Hoshanganah Rabbah
Of the four species used on Succot, it is the lowly willow - seen to represent the Jew who has neither learning (aroma) or good deeds (flavour) - that is the symbol of the last day of the festival: Hoshanna Rabbah ("the great salvation"). By a similar token, the willow can also be seen to represent the parts of each of us that have been unmoved by the penitential atmosphere of the days of Awe. Hoshanna Rabbah is the time when even the willow finds salvation.
The S&P service for Hoshagnah Rabbah is beautiful and much of it recalls the services of the Days of Awe. While we pray sincerely, fast and read the penitential prayers for the whole day on Kippur, Hoshagnah Rabbah is perhaps more a symbolic acknowledgement that there are parts of our community - and of ourselves - that have ignored the days of awe, and that they too are in need of salvation.
The seven circuits
The hymns sung during the seven circuits draw heavily on the propitiatory prayers of Kippur, but in an almost optimistic and uplifting way.
The texts refer to seven biblical characters and link them with seven characteristics (wisdom, strength truth, etc.). Interestingly, these characteristics happen to be - in the correct order - the seven lower Sefirot (Divine attributes) which are central to kabbalistic teaching!
In the S&P "list of seven", the sixth character is Pinchas. Thus the list corresponds exactly to that in the Talmud Bavli, Tractate Derech Eretz Zuta,1:6: "With seven patriarchs covenants were made: Abraham [Gen. xv. 18], Isaac [Gen. xvii. 21], Jacob [Lev. xxvi. 421, Moses [Ex. xxxiv. 271], Aaron [Num. xviii. 19], Pinhas [Num. xxv. 12], David [Ps. lxxxix. 41]."
The kabbalists identified these seven characters with the seven lower Sephirot (Divine Emanations) and the poems we read during the curcuits make explicit reference to these; one of the few places in the S&P liturgy where kabbalistic tradition is so obviously followed. However kabbalistic tradition tends to replace the sixth character with Joseph, or at least add him, while the S&P tradition mentions Pinhas alone.
The seven circuits are musical and emotive and the service may take up to two-and-a-half hours.
Holding the Lulab during the Musaf Amidah
This is one of the distinctive S&P customs. Although we are particular not to hold anything that might distract us while saying the Amidah, with the exception of a prayer book, another exception specifically mentioned in Shulkhan Arukh is the lulab. To my knowledge the S&P are the only community who do this - throughout Succot - and I personally find it wonderfully inspiring to do so.
The permissibility of praying while holding a lulab is mentioned in Talmud Succah 41b:
תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בַּר צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר: כָּךְ הָיָה מִנְהָגָן שֶׁל אַנְשֵׁי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, אָדָם יוֹצֵא מִבֵּיתוֹ וְלוּלָבוֹ בְּיָדוֹ. הוֹלֵךְ לְבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת לוּלָבוֹ בְּיָדוֹ. קוֹרֵא קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע וּמִתְפַּלֵּל וְלוּלָבוֹ בְּיָדוֹ... מַאי קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן? לְהוֹדִיעֲךָ כַּמָּה הָיוּ זְרִיזִין בְּמִצְוֹת.
The mystery of the willow
There is something of a mystery about when and how the willow fronds are to be taken.
Both Abudarham and the Sépher ha-Manhig say that a separate willow (not the one from the lulab) was taken on Hoshaná Rabá but do not mention beating it on the floor. Rambam mentions it and calls it a custom of the prophets. Manasseh ben Israel (in Thesouro dos Dinim) has the willows beaten on the floor or benches "as a sign for a happy and joyful year" but he doesn't say at what stage in the service. So it would certainly seem to be an authentic Iberian custom.
Haham Moses Gaster in the first edition of his Tabernacles prayer book (1906) has the beating (on the floor or benches) at the beginning of the first circuit at 'Hoshangna'. The rubric does not appear before the remaining hakafot, but is not qualified, and possibly is intended for all of them.
"When the Minister says "Save us," the Congregation beat the willows branches on the floor or benches two or three times."
In his Preface Gaster explains:
"The Festival closes with the Hosha-gnana Rabba, the Great Hosha-gnana, when we beat the twigs of the willow tree; the leaves are falling one by one, with the days that pass, and the approaching winter denudes the trees of their adornment, to be clothes again in green foliage by the coming spring."
That lovely explanation of the symbolism may perhaps be an apologetic to justify its inclusion and and to guard against criticism that it is superstition.
In the revised Gaster edition of 1931 - produced during Gaster's lifetime - this rubric has disappeared, and it is omitted from all subsequent London editions of the prayer book. Could Gaster have 'restored' the old Iberian custom in the first edition and then been forced to remove it from the second?
I am told that in Amsterdam and New York while there are congregants who do it at the end of the service after Adon 'Olam, the rabbis, hazanim and officials do not join in, to emphasise that it is not part of the tradition.
In London ministers from Gibraltar and North Africa reintroduced the custom which is now unofficially observed by many of the congregation, and some of the children - who readily transform any ritual into a parody of itself if not provided with a decent explanation by the adults - turn it into a competition to see how few whacks it takes to get all the leaves off.
However, the kabbalistic insistence on taking five willow fronds, and that they must all be kosher as required for the mitzvah of arba' minim, and of tying them together, is not observed.
Hoshangana Rabbah Breakfast
After the morning service, a festive breakfast (or more accurately "brunch", since the morning service is a long one) is served in the succah. As this is usually the last proper meal to be eaten in the succah that year, it is a very special and emotive meal.
Hoshagnah Rabbah breakfast cannot be considered complete without Hameen Eggs (a.k.a. Hamindas). These brown hardboiled eggs are a central feature. Their mellow brown colour and slightly nutty flavour are an essential aspect of the occasion. Although throughout the year Hameen eggs are made by simply adding eggs to the meaty Shabbat Adafina (a.k.a. Hameen) while it slowly stews overnight - hence the name - on HR they are usually made in a non-meaty form, so they can be served at a dairy breakfast. In order to achieve the brown colour various traditional and non-traditional methods can be used, as described on the Hameen Eggs page.
