Hadass

Not to be confused with Hadas, Hadash, or Hadassah (disambiguation).

Three hadass branches, seen here in front of the lulav (middle), and the aravah branches in the back

Hadass (Hebrew: הדס‎, pl. hadassim - הדסים‎) is a branch of the myrtle tree that forms part of the netilat loulav used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Hadass is one of the four species (arbaʿath haminim – ארבעת המינים‎). The others are the lulav (date palm frond), aravah (willow), and etrog (citron). 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, the most perfect hadass is one whose leaves grow evenly in each set of three.

Hadass is also used as the "Besamim" or holy spices in some Sephardic and Mizrahi customs for Havdalah.

References

• Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). The Book of Our Heritage. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 0-87306-152-7.