What is the reason why we don’t take arba minim on Shmini Atzeres in Chutz La’aretz if the SA paskens to yes eat (and possibly even sleep in the Sukkah according to some poskim) albeit without a bracha?
Answer:
The Beis Yosef (651; 668) mentions that taking the minim on Shemini Atzeres is a zilzul to the Yom Tov, also stating that it is a ‘weekday matter,’ and also mentioning the issue of muktzeh. The idea that emerges from this is that Chazal did not wish to enact something that will be unfitting for Yom Tov.
It is also possible that the order of Sukkos is that on hoshana rabba we put down the lulav and esrog, and take the aravos (and beat them). If we would take the arba minim again on Shemini Atzeres, this would contradict everything we did on Hoshana Rabba, and ruin the internal order of mitzvos for the festival. Therefore, there is no enactment of taking the arba minim on Shemini Atzeres.
The arba minim were muktzeh all 7 days because it was huktzeh l’mitzvaso. Now on yom shimini it’s muktzeh because of sofek shvi’i/sofek shmini. But the whole muktzeh was because of the mitzvah, so how can that be a reason why not to take the arba minim on shmini atzeres? To say it’s a zilzul in yom tov or because it’s niker that one is being nohag minhag chol makes sense. But muktzeh is difficult to understand.
The Beis Yosef mentions muktzeh together with the matter of chol, and presumably his intention is not for the prohibition of muktzeh that forbids using a lulav for other matters, but to the Shabbos prohibition of muktzeh.
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