Hadass (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: הדס, pl. ''hadassim'' - הדסים) is a branch of the myrtle tree that forms part of the

lulav ''Lulav'' (; he, לולב) is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the Four Species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other Species are the '' hadass'' ( myrtle), '' aravah'' (willow), and ''etrog'' (citron). When ...

used on the

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish holiday of Sukkot. Hadass is one of the Four species (''arba'ah minim''–ארבעת המינים). The others are the ''

'' (

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

frond), '' aravah'' (

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

), and ''

etrog Etrog ( he, אֶתְרוֹג, plural: '; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ', plural: ') is the yellow citron or ''Citrus medica'' used by Jews during the week-long holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and '' a ...

'' (

citron The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed throu ...

). Three ''hadassim'' are incorporated into the Four Species and are bound together with the ''lulav'' and ''aravah''. Together with the ''etrog'', the lulav is waved in all four directions, plus up and down, to attest to God's mastery over all creation, and to voice a prayer for adequate rainfall over all the Earth's vegetation in the coming year. The ''hadass'' grows in tiers of three leaves. According to the

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

, the most perfect ''hadass'' is one whose leaves grow evenly in each set of three.

References

*Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). ''The Book of Our Heritage''. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. . {{Authority control Sukkot Four species (Sukkot) Jewish ritual objects Myrtus Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law he:הדס#ההדס בארבעת המינים