{{Short description|Branch of myrtle tree in Judaism}} {{Distinguish|Hadas|Hadash|Hadassah (disambiguation)}} {{Italic title}} {{One source | date = January 2020 }} [[File:Hadassim2.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Three '''hadass''' branches, seen here in front of the lulav (middle), and the aravah branches in the back]]
'''Hadass''' (Hebrew: {{Script/Hebrew|הדס}}, pl. {{Lang|he-Latn|hadassim}} - {{Script/Hebrew|הדסים}}) is a branch of the myrtle tree that forms part of the ''netilat loulav'' used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Hadass is one of the four species ({{Lang|he-Latn|arbaʿath haminim}} – {{Script/Hebrew|ארבעת המינים}}). The others are the ''lulav'' (date palm frond), ''aravah'' (willow), and ''etrog'' (citron). Three ''hadassim'' are incorporated into the Four Species and are bound together with the ''lulav'' and ''aravah''. Together with the ''etrog'', the lulav is waved in all four directions, plus up and down, to attest to God's mastery over all creation, and to voice a prayer for adequate rainfall over all the Earth's vegetation in the coming year.
The ''hadass'' grows in tiers of three leaves. According to the Halakha, the most perfect ''hadass'' is one whose leaves grow evenly in each set of three.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ohr.edu/1861|title = The Laws of the Four Species by Rabbi Mordechai Becher}}</ref>
Hadass is also used as the "Besamim" or holy spices in some Sephardic and Mizrahi customs for Havdalah.
==References== {{Reflist}} *Kitov, Eliyahu (1978). ''The Book of Our Heritage''. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers. {{ISBN|0-87306-152-7}}.
== External links == {{Commons category|Hadas}} {{Sukkot}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Sukkot Category:Four species (Sukkot) Category:Jewish ritual objects Category:Myrtus Category:Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law