by Rabbi Elozor Barclay and Rabbi Yitzchok Jaeger
Guidelines for circling the bima with the four species, and the special willow-beating on Hoshana Rabba.
1. What are hoshanos?
When the Temple stood, huge willow branches were brought and leaned against the altar during Sukkot. The shofar was blown and the kohanim would walk around the altar and recite the prayer 'hosha na' - "Please bring salvation." Then the people would come in and wave the aravot (willows).
On the seventh day of Sukkot (the last day of chol hamoed), these branches were brought even if it was Shabbat, and the altar was encircled seven times. To remember this mitzvah in the synagogue, we walk around the bima once each day and seven times on the seventh day of Sukkot (Hoshana Rabba).
2. What is the procedure for hoshanos?
The ark is opened and one of the congregants removes a Torah scroll and holds it at the bima. The introductory four verses are recited, and anyone who has a set of species holds them while standing still. While reciting the following paragraph the congregation circles the bima counter-clockwise once, holding the species in two hands.
On Hashana Rabba, all the Torah ...   more »

By Avi Issacharoff,
The Palestinian Authority will publicly call for the involvement of an international body to oversee the implementation of agreements with Israel on economic and political reforms in the PA, according to a senior Palestinian source.
The PA is expected to ask for such involvement during the peace summit scheduled to take place in the United States in November. According to the same source, who is involved in the negotiations with Israel and asked for anonymity, Israel is expected to accept the participation of a "third party" in the region.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio on Monday that Israel does not oppose Syrian participation in the peace summit.
"The coming weeks, during which [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas will conduct a dialogue, will dictate the nature of the conference. It is a mistake to agree on a list of things ahead of time," Livni said in an interview.
The foreign minister added that the diplomatic meetings and the upcoming summit will not bring an immediate solution to the situation in Gaza. "We will not close our eyes to what is happening in Gaza only because there is dialogue on the other ...   more »