Despite the influx of 70,000 lulavim into Israel this week from Gaza, the Lulav Crisis of 5766 still threatens the Jewish tradition of waving lemons and branches around on Sukkot. Every year, Israeli markets sell over 500,000 kosher lulavim at this time of year, but sources estimate that a mere 300,000 will be on the market this year, due primarily to price speculating on the part of kosher lulavim growers in Egypt.
The scarcity of the ritual palm fronds have become a major political hot spot, as well, as border crossing policies come under question, and boycotts become an issue for some Sukkot-celebrating consumers who refuse to purchase lulavim from the now-independent Gaza Strip.
There are slight hopes that more of the valuable, and oh-so-swishy, fronds will arrive from Spain in time for the holiday, but these hopes fade fast as reports surface of lulavim shipments being lost at sea and even being stolen. Of course, rabbinical courts deny the ritual cleanliness of the latter shipments, as there are strict regulations against the use of stolen lulavim.
Happily, some religious authorities have begun thinking creatively about the problem, and have taken under serious advisement the use of canary palm lulavim in the place of the rare regular palm variety, in light of this emergency frond shortage.
Otherwise, there may well be many empty koisheklach on Sukkot in Israel, a land clearly so happy and at peace that they can afford to worry about the import rates of palm fronds.
No comments:
Post a Comment