Siman 649 – Disqualifications

וChelek 6

73. All 4 species must belong to you on the first day of Sukos, as it is written (לכם) “lochem”. Therefore stolen is posul. However there are 3 scenarios that can make a stolen lulav – “lochem”:
    1. You pay for it before Sukos.
    2. If the owner gave up hope and then you received it from the thief, the lulav will belong to you – shinui reshus. But you need to put it down first and then pick it up for the mitzva – so it won’t be a mitzva that came through an avayra.
    3. The thief changed the branch physically so that it is now a proper lulav. It belongs to the thief but he still needs to pay for it. (ShA 1 – MB 3, 4, 5 – BeH “b’gazul”)
74. The beracha on the lulav is omitted in the above scenarios. We are machmir when it comes to the Name of Hashem. Nevertheless you were yotzay and do not need to do the mitzva again. (ShA 1 – MB 6)
75. Let’s say you are given permission from a gentile land owner to pick arba minim from his property. There is a concern that the property really belongs to a jew and the gentile has stolen it. If so, you would be considered now stealing the cut branches from the jewish landowner (since karka ayna nigzelles). Rather let a gentile do the picking. Now it’s no longer karka and all the above acquisitions kick in. When you now take it from the “thief”, you will own the species. What’s more, is that you can recite the beracha in this case. (Rama 1 – MB 9, 12)
76. The above concern is only l’chatchila. Bedieved, the species are kasher even if you picked them yourself. (MB 10)
77. Don’t cut species without permission. It’s stealing – even from a goy. (ShaH 9)
78. You can have a gentile binding the actual lulav with rings on top. There is a slight kapayda to bind the lulav to the other species by means of an adult jewish male. (MB 14)
79. If a gentile, a child, or a woman bound the species together, untie them and rebind them by yourself – if you can. (ShaH 15)
80. When “borrowing” someone else’s species on the first day, the owner should specify that he is giving them as a gift on the condition to be returned. This way you will fulfill “lochem”. Bedieved, if no one specified, it is assumed to be a gift unless the owner is unaware of the requirement of “lochem”. (ShA 2 – MB 15)
81. If you take someone’s lulav without permission it is not considered stolen since we assume that the owner is glad to have mitzvos done with his possessions. However it is considered borrowed and definitely not “lochem”. Therefore, on the first day of Yom Tov you won’t be yotzay. (Rama 5 – MB 33)
82. On Yom Tov Sheni in Chutz L’oretz, don’t say a beracha on a borrowed lulav. But if you can’t get another lulav easily, at least take this borrowed one. (ShA 5 – BeH “p’soolay”)
83. Taking someone’s lulav without permission is allowed on Chol Hamoed under the following conditions:
    1. The owner is not present to ask beforehand.
    2. There is no indication of the owner not wanting you to use it.
    3. Do not take it out of the building where you found it.
    4. Only take it once – not every day. (MB 34)
84. When taking someone’s lulav, you must assume that he does not want you to “lend” it to someone else. (MB 34)
85. An esrog chasayr (e.g. broken off pitam) is kasher after the first day as long as it still meets the minimum shiur and is not cut into pieces (meaning the main fruit is still intact). (Rama 5, 6 – MB 47)
86. The Shulchan Aruch paskens that disqualifications due to lack of “haddar” – like dry, spotted, and chazazis – are kasher after the first day. The Rama paskens they are possul all 7 days. If this is all you have, you can take a chazazis-esrog and even say a beracha. You can be maykil to say a beracha on other “haddar” deficiencies except for dry. Don’t say a beracha on dry species. (ShA 5 – Rama 5 – MB 48 – ShaH 53)
87. The following disqualifications apply all 7 days:
    1. worshipped for avoda zora
    2. tevvel
    3. orla
    4. less than the shiur
    5. grafted esrog. (ShA 5 – MB 45, 46)
88. You must expend tircha to find kasher minim for the first day. If none are to be found, take any possul species (except for stolen) without a beracha. On Yom Tov Sheni, you need not expend the tircha – just take the possul species without a beracha. (ShA 6 – MB 50)
89. A branch or fruit not from the 4 species (e.g. grafted “esrog”) should never be taken for the mitzva. People are liable to forget what the 4 species really are. (MB 53)
90. If you cannot find all 4 species, take the 2 or 3 that you can find and shake them without a beracha. The same goes for the shliach tzibbur. No one will forget that the real mitzva is with 4 species. (MB 53)
91. The p’sul of “dry” is different. Sometimes you can take all 4 species with a beracha even if they are dry. There are 4 cases:
    1. If there are no fresh species in the entire city, you can bless on completely dry ones.
    2. If there are perfectly fresh species in the city, you have no right to bless over your dry ones.
    3. If there are no real fresh lulavim and haddasim in the city anyhow, and your dry ones aren’t completely dry (i.e. they don’t crumble when you scratch them), you can bless on your dry ones, l’chatchila.
    4. If there are fresh species to be found, and you blessed upon your own dry ones that aren’t completely dry, you should take fresh species again without a beracha. (MB 56, 58)