Published: 1 October 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
NOMI KALTMANN: When New Zealand’s Jews finish Succot, their lulavs and etrogs are destroyed
AFTER SUCCOT ENDS, most Orthodox Jews keep their lulavs in storage until six months later; there is a custom to use the dried-out lulav as kindling on the eve of Passover, when Jews burn all their leftover leavened products. However, in one tiny Jewish community this has never been the custom.
In New Zealand, as soon as Succot is finished, all lulavs and etrogs are surrendered to the Ministry for Primary Industries, where they are destroyed with liquid nitrogen.
New Zealand has some of the tightest biosecurity laws in the world. There are huge signs at the airport noting that upon arrival, one must declare the presence of any organic material that is brought into the country: seeds, food, animal byproducts—even an apple you packed for the flight.
Bringing any organic material into the country without declaring its presence and obtaining permission can result in serious fines, or in severe cases, even jail.
New Zealand introduced the Biosecurity Act 1993 to ensure that the unique ecosystem can be maintained without fear of invasive and potentially damaging foreign species or plants being introduced. Accordingly, New Zealand’s biosecurity laws are notoriously strict and tough.
But these regulations pose a particular set of unique challenges for the Jewish community — an estimated 6,000 of the country’s 4.9 million residents.
FULL STORY Regulating the Lulav (Tablet)
Photo: Ultra-Orthodox Jews inspect Etrogs in the Ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, September 19 (EPA/Abir Sultan)
