The New Hadas and the Old Mesorah

Rav Shmuel Havlin related that in one year there was a shortage of hadassim. A certain type of hadas was growing in many gardens in Yerushalayim, and it appeared to meet the requirements. It had three leaves at each level, and an expert horticulturalist confirmed that it belonged to the same genus and species as the hadas used for the mitzvah.

Only Rav Shlomo Zalman could rule on such a question, as a respected posek who did not avoid addressing modern technology and new developments. When the question was brought to him, he would not allow the new hadas. He explained that it was different from the one for which Klal Yisroel has a mesorah, a received tradition. Even if someone argued that the hadas we use today is the wrong one, we would still prefer it, because the new one has no mesorah. He said it was better for all of us to sit together with Klal Yisroel in Gehinnom than to sit alone in Gan Eden.