occurs on Shabbos, when we do not take the lulav, then you say Shehecheyanu on the second day. After the berachah you turn the esrog around,² there is another option—to have in mind that you are not fulfilling the mitzvah until you have them all in your hand. Vilna Gaon writes that this is the best way. (Ibid 651:25) and holding it close to the lulav, so that there is no separation between them, you wave [the species]⁴ together—which is sufficient for the fulfillment of the mitzvah—you should also perform the waving (or shaking) of the Species in the same manner. (Ibid 651:49) towards the four points of the earth, in this sequence: East, South, West, North, up and down.⁵ congregations is: straight ahead (i.e., east), right (south), back (west), left (north), up and down. The generally followed manner of waving is to stretch out the arms and shake the bundle enough to rustle the leaves of the lulav, and then draw the bundle close to the chest and shake again. This procedure is repeated three times in each direction. (Ibid 651:47) When waving during Halleil and during the Hoshanos, you should also be careful to hold the esrog close to the lulav, so that there is no separation between them. If you did it in the opposite manner, and took the esrog with the right hand and the lulav with the left hand you should take them again, without saying the berachah.

footnotes: ¹ If you take both of them in one hand, according to some poskim ² According to Beis Yosef ³ If you did not say the berachah Shehecheyanu ² According to Beis Yosef ⁴ In addition to holding the Four Species ⁵ It is preferable to face east while waving the Species. The sequence followed in most Ashkenaz

A left-handed person should take the lulav with his "right" hand, which is everyone else's left hand, and the esrog with his [so-called] "left" hand. If he did it in the opposite manner he should take them again without saying a berachah. A person who is ambidextrous is considered as any [right-handed] person.

It is proper to take off the tefillin before taking the lulav in hand, or at least remove the strap from your hand, so that nothing intervenes between [your hand and the esrog.] It is also proper to remove the rings from your fingers.

The order of the waving in Halleil is as follows: There are six words in Hodu [Give thanks] besides the Name Hashem; and at each word you should wave in a different direction; but when saying Hashem, you should not wave. At Hodu you wave towards the East (straight ahead), at ki towards the South (right), at tov towards the West (back), at ki towards the North (left), at le'olam,—upward; at chasdo, —downward.⁶ which is South (right), North (left), East (straight ahead), upward, downward, West (back). There are also different customs regarding the verses at which the congregation waves the lulav. The Chazzan waves only at Hodu and at Yomar na Yisrael. The congregation waves each time they say Hodu.⁷ of the Halleil and also at Ana Hashem Hoshiah na. (Ibid 651:41) At Ana, both the Chazzan and the congregation wave only when saying Ana Hashem hoshiah na, [Please Hashem, save now!] But since this verse has only three words besides Hashem, you should wave at each word in two directions. In the Hodu at the conclusion of Halleil both the Chazzan and the congregation wave again. When waving downward you should lower only your hands, while the lulav and the other species should remain [in an upright position] the same way they grow. People who have the custom to turn the lulav downwards should not change their custom. It is not necessary to turn your face in the direction in which you are waving; you should only point the top of the lulav, [in that direction]. You do not have to wave the lulav forcefully, just shaking it slightly to rustle the leaves is sufficient.

footnotes: ⁶ Many congregations have adopted the custom of the Ari Zal ⁷ If you are praying individually (not with a congregation) you wave only at the first and last Hodu

It is forbidden to eat before fulfilling the mitzvah of lulav. If you are traveling and anticipate to arrive at a place where there is an esrog and a lulav; or people who live in small villages, [and must wait until] an esrog and lulav is sent to them, must wait until midday, but no later, because it is forbidden to fast longer than that on Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed. If you feel faint and cannot wait until noon, you may have something to eat before; but if you do not feel faint you should be stringent and abstain from tasting any food.

You are permitted to replace the lulav in water on Yom Tov, and add water to the vessel [in which it is placed], but you may not change the water. However, on Chol Hamoed it is a mitzvah to change the water for the purpose of keeping the lulav fresh and beautiful. It is customary to buy fresh aravos on each day of Chol Hamoed, for the lulav; for thereby you enhance the beauty of the mitzvah.

It is forbidden to inhale the fragrance of the hadassim during the seven days of Sukkos, even on Shabbos. But you may inhale the aroma of the esrog on Shabbos, and you should say the berachah Hanosein rei'ach tov bapeiros, [Who places a good aroma into fruit]. But on the other days of Sukkos, you should not smell it, even when you are not taking it to fulfill the mitzvah, because it is halachically doubtful whether you should say a berachah on it. It is forbidden to handle the lulav on Shabbos, even if you need the lulav itself or the space it occupies, because it is muktzeh. However, since you are permitted to smell the esrog, it is not muktzeh, and you may handle it. And you are permitted to put it back in the cotton where it was kept before Yom Tov, because it already absorbed the fragrance. However you should not place it in new cotton or in a garment, because you are creating fragrance in the garment, [which is forbidden on Shabbos].

On the first day of Sukkos, you cannot fulfill the mitzvah with a lulav and other species that were borrowed, but they must actually belong to you, for it is written, "And take for yourself on the first day." (Leviticus 23:40) And [our Rabbis] expound "For yourself" means "from that which is yours," which excludes a borrowed [lulav or other species] Those living outside Eretz Yisrael who observe Yom Tov two days, because of a doubt [about the date], even on the second day should not say a berachah [over a borrowed lulav]. If someone gives you his lulav as a gift, on condition that you return it, it is considered [halachically as] a gift and you may fulfill the mitzvah with it. Even if he gives it to you unconditionally for the purpose of fulfilling the mitzvah, it is considered as if he had expressly stipulated⁸ 649:15) that he is giving it to you as a gift on condition that you return it. If the husband is not at home and the wife wants to give the lulav to someone to fulfill the mitzvah, the validity depends on the judgment of the husband's disposition, whether or not he would mind.

footnotes: ⁸ In a case where the donor does not know that you cannot fulfill the mitzvah unless it is considered completely yours, you cannot fulfill the mitzvah unless he expressly gives it to you as a returnable gift. (Ibid

If people joined to buy an esrog and the other species [in partnership], we presume that they bought it with the understanding, that when it is time to perform the mitzvah, each partner would transfer his share to the other.⁹ writes that it is nevertheless better for each partner to actually say that he is giving his share to the person who is fulfilling the mitzvah. (Ibid 658:32) Therefore, it is customary for the congregation to buy an esrog, and the entire congregation fulfills the mitzvah with it,¹⁰ 658:40) and whoever can afford it must contribute to the "esrog fund." Still, it is better to fulfill the mitzvah with an esrog belonging to an individual, if all his species are superbly beautiful, because an individual's transfer of ownership is more effective.

footnotes: ⁹ Mishnah Berurah ¹⁰ Here too, it is best that an announcement be made that each person gives his share to the one fulfilling the mitzvah. (Ibid

On the first day of Sukkos¹¹, this law applies to the second day of Sukkos as well. (Ibid 658:23) minor children should not be permitted to take the lulav and esrog before the adults have fulfilled the mitzvah, for a minor can acquire an object but cannot transfer ownership, according to Torah law.

footnotes: ¹¹ To those living outside Eretz Yisrael

On all the days of Sukkos, after the Musaf service,¹² custom. The Sephardic custom is to say the Hoshanos after the Halleil service. it is customary to carry a Seifer Torah to the bimah. The Ark remains open until the conclusion of the Hoshana service, when the Seifer Torah is returned to the Ark. All men who possess an esrog and lulav circle the bimah, where the Seifer Torah is held, while the Hoshanos are recited. Each day they circle the bimah once. But on the seventh day [of Sukkos] which is Hoshana Rabbah, all the Sifrei Torah are removed from the Ark and brought to the bimah. The bimah is circled seven times, in remembrance of the Beis Hamikdash, where each day [of Sukkos] they would circle the altar once and on the seventh day, seven times. The hakafos (circuits) should be made, [starting] to the right. Since the Seifer Torah is on the bimah, and the entire congregation must turn towards the Seifer Torah on the bimah before beginning the hakafah, their right side thus faces North; therefore, the circle moves in a northerly direction. A person who owns an esrog and lulav and does not encircle the bimah manifests poor conduct. In some communities it is customary on Hoshana Rabbah and Simchas Torah, after they remove all the Sifrei Torah from the Ark, to place a burning candle in it (to indicate that Torah is light, and when the Torah is not there, another light is needed). This is not a proper custom and should be abolished, for it is forbidden to use the Holy Ark for secular purposes, even temporarily.

footnotes: ¹² This is according to the Ashkenazi

On Shabbos no circuits are made because even in the Beis Hamikdash they did not circle the altar [on Shabbos]. Therefore, a Seifer Torah is not brought to the bimah, but the Holy Ark is left open until after the Hoshanos are said.

A person who becomes a mourner on Sukkos, or a mourner during the twelve months after the death of his father or mother, according to custom, should not encircle the bimah, but he should give his esrog and lulav to someone who does not own a lulav, to circle the bimah.