Arbah Minim

This one's going to make more sense to those of you who are familiar with the lulav and the etrog, but I think it's kind of cool either way.

Last week, right before Sukkot, one of the teachers took a bunch of us to this shuk (outdoor market), which is one of many that are set up every year exclusively to sell the arbah minim (the four species in the lulav and etrog). There were maybe 20-30 vendors just selling those and the place was packed. You buy everything individually, and as I walked around I saw men (almost always men) at every stall checking each willow, myrtle, and palm branch to make sure he picked out the best, most kosher one to add to his lulav.

I didn't buy my willow that day, because the willow goes bad very quickly, and I wanted mine to look nice for the first day of Sukkot. When I went out just before Sukkot started to purchase it I wasn't sure where to go, but I had heard that people sell it all over the place. It ended up being kind of an adventure, because I didn't really know where I was going, but everyone I stopped on the street was very helpful and knew exactly where I should look.

It was kind of intimidating picking the whole thing out in those settings, but in the end my lulav looked fantastic, and it felt very personal to put the thing together myself.