Tzefas Chief Sephardi Rabbi HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu is calling on rabbonim not to give a hechsher on lulavim imported from Gaza. The rav explains that giving a hechsher to such lulavim ignores the plight of southern Israeli residents as well as aiding the enemy.

The rav released a kol korei stating: “I call on all my fellow rabbis not to give Hechsheirim to the lulavim from Gaza. There are enough lulavim originating in Israel, and we have to help the Israeli farmers and not the Gazan farmers or their brothers or sons in burning the fields of Jewish farmers in the south.

“Whoever pays for a lulav from Gaza pays money to the wicked of Gaza,” says Rabbi Eliyahu, adding that “every shekel in the hands of the Jewish seller [used to purchase a lulav from Gaza] comes in part to these wicked people.

“It is forbidden to buy a thread to a shoelace from them,” continues Rabbi Eliyahu. “It is forbidden to buy from people who fire missiles and rockets at Sderot, Ashkelon or Beersheva, and we must not buy from those who dig tunnels designed to kidnap soldiers or harm kindergartens.

“The whole concept of the Arba Minim is a brotherhood and partnership between all the different types of Jews, so we divide the four species and tie the esrog to the lulav, to the hadassim and aravos, and we cannot fulfill the mitzvah of the lulav by ignoring our brothers in the south. It’s a small effort that should be made, especially for the yomtov of Sukkos,” he concludes.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)