Festivals 2018 - The Date Palm 
Israeli Stamps issued August 2018

In ancient times, the Date Palm tree was a vital resource for the 
inhabitants of Eretz Israel and it became a symbol of success and 
prosperity. The Jews considered the date palm to be the perfect tree 
and wished for themselves that "the righteous bloom like a date palm" 
(Psalms 92:13).
The Talmudic midrash in Rabbah Genesis 41:1 explains the preferential 
status of the date palm tree and details the tree's good qualities: 
"As no part of the palm has any waste – the dates being eaten, 
the branches used for Hallel, the twigs for covering, the bast for ropes, 
the leaves for besoms and the planed boards for ceiling rooms – so are 
there none worthless in Israel".

The three products mentioned in the midrash that tie the date palm 
to the Sukkot festival are featured on the stamps in this series, 
and the other three products appear on the stamp tabs.

Lulav and Dates

On the first day of the Sukkot festival the Israelites were commanded 
to take the four species, as stated in Leviticus 23:40 – "On the first 
day you shall take the product of the citron trees, branches of palm trees, 
boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook". Tradition has conclusively 
identified the term "branches of palm trees" as the lulav (frond) that 
grows at the top of the date palm tree. The four species mitzvah includes 
blessing the lulav and the Talmud explains (Sukka 27:2) that one specifically 
blesses the lulav because it is the highest and most prominent of the 
four species. The Rabbah Leviticus midrash 20:12 equates the four species 
to different groups within the Jewish people and notes with regard to the 
palm frond that "it has flavor but no scent". The "flavor" refers of course 
to the sweet taste of the date fruit, which can be eaten as is or made into 
various other products. It is customary to identify the honey that appears 
in the list of the seven species in Deuteronomy 8:7-8 as honey that is 
derived from the date fruit.

Palm Fronds and Fibers

The leaves of the Date Palm were called by various names in different biblical 
sources. For example: "palm branches" (Leviticus 23:40 and "palms" (Nehemiah 8:15).
The midrash in Rabbah Genesis emphasizes the use of palm branches as 
covering for the huts (sukkot) in which the Israelites were commanded to dwell 
during the days of the Sukkot festival.

Strong fibers that were woven into rope grow in the base of the palm fronds. 

These ropes were use to make baskets, mats, etc. Talmud tractate Yevamot (102:72) 
mentions a "fiber sandal" and so the stamp tab features a sandal woven from palm 
fibers dating from the late Second Temple period that was found in archeological 
excavations conducted in caves in the Judean Desert.

Roofed with Palm Frond Bases

The trunks of felled date palm trees provided material for building houses and huts. 
The whole trunks served as pillars and the worked beams were used as the base for 
the ceiling. The palm frond bases, which are the thin stems where the date fruit 
grows, were woven to create sieves for sorting grains. The sieve shown on the 
stamp tab is from the Israelite Period (8th century BCE) and was discovered in 
archeological excavations conducted at the Kuntillet Ajrud site in the Sinai Desert.