Mi Yodeya is a question and answer site for those who base their lives on Jewish law and tradition and anyone interested in learning more. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I’ve noticed that some congregations (generally nusach ashkenaz) recite Hoshanot after Musaf on Sukkot, whereas others (generally edot mizrach, nusach sefard, some Israeli nusach ashkenaz) recite them after Hallel.
What is behind this divergence in practice? What are the reasons to prefer one location to the other?
After Hallel -- more convenient, only picking up / putting down lulav one time. (Also works well on weekdays, as people may have to leave early to run to work.) There may be more "pure" reasons, of which I'm not aware.
After Mussaf -- Rav Moshe Feinstein has a responsum where he notes that the people of Jerusalem would walk around with their Four Species all day long; we want to show that this is a mitzvah we'd like to do all day, so we put it near the end of davening.
