Today’s learning is

 Dedicated to Leslie Simpson, Paul Simpson, my dear Bubbles, and most of all to HaShem 

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 Summary 

We learned in the mishnah (24.4) “If the leaves are broken off, the lulav is possul. If the leaves are spread away from the center, it’s kosher. Rabbi Yehuda: It must be tied together and not allowed to spread out.”.

 Rav Papa: Broken off - means it’s like a broom, “chufya” (according to Rashi, they’re not connected to the ‘shedrah’, according to Tosfos, it means that each leaf was separated. There’s a third pshat that the leaves are drooping downward).

 Spread out - means that the leaves fan out. 

 Rav Papa inquired: What if the ‘tiyomes’ (the central twin leaf) is split? (According to Tosfos, and most poskim, it means that it’s split all the way down to the spine, some say that it means most of the leaves are split on top. Others say it means even the most minute split in the middle of the top leaf, and we try to follow this l’katchilal).

 Response: “Rabbi Yochanan quoting Rabbi Yehishua ben Levi: If the tiyomes is torn out, it is possul”. It seems that the same law would apply to a split tiyomes. 

 Response: Not necessarily. It could be that it is only possul when the tiyomes is missing entirely. 

 Ikka D’omri [Some say]: “Rabbi Yochanan quoting Rabbi Yehishua ben Levi: If the tiyomes is split, it’s as if it is torn out, and it is possul”. 

 Beraisa: Rabbi Yehuda from Rabbi Tarfon: The word kapos which is used by the Torah with regard to lulav to denote branches, can also mean tied together; this teaches that the lulav must be tied.” 

 Ravina to Rav Ashi: How do we know that Kapos Temarim refer to Lulavim? Perhaps it means the stage called Charusa when the leaves stiffen?

 Rav Ashi: Charusa can no longer be tied together, and the word kapos implies that it must be tied [even if we don’t accept Rabbi Yehuda’s view that it must be tied, it still should be capable of being tied]. 

 Challenge: Perhaps a block of wood from the trunk of the palm tree should be used [since it’s a block, it is certainly tied together as strongly as possible].

 Resolution: Something that can be tied together must have been loose, but a block is tied forever.