Save Your Species
For those who might be wondering what to do with your lulav and etrog now that Sukkot is coming to an end, here are a few suggestions to extend the beauty and the ritual of the festival beyond the boundaries of its eight days.
- Leave your lulav to dry out and use it on Pesah in place of the feather to search for hametz. This is a nice way to tie together the two festivals. Don’t forget to take it out of the plastic bag – I made that mistake and enjoyed the scent of mildewed lulav in my closet.
- Let your lulav dry out and use it as part of the skhakh for next year’s sukkah. (But I imagine it will take many, many lulavim to cover a whole sukkah.) This would be a good idea for next year’s sukkah city.
- The classic post Sukkot use for your etrog is to fill it with cloves and use it instead of a spice box for havdalah. Full disclosure – this has never worked that well for me when I’ve done it, but it’s fun and kid friendly.
- Zest the etrog and use the zest for a nice etrog pound cake. You will also need a little lemon or lime zest to enhance the flavor.
- This year I am trying to make etrog vodka which is fun but not kid friendly. It takes a while to “ferment” so I’ll let you know on Hanukkah how it comes out.
P.S. These suggestions apply this year because it is NOT a Sabbatical year. Produce from a sabbatical year is treated in a unique way. The next Shemittah year will be 2014-2015.