Timeless Torah

Discover the difference between the aravah of the Four Kinds (whose purity is slightly tainted by association) and the aravah of Hoshana Rabbah (whose crystalline simplicity is still zealously preserved).  read more »

In addition to the aravah (willow) that is taken together with the lulav, esrog and hadas, as one of the Four Species, there is another Sukkot observance that involves the willow branch. This is the mitzvah of aravah, observed in the Holy Temple by surrounding the altar with willow branches on Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of Sukkot, and which we today commemorate with a special procession around the synagogue’s center platform (Bimah).  read more »