For the source text click/tap here: Sukkah 44
To download, click/tap here: PDF
In our daf we the amoraim dispute the status of the aravah ritual.
According to both of these amoraim, the aravah ritual is attributed to the prophets. However, they dispute the exact nature of how it originated. According to one amora it seems to have been a formal institution enacted by the prophets, whereas according to the other amora, it was a custom, not a formal institution.
Rashi explains that the ramification for this dispute is whether one says a blessing over the aravah ritual.
On the last day of Sukkot, Hoshana Rabba, we beat a bundle of willow branches (actually one is enough) on the floor (SA OC 664:4).
We explore the (midrashic) meaning of this chavata and even the mythic theory of Dr Rabbi Zev Farber.