Need help rigging a single object to expand, contract, and rotate on a scale.

I’ve got plenty of experience with Blender, but this is the first time I’ve actually touched anything related to rigging / animation. I’ve modeled a plastic clapper toy, and want to rig it so that it can actually “clap” by rotating around the X-axis. Both of the hands (Or leaves in my case) are single objects down to the joint piece. I wanted to know if I can make the base of the joint stay in the same place, while having everything above the joint piece rotating on the X-axis to simulate the toy’s clapping. If not, will I have to separate the “joint” and the “leaf” as separate objects to allow this to happen?

Also, I’m sorry that I had to use Gyazo images. Last time I posted pics, they didn’t go through. Plus, my snipping tool is missing for some reason :confused: