Sukkah 44 - Ten saplings, willow, and water
Ten saplings, willow, and water are laws never written down in the Torah, representing rules taught to Moses on Sinai. What do they mean?Every seventh year in Israel, there is Shmita - no plowing or harvesting is allowed (there are different opinions on how it applies nowadays). Moreover, one should stop plowing his field thirty days before Shmita. Ten saplings, however, are an exception. If his field has ten saplings per 2,500 square feet, he can continue plowing until the beginning of Shmita because the saplings will die without this plowing.
The water libation was performed on all seven days of Sukkot. It accompanied the morning sacrifice in the Temple. Usually, wine was poured during the sacrifice, and the Levites would start a song. But on Sukkot, the water was poured in addition to that, and it generated unheard of excitement.
Art: The Harvesters by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
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