Etrog#Biblical references

File:Etrog5812.jpg, with pitam and gartel (ridge around the center)]]

Etrog ({{langx|he|אֶתְרוֹג}}, plural: {{transliteration|he|etrogim}}; Ashkenazi Hebrew: {{transliteration|he|esrog}}, plural: {{transliteration|he|esrogim}}) is the yellow citron (Citrus medica) used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the lulav, hadass, and aravah, the etrog is taken in hand and held or waved during specific portions of the holiday prayers. Special care is often given to selecting an etrog for the performance of the Sukkot holiday rituals.{{cite web | url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-calabria-rabbis-and-farmers-continue-a-2000-year-old-etrog-tradition/amp/ | title=In Calabria, rabbis and farmers continue a 2,000-year-old etrog tradition | the Times of Israel | website=The Times of Israel }}

Etymology

The romanization of the Hebrew as etrog from Sephardi Hebrew is widely used. The Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation is esrog or esrig. It has been transliterated as etrog or ethrog in scholarly works.[http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html#acid The Citrus Industry] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308005736/http://lib.ucr.edu/agnic/webber/Vol1/Chapter4.html#acid |date=March 8, 2008 }} The Hebrew word is thought to derive from the Persian name for the fruit, wādrang, which first appears in the Vendidad.{{sfnp| Moster | 2018 | p= 24 }} Related words are ({{langx|fa|ترنج|toronj}}) and {{langx|tmr|אַתְרוּגָּא|ʾaṯruggā}}.{{Cite news |title=Jerusalem Dig Uncovers Earliest Evidence of Local Cultivation of Etrogs |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-02-02/ty-article/jerusalem-dig-uncovers-earliest-evidence-of-local-cultivation-of-etrogs/0000017f-e3c2-d568-ad7f-f3ebc5440000 |access-date=2022-10-10}} It has also made its way into Arabic as {{Script/Arabic|أُتْرُجَّةِ}} utrujjah notably in a hadith collected in the Sahih Muslim.{{cite book |last1=Stetkevych |first1=Suzanne Pinckney |title=Reorientations: Arabic and Persian poetry |date=1994 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0-253-35493-5 |pages=131–133}}[https://sunnah.com/muslim:797a Hadith no. 288], Book 6 of the Sahih Muslim. via Sunnah.com A rare Aramaic form, eṯrungā ({{lang|arc|אֶתְרוּנְגָּא}}), is significant because it retains the alveolar nasal sound (as indicated by the nun) of wādrang, also observable in the English word 'orange'.{{sfnp | Moster | 2018 | p= 25 }}

Taxonomy

In Modern Hebrew, etrog is the name for any variety or form of citron, whether kosher for the ritual or not. In general usage, though, the word is often reserved to refer only to those varieties and specimens used ritually as one of the four species. Some taxonomic experts, like Hodgson and others, have mistakenly treated etrog as one specific variety of citron.{{Cite journal |last=Nahon |first=Peter |date=2015-06-01 |title=Les Agrumes d'Intérieur : des variétés historiques aux essais actuels |url=https://www.academia.edu/13165498 |journal=Fruits Oubliés}}{{cite web|url=http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/ethrog.html|title=ethrog|website=www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu|access-date=2008-04-15|archive-date=2015-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608215246/http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/ethrog.html|url-status=dead}} The various Jewish rites utilize different varieties, according to their tradition or the decision of their respective posek.

Biblical references

{{Blockquote| On the first day you shall take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. | Leviticus 23:40, New Revised Standard Version}}

While the biblical phrase peri eitz hadar ({{lang|he|פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר}}) (translated above as "fruit of majestic trees") may be interpreted or translated in a number of ways, the Talmud derives that the phrase refers to the etrog.

{{multiple image

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| image1 = PikiWiki Israel 7435 menorah in maon mosaic.jpg

| alt1 = Original mosaic of ancient Maon Synagogue

| caption1 = Original mosaic of ancient Maon Synagogue (before the 6th century CE), depicting etrogim at the base of a menorah.

| image2 = PikiWiki Israel 28228 Mosaic in Or Torah synagogue.JPG

| alt2 = Replica of Maon Mosaic

| caption2 = Replica of Maon Mosaic in Or Torah Synagogue. A similar replica is placed at the yard of Yad Ben Zvi.

| image3 = P1110901_(7112818305).jpg

| alt3 = Ancient Mosaic of Beth Alpha Synagogue

| caption3 = Ancient Mosaic of Beth Alpha Synagogue, depicting etrog alongside a lulav, shofar and a menora.

| image4 = Hammat054.jpg

| alt4 = Musaic of ancient Hamat Tiberias Synagogue

| caption4 = The four species near a Shofar and Menorah, also found in the ancient Hamat Tiberias Synagogue.

| image5 = Segment_of_synagogue_mosaic_floor_from_Tiberias_at_Eretz_Israel_Museum_in_Tel_Aviv.jpg

| alt5 =Ancient mosaic of Tiberian Synagogue

| caption5 =Ancient mosaic of Tiberian Synagogue, today in Eretz Israel Museum.

| image6 = Barkokhba-silver-tetradrachm.jpg

| alt6 =Bar Kokhba silver coins

| caption6 =Bar Kokhba silver coins depicting lulav and etrog.

| image7 =Lulav and etrog on coin.jpg

| alt7 =Replica of another coin of Bar Kokhba

| caption7 =Replica of a coin of The First Jewish-Roman War depicting lulav and two etrogim.

| image8 = Bar Kochba coins.jpg

| alt8 =Bar Kokhba silver coins

| caption8 =Bar Kokhba silver coins depicting lulav and etrog.

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In modern Hebrew, hadar refers to the genus Citrus. Nachmanides (1194 – c. 1270) suggests that the word was the original Hebrew name for the citron.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} According to this view, the word etrog was introduced over time and adapted from Aramaic. The Arabic name for the citron fruit, itranj (اترنج), mentioned in hadith literature, is also adapted from Aramaic.

Historical cultivation

Etrogim were extensively cultivated in the Holy Land at the time of the Second Temple, and images of etrogim are found at many archaeological sites of that era, including mosaics at the Maon Synagogue, Beth Alpha Synagogue, and Hamat Tiberias Synagogue. At all of those sites, the etrog is depicted alongside other important religious symbols, like the shofar or menorah. The etrog is also found on numerous Bar Kokhba coins.

Archaeological evidence for Citrus fruits is limited, as neither seeds nor pollen are likely to be routinely recovered in archaeology.{{cite book |last1=Fuller |first1=Dorian Q. |last2=Castillo |first2=Cristina |last3=Kingwell-Banham |first3=Eleanor |last4=Qin |first4=Ling |last5=Weisskopf |first5=Alison |title=Charred pummelo peel, historical linguistics and other tree crops: Approaches to framing the historical context of early Citrus cultivation in East, South and Southeast Asia |url=https://books.openedition.org/pcjb/2173 |website=AGRUMED: Archaeology and history of citrus fruit in the Mediterranean : Acclimatization, diversifications, uses |series=Collection du Centre Jean Bérard |publisher=Publications du Centre Jean Bérard |language=en |date=15 January 2018|isbn=9782918887775 }} The earliest evidence of etrogim in Israel is the 2012 discovery of citron pollen from the second century BCE in excavations at the Ramat Rachel site.[http://www.greenprophet.com/2012/07/ramat-rachel-etrog-tree/ First evidence of the etrog tree in Israel]

[http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jerusalem-dig-uncovers-earliest-evidence-of-local-cultivation-of-etrogs-1.410505#acid Jerusalem dig uncovers earliest evidence of local cultivation of etrogs]

=In diaspora=

After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, exiled Jews planted citron orchards wherever the climate allowed: in Southern Europe (Spain, Greece, and Italy) as well as in North Africa and Asia Minor. Jews who settled north of the warmer citron-growing areas depended on imported etrogim, which caused much anxiety given the dangers and uncertainties of sea travel. By the seventeenth century, some of the most popular sources for etrogim were the islands of Corsica and Corfu.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Since the late 1850s, the Fruit of the Goodly Tree Association in Mandatory Palestine represented etrog farmers who marketed their crops to Jews in Europe. Some Jewish communities still preferred citrons from Italy, Greece, Morocco, or Yemen, but many Jews seeking citrons turned back to Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel.

American Jews continue to import the majority of their holiday etrogim from Israel, except during shmita when there are halachic complications in exporting the produce of Israel. The only commercial grower of etrogs in the United States is John Kirkpatrick, the former chairman of the Citrus Research Board, on a ranch in the town of Exeter in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Kirkpatrick, who is not Jewish, began growing etrogs in 1980 following a phone call with Yisroel Weisberger, an employee at a Judaica store in Brooklyn. In 1995, Weisberger's brother, Yaakov Shlomo Rothberg, became involved in the operation and has since become Kirkpatrick's business partner. {{As of|2010}}, Kirkpatrick has 250 etrog trees and produces 3,000 suitable etrogs per year, with 9,000 that do not qualify due to halakhic requirements.{{Cite news |date=2011-10-12 |title=America's Only Etrog Farmer Isn't Even Jewish |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/etrog-man |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Tablet Magazine}} While there are other growers in California, such as Inga Dorosz and David Sleeth in the town of Gorda near Big Sur, these are not rabbinically supervised and are therefore not kosher.{{Cite web |last=Wall |first=Alix |date=2016-10-14 |title=The elegant, elusive etrog: Growing the symbol of Sukkot in California |url=https://jweekly.com/2016/10/14/the-elegant-elusive-etrog-growing-the-symbol-of-sukkot-in-california/ |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=J. |language=en-US}}

Cosmetic requirements

=''Pitam''=

File:Etrog diagram.jpg properties of an etrog]]

A pitam or pitom (Hebrew: {{Script/Hebrew|פיטום}}; plural pitamim) is composed of a style (Hebrew: "{{Script/Hebrew|דַד}}" dad), and a stigma (Hebrew: "{{Script/Hebrew|שׁוֹשַׁנְתָּא}}" shoshanta), and usually falls off during the growing process. An etrog with an intact pitam is considered especially valuable, but varieties that naturally shed their pitam during growth are also considered kosher. When only the stigma breaks off, even post-harvest, the citron can still be considered kosher as long as part of the style has remained attached. If the whole pitam, i.e. the stigma and style, are unnaturally broken off in their entirety, the etrog is not kosher for ritual use.

= ''Pitam'' preservation technique =

Many more pitamim are preserved today due to an auxin discovered by Eliezer E. Goldschmidt, emeritus professor of horticulture at the Hebrew University. While working with the picloram hormone in a citrus orchard, he unexpectedly discovered that some of the Valencia oranges found nearby had perfectly preserved pitamim. Citrus fruits, other than an etrog or citron hybrid like the bergamot, usually do not preserve their pitam. On the occasions that they do, their pitamim tend to be dry, sunken and very fragile. In Goldschmidt's observation, the pitamim were all fresh and solid like those of the Moroccan or Greek citron varieties.

Experimenting with picloram in a laboratory, Goldschmidt eventually found the correct "dose" to achieve the desired effect: one droplet{{clarify|reason=how does a droplet compare to a drop?|date=December 2014}} of the chemical in three million drops of water.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2441301|title=Style Abscission in the Citron (Citrus medica L.) and Other Citrus Species: Morphology, Physiology, and Chemical Control with Picloram|author1=Goldschmidt, E. E.|author2=Leshem, B.|year=1971|journal=American Journal of Botany|volume=58|issue=1|pages=14–23|doi=10.2307/2441301|jstor=2441301 |url-access=subscription}}

Purity

In order for a citron to be kosher, it must be neither grafted nor hybridized with any other species. Only a few traditional varieties are therefore used. To ensure that no grafting is performed, preferred plantations are kept under strict rabbinical supervision.

=Genetic research=

File:Citron Balady Etrog Simanim.jpg

The citron varieties traditionally used as etrog are the Diamante citron from Italy, the Greek citron, the Balady citron from Israel, the Moroccan and Yemenite citrons.

A general DNA study was conducted by Eliezer E. Goldschmidt and colleagues which tested and positively identified twelve famous accessions of citron for purity and being genetically related.[http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/40/7/1963.full.pdf+html Search Authentic Citron] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126201137/http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/40/7/1963.full.pdf+html |date=2019-01-26 }}

A brief documentation of this study could be found at the [http://www.lal.ufl.edu/societies/ISC/gcgn/Appendix_9.PDF Global Citrus Germplasm Network] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410153921/http://www.lal.ufl.edu/societies/ISC/gcgn/Appendix_9.PDF |date=2008-04-10 }}.

The fingered and Florentine citrons, although they are also citron varieties or maybe hybrids, are not used for the ritual. The Corsican citron fell into disfavor but has recently been reintroduced for ritual use.

=Selection and cultivation=

In addition to the above, there are rabbinical indicators used to distinguish pure etrogim from possible hybrids. These traditional indicators have been preserved by continuous selection performed by professional farmers.Article by Professor Goldschmidt, published by Tehumin, summer 5741 (1981), booklet 2, p. 144

The most accepted indicators are: 1) a pure etrog has a thick rind, contrasting with its sparing pulp segments which are also almost dry, 2) the outer surface of an etrog is ribbed and warted, and 3) the etrog peduncle is somewhat buried inward. By contrast, a lemon or different citron hybrid is missing one or all of the specifications.Letter by Rabbi Shmuel Yehuda Katzenellenbogen of Padua from the mid-16th century, printed in Teshuvat ha'Remo chapter 126.

A later and not as widely accepted indicator is the orientation of the seed. In a pure etrog, the seeds are oriented vertically, unless crowded by neighboring seeds; in lemons and hybrids, the seeds are oriented horizontally even when they are not crowded.Shiurey Kneseth Hagdola and Olat Shabbat, cited by Magen Avraham, Orach Chaim chapter 648, comment 23

The etrog is typically grown from cuttings that are two to four years old. The tree begins to bear fruit about four years after planting the cuttings.Chiri, Alfredo. (2002). [http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/alfredo-sep02.htm Etrog] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050404130602/http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/alfredo-sep02.htm |date=April 4, 2005 }} If the tree is germinated from seed, it will not bear fruit for about seven years, and there may be some genetic change to the tree or fruit.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sunkist.com/products/growing_packing.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017033439/http://www.sunkist.com/products/growing_packing.asp|url-status=dead|title=Sunkist Website|archive-date=October 17, 2007}}

Customs

File:EtrogC.jpg) next to its etrog carrier]]

To protect the etrog during the holiday, it is traditionally wrapped in silky flax fibers and stored in a special decorative box, often made from silver.{{Cite web|url=https://reformjudaism.org/saga-citron|title=The Saga of the Citron|website=Reform Judaism}}

After the holiday, eating the etrog or etrog jam is considered a segula (efficacious remedy) for a woman to have an easy childbirth.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cCWnRJg9S_IC&q=segulah&pg=PA134 |title=Expecting Miracles: Finding meaning and spirituality in pregnancy through Judaism |first=Chana |last=Weisberg |year=2004 |page=134 |publisher=Urim Publications |isbn=9657108519}} A common Ashkenazi custom is to save the etrog until Tu BiShvat and eat it in candied form or as succade, while offering prayers that the worshipper merit a beautiful etrog next Sukkot.{{cite web |title=Redirecting... |url=http://www.aish.com/tubshvat/tubshvatinterests/Lchaim_to_the_Trees.asp |url-status=dead |website=www.aish.com |access-date=2008-01-31 |archive-date=2020-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301024223/https://www.aish.com/tubshvat/tubshvatinterests/Lchaim_to_the_Trees.asp }} Some families make jam or liqueur out of the etrog or make a pomander by inserting cloves into the skin for use as besamim at the havdalah ceremony after Shabbat.

Etrogim grown in Israel are not classified as food and are therefore not recommended to be eaten due to the large amount of pesticides used in their agriculture.{{Cite web|date=2011-10-24|title=זהירות: למרות הסגולות מסוכן לאכול ריבת אתרוגים|url=https://www.srugim.co.il/24682-%d7%96%d7%94%d7%99%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%9c%d7%9e%d7%a8%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%94%d7%a1%d7%92%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%9e%d7%a1%d7%95%d7%9b%d7%9f-%d7%9c%d7%90%d7%9b%d7%95%d7%9c-%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%91%d7%aa|access-date=2020-09-29|website=סרוגים|language=he}}

Gallery

File:PikiWiki_Israel_9435_Rabbi_Bergman_examines_a_students_citron.jpg|Rabbi Bergman re-examines an etrog for a student

File:Rabbi dov.jpg|Rabbi Dov Landau inspecting an etrog

File:Etrog_at_the_Market_of_the_4_Species_at_Bnei_Brak.jpg|Balady citron in Bnei Berak market

File:Yellow_Etrog.jpg|Yanova etrog for sale

File:חתך אורך קלבריה.jpg|Cross section of Diamante citron, to check for genetic purity

File:Yanove_Fruit.jpg|Mature fruit of Yanover etrog

File:Braverman_68.jpg|Cross section of Braverman etrog

File:Teimani.JPG|Cross section in Yemenite citron

File:OrdangCross.jpg|Cross section of Greek citron

File:Kibilevitz_cross.JPG|Cross section of Balady citron

File:MoroccanWSeeds.jpg|Cross section of a Moroccan citron

File:Two_citrons.JPG|Yemenite citron (left) and a Balady citron (right)

File:Citron_(8448513463).jpg|Cross section of variety etrog citron, and in fingered citron.

File:Etrog without Pitom.jpg|Diamante citron without pitam

File:Etrog with Pitom.jpg|Diamante citron with pitam

File:Sukot 1.jpg|Inspecting an etrog for flaws

File:Etrog1.jpg|Inspecting a Yemenite citron

File:Etrog_plants_at_kfar_chabad_with_growing_etrogs.JPG|Shmita in Kefar Chabad, orchard left untended

File:Etrog_plants_at_kfar_chabad.JPG|Young plants in Kefar Chabad

File:Etrog temani 33.JPG|Yemenite citron on tree

File:Etrog01.jpg|Etrog covered with cloves

File:Flickr_-_U.S._Embassy_Tel_Aviv_-_Sukkot2011No.029.jpg|Four species market in Tel Aviv

File:PikiWiki_Israel_15578_etrog.jpg|Pitam close-up

File:Etrogflower.jpg|Etrog blossom

File:V05p261002 Etrog.jpg|Etrog tree from Jewish Encyclopedia

File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - An Etrog.jpg|Man in Mea Shearim inspecting etrog

File:Gartel.JPG|Moroccan etrog with prominent gartel

File:THE HOLIDAY OF SUCCOT IN JERUSALEM.jpg|At Western wall

File:Laubhüttenfest.jpg|German painting

File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Bnei Brak.jpg|Two Hasidim in Bnei Berak

File:PikiWiki Israel 227 ks-13- 392 בדיקת כשרותם של אתרוגי גן-שמואל.jpg|Old photo of grower

File:אתרוג 1.png|An etrog from many angles

File:Etrogschale.jpg|Round silver etrog box

File:Cidra_fruto.JPG|Etrog with half-dried pitam

File:Citrus medica 'Ethrog' - Etrog citron.jpg|Etrog plants in nursery

File:Citrus medica leaves.jpg|Etrog leaves

File:Cidra flor.JPG|Citron (etrog) flowers

File: Etrog_Box_designed_by_Rabbi_Joseph-Meyer_Elefant_in_the_1950s.jpg|Silver etrog box designed by Rabbi Chaim-Joseph-Meyer Elefant (1897-1976) in the early 1950s

References

{{cite book |last=Moster |first=David Z. |year=2018 |title=Etrog: How a Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-73736-2 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-73736-2 |isbn=978-3-319-73735-5}}

External links

{{Commons category-inline}}
[http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/ethrog.html The Citrus Variety Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150608215246/http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/ethrog.html |date=2015-06-08 }} by the University of California Riverside
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080410153921/http://www.uoregon.edu/~dfalk/courses/ejud/synagogues_files/image018.jpg Ancient Treasures and the Dead Sea Scrolls]
[http://www.jewlicious.com/wp-content/uploads/TM/floor1.jpg Mosaic depicting an etrog]
[http://www.exploringeastlondon.co.uk/jc/index.htm Lulav, Etrog, Shofar and Menorah, 2nd Cent. CE, Ostia Synagogue]
[http://www.hebrewworld.com/goldSilver3_files/2.jpg An antique Hebrew coin depicting an etrog]
Pictures [http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/citrusvarieties/uncommon3.html homecitrusgrowers.co.uk]
Evyatar Marienberg and David Carpenter, [https://unc.academia.edu/evyatarm/Papers/1218963/The_Stealing_of_the_Apple_of_Eve_from_the_13th_century_Synagogue_of_Winchester The Stealing of the "Apple of Eve" from the 13th century Synagogue of Winchester]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Henri III Fine Rolls Project, Fine of the Month: [http://frh3.org.uk/content/month/fm-12-2011.html December 2011]
[http://www.geethaskitchen.com/2010/07/citron-etrog-or-esrog-citrus-medica.html A Huge Etrog-looking Citron in Geetha's Kitchen, amazing photos]
[http://www.jewfaq.org/etrog.htm Know Your Etrog], website with educational pictures, information how to plant your own tree.
[http://shiratmiriam.com/symbolism-lulav-esrog The Symbolism of the Lulav and Esrog], various sources explaining the symbolism and meaning of the etrog.