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Does lulav require being bundled, or may the four species be taken separately? The shiur analyzes Sukkah 30b on the principle of "lulav ein tzorech agudah." If bundling is optional, how does the Gemara (גמרא)'s challenge from shomeir meis'ah make sense? The Rambam (רמב"ם)'s presentation of these halachos in Perek 7 (sections 6–9) raises fundamental questions about the order, din of right-hand vs. left, taking them individually vs. together, and the requirement that all four species be "mutzuyim etzlo."
This shiur focuses on Sukkah 30b and the halachos of taking the arba'ah minim (four species) on Sukkos (סוכות), specifically addressing the question of whether the lulav must be bundled together with the hadassim and aravos or whether they may be taken separately. The central Gemara (גמרא) principle discussed is "lulav ein tzorech agudah" – the lulav does not require bundling. However, this principle generates a series of difficulties. The shiur opens with a fundamental question on the Gemara's challenge from shomeir meis'ah (an item acquired through wrongdoing). The Gemara asks: if one took lulav through shomeir meis'ah, can one recite a berachah? The assumption underlying this question is that even though lulav ein tzorech agudah, if one took it as shomeir meis'ah, bundling would still be required. But the Gemara answers that there is no berachah because it is "acharei yeush" (after the owner despaired). Rabbi Zweig raises a more serious challenge: on daf 31a, the Gemara discusses a case of "gozel eitz v'sich v'chem" (stealing wood and building with it), where the halacha (הלכה) is that due to takanas hashavim (the enactment for penitents), one fulfills the obligation with the stolen item and even makes a berachah. How can this be reconciled with the principle that one cannot make a berachah on a mitzvah (מצוה) done through an aveirah?
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Sukkah 30b
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