1 The rituals of the lulav and the aravah are for six or seven days; the Hallel and the rejoicing are for eight days; the sukkah and the water libation are for seven days; the flute is for five or six days.

2 “The lulav seven days.” How so? If the first day of the festival fell on Shabbat, the lulav is taken for seven days; on any other day, it is taken for six.

3 “The aravah seven days.” How is this? If the seventh day of the ritual of the aravah fell on Shabbat, it lasts seven days; if it fell on any other day, it lasts only six.

4 The mitzvah of the lulav, how was it carried out? If the first day of the festival fell on Shabbat, they brought their lulavim to the Temple Mount, and the attendants would receive them and arrange them on top of the portico, and the elders laid theirs in the chamber. And they would teach the people to say, “Whoever gets my lulav in his hand, let it be his as a gift.” The next day they got up early, and came to the Temple Mount and the attendants threw down their lulavim before them, and they snatched at them, and so they used to come to blows with one another. When the court saw that they reached a state of danger, they instituted that each man should take his lulav in his own home.

5 The mitzvah of the aravah, how was it performed? There was a place below Jerusalem called Moza. They went down there and gathered tall branches of aravot and then they came and stood them up at the sides of the altar, and their tops were bent over the altar. They then sounded a tekiʿah, a long blast, a teruʿah, a staccato blast, and again a tekiʿah. Every day they went round the altar once, saying, “Lord, save us! Lord, make us prosper.”Psalm 118:25 Rabbi Judah says: “Ani vaho, save us.” On that day they went round the altar seven times. When they departed, what did they say? “Beauty is yours, altar! Beauty is yours, altar!” Rabbi Eliezer said: they would say, “To the Lord and to you, altar, to the Lord and to you, altar.”

6 As was its performance on a weekday, so was its performance on Shabbat, except that they would gather them on the eve of Shabbat and place them in golden basins so that they would not become wilted. Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka says: they used to bring palm branches and they would beat them on the ground at the sides of the altar, and that day was called “the day of the beating of the palm branches.”

7 Immediately after beating the willows the children undo their lulavim and eat their etrogim.

8 The Hallel and rejoicing are on all eight days. How so? This teaches that one is obligated for the Hallel, for rejoicing and for honoring the festival on the last day, just as he is on all the other days of the festival.⁠a The sukkah is for seven days. How so? Once he finished eating his meal on the seventh day, he should not dismantle his sukkah, but he removes its contents from the time of minhah onward in honor of the last day of the festival.

9 How was the water libation performed? A golden flask holding three logs was filled from the Shiloah. When they arrived at the water gate, they sounded a tekiʿah, a long blast, a teruʿah, a staccato note, and again a tekiʿah. The priest then went up the ascent of the altar and turned to his left where there were two silver bowls. Rabbi Judah says: they were of plaster but they looked silver because their surfaces were darkened from the wine. Each had a hole like a slender snout, one being wide and the other narrow so that both emptied at the same time. The one on the west was for water and the one on the east for wine. If he poured the flask of water into the bowl for wine, or that of wine into that for water, he has fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Judah says: with one log he performed the ceremony of the water-libation all eight days. To the priest who performed the libation they used to say, “Raise your hand,” for one time, a certain man poured out the water over his feet, and all the people pelted him with their etrogim.

10 As it was performed on weekdays, so it was performed on Shabbat, except that on the eve of Shabbat he would fill a non-sanctified golden barrel from the Shiloah, and place it in the chamber. If it was poured away or uncovered, he would refill it from the laver, for wine or water which has become uncovered is invalid for the altar.