Why the Egyptians were so adamant in their refusal to export
lulavim from el-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula remains a
mystery. One of the explanations offered is that it damages
the palm trees.
"Every date-palm tree has approximately 27 lulavim,
says Avi Biderman, an agronomist who owns a company that
provides consulting and management services for agricultural
projects. "If the lulavim are cut off the tree in
reasonable quantities there is no reason for the tree to
suffer harm. Cutting an excessively large number of
lulavim can damage the tree because the lulavim
that come out from the tree every year are essential for
fruit growth. About 3 lulavim per tree can be cut
annually without having to worry about causing damage to the
tree."
Biderman estimates el-Arish has tens of thousands of palm
trees. According to a rough calculation even if there are
only 50,000 palm trees in al-Arish, Egypt could supply
150,000 lulavim without harming the trees. Since there
are probably many more palm trees in al-Arish the real reason
for Egyptian import ban probably goes beyond the official
explanation given.
Biderman adds an interesting figure: "There are around 80-90
million date-palm trees around the world, which grow
primarily near water sources around the 30th parallel. Date-
palms are abundant in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf
and other places." Iraq has enormous quantities, he adds with
a smile. But Iraq is Iraq and the chances of obtaining a
million lulavim from Egypt are better than the chances
of obtaining a small quantity of lulav from the
turmoil in Iraq.
