Lulav Smuggling Abounds Ahead of Sukkot
Thousands of palm fronds have been smuggled from Egypt and have made their way to Israel and the United States, veteran palm frond traders said Monday, despite the Egyptian ban on their export ahead of the upcoming Sukkot holiday.
One of the traders told Haaretz that the palm fronds, which are known as lulavs in Hebrew and are used ceremonially in Sukkot, were transferred from Egypt via Jordan to Israel and Jewish communities in New York and other big cities in the U.S.
The lulav traders utilized long-existing ties with senior officials in Egypt, and succeeded to covertly purchase a large amount of lulavs. According to one of the traders in New York, a senior official in Cairo received $100,000 to aid in smuggling the palm fronds outside of Egypt.
The trader said that Egyptian farmers desired to sell lulavs to Israel, especially in light of the economic crisis that has recently fallen upon the country. According to him, there was no logical reason to bar the export of palm fronds to Israel other than anti-Israel sentiments.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
