(Times of Israel) – In the weeks following Pesach, Israeli-New Zealander Daniel Rosenbaum begins preparing for Succos, even though the Jewish holiday is still roughly six months away.

As the incoming chairman of the Wellington Jewish Community Center, Rosenbaum spends months dealing with the legal, regulatory and administrative steps required to bring the Arba Minim into New Zealand. The plants are used during Succos.

New Zealand’s Jewish population numbers only about 5,500 among the country’s roughly 5.3 million residents, but the community faces significant obstacles each year in obtaining the religious items needed for Succos. The difficulty stems largely from New Zealand’s exceptionally strict biosecurity regulations.

Because the country is an island nation with a vulnerable ecosystem, natural products such as plants, leaves and fruit are subject to stringent controls. The Arba Minim: the lulav, esrog, Hadasim and aravos, therefore face extensive restrictions when they are brought into the country.

This year, Rosenbaum is supervising the authorized importation of 14 sets for Jewish communities across New Zealand. Some of the sets will eventually be delivered to the Auckland Hebrew Congregation. The operation involves two teams: one handles legal and regulatory compliance, while the other is responsible for the actual import process.

“We have to go through the same rigmarole as a massive company, like one that brings in 1,000 tons of tomatoes from Spain,” said Rosenbaum.

The Wellington Jewish Community Center and Auckland Hebrew Congregation must each review their biosecurity management plans, submit those plans to New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries and undergo separate verification audits before receiving approval.

Government officials examine the procedures each community has established for receiving, storing and handling the Four Species. The ministry then determines whether the proposed safeguards adequately address biosecurity concerns or whether additional measures are necessary.

Every Leaf Must Be Accounted For

Anyone who handles the Arba Minim must receive specialized “staff training” covering the proper treatment of the restricted plant material. In Wellington, reminders about the rules are incorporated into the shul’s annual meeting and weekly newsletters as Succos approaches.

The Four Species are cultivated in Israel but travel to New Zealand through Australia, which has a much larger Jewish community. Before the shipment arrives, each shul’s biosecurity team prepares its facilities by placing notices at entrances informing congregants that they are entering an area operating under authorization from the Biosecurity Act.

Additional signs at exits warn congregants that the Arba Minim cannot be removed from the shul. The building is divided into secure and non-secure areas using green and red markings, and the plants must remain on the secure side.

That restriction extends even to the sukkah, where Jews in many other communities traditionally use the Arba Minim. In Wellington and Auckland, individuals are not permitted to take their own sets home. Instead, the shuls maintain custody of all the sets within their approved secure facilities.

The financial cost is also substantial. By the time the entire process is completed, even a basic Arba Minim set generally costs between $1,200 and $1,700. Comparable sets can cost as little as $40 in other Jewish communities around the world.

Yael Armitage, another member of the Wellington Jewish Community Center, assists with coordinating the complicated process.

“The sets are collected from the airport and transferred to the Wellington Jewish Community Center,” Armitage said. “A team at [the shul] opens the box, counts everything, and conducts a biosecurity and religious inspection. The sets intended for the Auckland Hebrew Congregation are selected, securely packaged in pest-proof packaging, and taken back to the airport for transfer to Auckland. Then, if all goes to plan, the sets are approved… and we all breathe a massive sigh of relief.”

Even Fallen Leaves Become a Biosecurity Matter

The restrictions do not end once the Arba Minim arrive at the shul. Any leaves or other plant material that falls from the sets must be collected and kept in a designated secure container.

After Succos, the material is returned to New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries. The government ultimately destroys all 14 sets as well as the leaves and other plant debris associated with them.

“We can’t toss them into a bin; we have to get [the government] to come and pick them up,” said Rosenbaum. “We wrap them up in layers of rubbish bags when they collect them.”

There are indications that the rules could eventually become less burdensome for New Zealand’s Jewish community.

“In 2023, the Ministry of Primary Industries let us know that they were starting work on revising the Import Health Standard for cut flowers and foliage, and they wanted to ensure that the lulav and hadassim species were in scope for the review,” said Armitage.

The Import Health Standard was subsequently revised in November 2025 to cover lulav and hadassim species imported from Israel.

That change, however, has not solved the central problem because the Arba Minim arrive as complete sets. The esrog and aravos are not currently covered by the permitted-flora list, meaning the community still faces major hurdles in bringing the full set into New Zealand.

“It doesn’t help us much until we can get an Import Health Standard for the esrogs, but because esrogs are citrus fruits, the risks are quite different,” said Armitage.

“The Ministry of Primary Industries needs data… on how etrogs are grown in Israel, what plant pests and diseases are present… how the esrogs are harvested, and how they are handled post-harvest — what phytosanitary treatments are applied to manage the risk of pests and diseases,” she said. “Without some basic information on this, the Ministry of Primary Industries cannot start work on an Import Health Standard.”

A Difficult Process With Religious Meaning

Despite the logistical challenges, those involved say the extraordinary effort required to bring the Arba Minim to New Zealand has given the mitzvah a deeper significance.

“It resets what you think of as hidur mitzvah,” said Rosenbaum, using the Hebrew term for going above and beyond to beautify the performance of a heavenly commandment.

“A number of people involved in this mitzvah are not necessarily observant themselves, but this is a mitzvah they really work hard at. The sheer size of the effort that goes into it means we have to be more aware of things that others might take for granted,” he said.