Taking the ארבעת המינים — four species teaches a person how to hold blessing. The lulav, esrog, hadassim, and aravos are physical things. They come from the natural world. Yet on Sukkos, they become objects of mitzvah, lifted and moved before Hashem.

This mitzvah trains gratitude. A person does not only enjoy the harvest, the home, the sukkah, and the season. He takes the produce of the earth and uses it to serve Hashem. Joy becomes directed. The body holds the mitzvah, the mouth says the berachah, and the heart remembers Who gives blessing.

The mitzvah also teaches unity. Each species is different in shape, fragrance, taste, and appearance. Chazal see in them different kinds of Jews. Some have Torah, some have mitzvos, some have both, and some seem to have neither. On Sukkos, they are held together. No species fulfills the mitzvah alone.

Taking the ארבעת המינים — four species forms a person who can rejoice without becoming self-centered. He learns to hold beauty, blessing, community, and nature in his hands, and bring all of it before Hashem.

Rambam

• Source: Rambam, Sefer HaMitzvos, Positive Mitzvah 169; Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Sukkah V’Lulav 7:1–13.
• Rambam defines this mitzvah as the command to take the lulav in the Beis HaMikdash all seven days of Sukkos, and on the first day everywhere. He explains the identity of the four species and the basic way they are taken. Rambam’s framing shows that this mitzvah is a concrete act of Yom Tov joy, rooted in the Torah’s command to rejoice before Hashem.

Sefer HaChinuch

• Source: Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 324.
• Sefer HaChinuch explains that the mitzvah of taking the four species comes during the season of harvest, when people naturally feel joy over their produce. The Torah commands Israel to take beautiful and meaningful growths of the land so that joy is directed toward Hashem. The mitzvah teaches that blessing should not lead to pride. It should lead to gratitude and holy rejoicing.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Sukkah 29b–30a.
• The Gemara discusses invalid lulavim and the rule of מִצְוָה הַבָּאָה בַּעֲבֵרָה — a mitzvah that comes through sin. This teaches that the ארבעת המינים — four species must be taken through clean ownership and clean conduct. Joy before Hashem cannot be built from theft, corruption, or spiritual dishonesty.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Sukkah 34b–35a.
• The Gemara identifies the Torah’s four species: פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר — fruit of a beautiful tree as the esrog, כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים — palm branches as the lulav, עֲנַף עֵץ עָבֹת — branch of a braided tree as the hadas, and עַרְבֵי נָחַל — willows of the brook as the aravah. Chazal show that the mitzvah depends on precise mesorah — received Torah tradition.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Sukkah 37b.
• The Gemara discusses נַעֲנוּעִים — waving the lulav and explains that the movements relate to Hashem’s mastery over the directions and to protection from harmful winds and dew. The mitzvah is not only holding the species. It is a physical declaration that the whole world belongs to Hashem.

Gemara

• Source: Gemara Sukkah 41a.
• The Gemara explains that after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai established taking the lulav all seven days outside the Mikdash as זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ — a remembrance of the Temple. This preserves the memory that the full seven-day Torah mitzvah was lived most completely before Hashem in the Mikdash.

Vayikra Rabbah

• Source: Vayikra Rabbah 30:12.
• The Midrash teaches that the four species represent different kinds of Jews. The esrog has taste and fragrance, the lulav has taste, the hadas has fragrance, and the aravah has neither. Hashem says they should be bound together, and through their unity they atone for one another. The mitzvah becomes a picture of Klal Yisrael held together before Hashem.

Tanchuma

• Source: Midrash Tanchuma, Emor 19.
• Tanchuma connects the four species to the joy of Sukkos and to Israel’s closeness with Hashem after judgment. Taking them shows that Israel emerges from the Days of Awe with confidence and joy. The mitzvah gives that joy a visible form in the hands.

Rashi

• Source: Rashi on Vayikra 23:40.
• Rashi identifies each of the four species according to Chazal: פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר — the esrog, כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים — the lulav, עֲנַף עֵץ עָבֹת — the hadas, and עַרְבֵי נָחַל — the aravah. His explanation anchors the mitzvah in the Oral Torah. The pasuk cannot be fully practiced without the mesorah that defines its words.

Ramban

• Source: Ramban on Vayikra 23:40.
• Ramban explains that taking the four species is tied to rejoicing before Hashem during Sukkos. The mitzvah takes the natural joy of the harvest and brings it into holy service. The species are not decorations. They become a Torah act of joy, gratitude, and standing before Hashem.

Ibn Ezra

• Source: Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 23:40.
• Ibn Ezra explains the plain meaning of the four species as plants chosen for the festival’s rejoicing. His reading highlights the natural beauty of the mitzvah. The Torah uses the physical world to awaken joy before Hashem, showing that creation itself can serve holiness.

Sforno

• Source: Sforno on Vayikra 23:40.
• Sforno explains that the command to take the four species belongs to the joy of Sukkos after the gathering of produce. The person takes from the blessing of the land and rejoices before Hashem. This keeps abundance from becoming self-focused and turns harvest joy into avodas Hashem.

Rabbeinu Bachya

• Source: Rabbeinu Bachya on Vayikra 23:40.
• Rabbeinu Bachya explains the four species as carrying layers of meaning connected to the human body, the unity of Israel, and praise of Hashem. The mitzvah gathers the powers of a person into one act. Hands, heart, mouth, and body are all drawn into rejoicing before Hashem.

Chizkuni

• Source: Chizkuni on Vayikra 23:40.
• Chizkuni explains that the four species are taken specifically at the season of harvest joy. The Torah commands a person to rejoice before Hashem with the produce and growth of the land. This shows that blessing must be held with awareness of its Source.

Kuzari

• Source: Kuzari 3:5.
• The Kuzari explains that sacred times shape the soul through concrete mitzvos. The four species fit this system because Sukkos joy is not left as a feeling. It is formed through action, objects, time, and community. The mitzvah teaches the body how to rejoice before Hashem.

Maharal

• Source: Maharal, Chiddushei Aggados, Sukkah 37b.
• Maharal explains that the movements of the lulav express Hashem’s rule over the entire world. The person waves in different directions because all directions are under Divine mastery. The mitzvah turns physical motion into a declaration that creation is gathered back to Hashem.

Ran

• Source: Ran, Derashos HaRan, Derush 6.
• Ran explains that the festivals shape national memory and direct the joy of Israel toward Hashem. The four species express this by giving festival joy a public and physical form. Israel does not rejoice as a private collection of individuals. The nation rejoices together before Hashem.

Rashba

• Source: Rashba, Teshuvos 1:752.
• Rashba discusses details of the four species and their halachic identity. His approach shows that the mitzvah depends on defined Torah forms. Beauty and joy matter, but they must be shaped by halacha. Only the species as Chazal define them become the mitzvah of Sukkos.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 651:1.
• Shulchan Aruch rules how the four species are held: the lulav with the hadassim and aravos in the right hand, and the esrog in the left hand. This gives the mitzvah its practical form. The species are not only present. They are held together as one mitzvah-act.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 651:5.
• Shulchan Aruch rules that one blesses before taking the lulav, and that on the first day one also says Shehecheyanu when appropriate. The berachah frames the act as commanded service, not a seasonal custom. The hands take the species, and the mouth declares the mitzvah before Hashem.

Shulchan Aruch

• Source: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 652:1.
• Shulchan Aruch rules that the mitzvah is performed during the day, not at night. This connects the mitzvah to the visible joy of the festival. The four species are taken in the light of day, as part of the lived celebration of Sukkos.

Rema

• Source: Rema, Orach Chaim 651:1.
• Rema records the practice of binding the lulav together with hadassim and aravos and arranging them according to custom. This gives the mitzvah dignity and order. The species are not held casually. They are prepared as a proper cheftza shel mitzvah — object of mitzvah.

Mishnah Berurah

• Source: Mishnah Berurah 651:1–12.
• Mishnah Berurah explains the practical details of holding, binding, and positioning the four species. His discussion helps preserve the mitzvah’s form. Each species must be present and properly held, because the unity of the mitzvah depends on all four parts.

Chasam Sofer

• Source: Chasam Sofer, Derashos, Sukkos.
• Chasam Sofer presents the four species as a way of bringing the joy of Sukkos into the service of Hashem. After judgment and atonement, Israel takes the lulav and esrog with confidence. The mitzvah shows that joy is strongest when it is held before Hashem, not kept for the self.

Netziv

• Source: Netziv, HaEmek Davar on Vayikra 23:40.
• Netziv emphasizes that the mitzvah is connected to rejoicing before Hashem. The four species are not merely signs of the harvest. They are instruments of avodah — service. A Jew takes what grows from the land and turns it into a movement of gratitude and praise.

Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch

• Source: Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Vayikra 23:40.
• Rav Hirsch explains that the four species represent the natural world brought under Hashem’s command. The mitzvah teaches that nature, beauty, growth, and harvest are not separate from Torah. They are lifted into service when the Jew holds them before Hashem.

Malbim

• Source: Malbim on Vayikra 23:40.
• Malbim highlights the Torah’s exact language in naming the species and commanding joy before Hashem. The mitzvah joins precision and feeling. A person must take the correct species, and through them express the correct joy: joy directed toward Hashem.

Meshech Chochmah

• Source: Meshech Chochmah on Vayikra 23:40.
• Meshech Chochmah reads the four species as part of the Torah’s effort to sanctify physical blessing. At the harvest season, a person could feel independent. The mitzvah places the produce of the land into his hands and directs it upward, teaching that all growth belongs to Hashem.

Rav Kook

• Source: Rav Avraham Yitzchok HaCohen Kook, Olat Re’iyah, Sukkos.
• Rav Kook teaches that Sukkos reveals a broad joy that embraces nature, holiness, and national life. The four species express this joy through living growth. The mitzvah gathers the beauty of creation and lifts it into the song of Israel before Hashem.

Tanya

• Source: Tanya, Likutei Amarim, Chapter 46.
• Tanya teaches that Hashem’s closeness awakens love and joy in the Jewish soul. Taking the four species gives that closeness a physical expression. The Jew holds the mitzvah in his hands, showing that love of Hashem should enter action, not remain only in feeling.

Sfas Emes

• Source: Sfas Emes, Sukkos 5635.
• Sfas Emes teaches that the four species gather different forces into one bond before Hashem. Each species has its own quality, yet the mitzvah is fulfilled only when they are joined. This teaches that holiness comes when divided parts of life are gathered into unity.

Kedushas Levi

• Source: Kedushas Levi, Derushim L’Sukkos.
• Kedushas Levi presents the four species as signs of love and closeness between Hashem and Israel. After the Days of Awe, Israel takes the lulav with joy, like a child showing closeness to his Father. The mitzvah turns festival joy into an act of beloved relationship.

Shem MiShmuel

• Source: Shem MiShmuel, Sukkos 5672.
• Shem MiShmuel explains that the four species gather scattered spiritual powers and direct them toward Hashem. The lulav, esrog, hadassim, and aravos represent different forms of growth, and their joining teaches inner integration. The mitzvah helps the soul gather itself after the intensity of Tishrei.

Ramchal

• Source: Ramchal, Derech Hashem 4:8:3.
• Ramchal explains that each מוֹעֵד — appointed time carries a spiritual influence that returns each year. Sukkos brings an influence of protection, joy, and Divine closeness. Taking the four species aligns the person with that light through a physical act of joy before Hashem.

The mitzvah of the four species belongs to Sukkos, the festival that follows Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. After judgment, return, and atonement, Israel enters joy. The sukkah gives that joy a home, and the ארבעת המינים — four species give that joy a form held in the hands.

The Torah commands taking the four species “on the first day,” and then speaks of rejoicing before Hashem for seven days. Chazal explain that the Torah mitzvah applies all seven days in the Beis HaMikdash, while outside the Mikdash it applies from the Torah on the first day. After the destruction, Chazal established taking them all seven days as זֵכֶר לַמִּקְדָּשׁ — remembrance of the Temple.

This mitzvah is connected to Mitzvah 117, dwelling in the sukkah. Together, they shape Sukkos as a festival of trust and joy. The sukkah surrounds the person with Hashem’s shelter. The four species are held and lifted before Hashem. One mitzvah places the person inside holy space; the other places holy joy in his hands.