4805 —נטילת ארבעת המינים ברחוב – אין לבטל מצוה ודאית מחשש ספק

B"H, 3 Marcheshvan, 5717

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In reply to your letter of Wednesday, in which you ask about the good custom of many Jews who bring merit to the public in the mitzvah of taking the Four Species — which, as our Sages expound in Vayikra Rabbah, chapter 30^[1], is the very sign that "we have won," for a good and sweet year in all matters.

You ask: in the street, among the crowds of passers-by, there is surely reason to fear that within eyesight there is a handbreadth uncovered in a woman, her hair or her leg, etc. It follows that they transgress a Torah prohibition when they make the blessing^[2], while the blessing and the taking, at least on the other days, are only rabbinic^[3].

Understandably, I was most astonished at such a question: that they should cancel a certain rabbinic mitzvah because it is possible that the person blessing will, at the time of the blessing, find the above in front of him and facing him, etc. This is not the place to dwell on the details of the laws — that in a number of cases it is permitted even just by closing one's eyes, and all the more so when one turns one's face away, etc. — as explained, with the sources cited, in the later authorities on Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, siman 75^[4]. See also the Responsa of the Tzemach Tzedek, Even HaEzer section, siman 139, and in the Shaar HaMiluim there, siman 45, and in his novellae on the Talmud on Berachos, chapter 3^[5].

Fortunate is the lot of all who bring merit to the public in this mitzvah. As is known, our Sages explain its allusions^[6]: the four species include all the Jewish people, with no exception. Just as it is impossible to fulfill the mitzvah at all without the esrog, which has taste and fragrance, so it is literally impossible to fulfill this mitzvah at all without the aravah, which has neither taste nor fragrance.

With blessing,

In the name of the Rebbe shlita

Secretary

Notes

[1] Vayikra Rabbah, chapter 30 (ויקרא רבה פ"ל): Vayikra Rabbah 30:2 — a parable of two who come before a judge, and no one knows who won; the one who goes out holding a token of victory is the winner. So the Jewish people and the nations come before Hashem on Rosh Hashanah, and when the Jews go out with their lulavim and esrogim in hand, we know that they have won.

[2] A Torah prohibition (לאו דאורייתא): the questioner argued that in the street, within eyesight, there are certainly women not dressed modestly, and one may not make a blessing facing them; in his view this is a Torah prohibition.

[3] Only rabbinic (רק דרבנן): outside the Beis HaMikdash the Torah obligation of the Four Species is only on the first day; on the other days of the festival it is rabbinic, in remembrance of the Mikdash (Sukkah 41a).

[4] Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, siman 75 (שו"ע או"ח סי' ע"ה): and its commentaries; there, se'if 1: if he closes his eyes, or is blind, or it is night, it is permitted.

[5] Responsa of the Tzemach Tzedek (שו"ת אדמו"ר הצמח צדק): Even HaEzer 139; Shaar HaMiluim there, 45; and Chiddushei HaTzemach Tzedek on Tractate Berachos, chapter 3 (Mi SheMeiso).

[6] Its allusions (הרמזים שלה): Vayikra Rabbah 30:12 — the esrog, with taste and fragrance, is like Jews who have Torah and good deeds; the aravah, with neither, is like Jews who have neither Torah nor good deeds. Hashem says: let them all be bound in one bundle, and they will atone for one another.

Summary

This letter rejects the claim that offering the Four Species to passers-by is wrong because immodestly dressed women may be in view during the blessing. A certain mitzvah is not cancelled for a mere possibility; closing the eyes or turning away often suffices. Like the aravah, every Jew is needed for the mitzvah.