For the source text click/tap here: Bava Kamma 96
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The Gemara teaches that when one steals a Lulav from his friend and plucks off the leaves one by one from the spine, he thereby acquires the leaves because their name has changed. Originally, they were called a "Lulav" and now they are a different object, "Hutzei" (leaves).
Rav Papa asks, if one steals a Lulav and splits the "Tiyomes," does this also represent a change in the name of the object such that the thief acquires it?
The Gemara attempts to answer Rav Papa's question from a statement of Rebbi Matun in the name of Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi, who says that if the Tiyomes of a Lulav was removed the Lulav is invalid for the Mitzvah of Arba'as ha'Minim on Sukos.
The Gemara suggests that the law is the same if the Tiyomes was not removed but only split.
What exactly is a Tiyomes? The Rishonim and Acharonim discuss the definition of a Tiyomes at length. Some of their definitions are unclear, and thus there is additional discussion about what exactly they mean.
We explore the halachot of this curious split as well as the mythic meaning of the palm in different cultures.