Hello Rabbi. Could you give me a few mystical rituals for Hoshana Rabbah? Thanks for always answering my question and have a happy Festival. This really strengthens me.
Answer:
Greetings.
1. There is a segulah that a person should take the willow branches (aravot) that he banged on Hoshana Rabbah when he travels, because it guards him when he is on the road. (Menorat Ha-Meor Ner 3 Rule 4)
2. Keeping the willow branches that he banged on Hoshana Rabbah is a segulah to be saved from fear (Kaf Ha-Chaim 644:60 in the name of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav in Sefer Ha-Midot).
3. Anyone who suffers from fears and bad dreams at night, should put the above-mentioned willow branches in a pillow that he will be sleeping on. (Yafeh Lalev Vol. 2 644:15)
4. Placing the lulav and the other species at the entrance of one’s home is a segulah for protection. (Yafeh Lalev ibid.)
5. Some people make a jam from the etrog and serve it at the table on Tu B’Shvat. It is a segulah for an easy birth. (Piskei Tshuvot 644:7)
6. Rabbi Ovadya Yosef wrote in his book Chazon Ovadya on Sukkot (page 403): “It is a well known fact that the etrog that I recited a blessing over during the festival and fulfilled the commandment with, was divided by my family among women who had still not given birth 8-12 years after they married. They gave each woman a piece of the etrog, and that year they gave birth to boys and girls, may they all live long. The merit of a commandment done properly is that it will shield a person a thousand times over.” He also writes that one shouldn’t eat the etrog on Hashona Rabbah since it is forbidden because he had used it for the commandment, but after Simchat Torah one may eat it.
Wishing you a joyous festival,
Hillel Meyers