It is good to tie the bunch of Sukkot branches together. Rabbi Yehudah even considers this a necessary requirement: the branches must be bound together. Thus, the material that you use to tie it together is part of the mitzvah. If so, it must be one of the same four species that you are tying – otherwise, you are adding to a mitzvah and taking together five species, and not four, and the Torah said, “Do not add to the mitzvot or subtract from them.”
However, Rabbi Meir says that the binding is not strictly required; thus, it is not a mitzvah, and the binding can be made of any material. In fact, the important people of Jerusalem were using golden threads. What does Rabbi Yehudah answer? The gold was on top of the branches for beautification, but the real binding was done with one of the four species, most likely a lulav leaf.
Similarly, Rabbi Yehudah permits to make sukkah only out of the same four species. His logic? Here it is: sukkah is more stringent than the lulav bunch since it applies both day and night, whereas lulav is only by day. Therefore, if the lulav bunch can have only one of the four species, the sukkah must certainly be made of the same materials. And what did the Sages answer? That this logic, seemingly strict, is, in fact, lenient and thus does not apply. If he does not have the right materials, he may ignore the sukkah and go live at home – which is unacceptable lenience; thus, the logic is incorrect.
Art: Branches with Almond Blossom By Vincent Van Gogh
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