The Mishnah taught that a stolen or a withered palm-branch is invalid to fulfill the commandment of If its top is broken off or its leaves detached from the stem, it is invalid. If its leaves are merely spread apart but still joined to the stem at their roots, it is valid. Rabbi Judah taught that in that case, one should tie the leaves at the top. A palm-branch that is three handbreadths in length, long enough to wave, is valid. The Gemara explained that a withered palm branch fails to meets the requirement of because it is not (in the term of ) "goodly." Rabbi Johanan taught in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that a stolen palm-branch is unfit because use of it would be a precept fulfilled through a transgression, which is forbidden. Rabbi Ammi also stated that a withered palm-branch is invalid because it is not in the word of "goodly," and a stolen one is invalid because it constitutes a precept fulfilled through a transgression.