by David Zakalik
“Are you Jewish?”
I’ve misplaced depend what number of occasions I’ve been (good-naturedly) accosted with these phrases on a metropolis sidewalk or school quad. The particular person talking usually wears a black swimsuit, white button-down, wide-brimmed black hat, and beard.
Likelihood is this man can have a ritual object in hand, relying on what Jewish vacation it’s. In mid-autumn, he’ll be holding a bundle of foliage in a single hand and a lemon-looking factor within the different.
These, respectively, are the lulav and the etrog. Through the vacation of Sukkot, Jews the world over will take the lulav and etrog of their fingers, say a blessing, and shake them within the 4 instructions of the compass.
The etrog, higher often known as the citron (Citrus medica), is the fruit of one among 4 species used ritually throughout Sukkot. The lulav (the bundle of foliage) contains a closed date palm frond (Phoenix dactylifera), and branches of myrtle (Myrtus communis) and willow (Salix alba).
Half harvest pageant, half commemoration of the Israelites’ forty years within the desert, Sukkot takes its title from the Hebrew phrase for “hut” (singular sukkah). Training Jews will assemble a sukkah of their yard and even on their condominium balcony and, for eight days and nights, eat meals in it. For these of us who don’t stay in heat locations, mulled wine and sizzling soup are a wanted antidote to the autumn climate. The extra observant (or hardcore outdoorsy varieties) will take all their meals within the sukkah, and even stay in it all through the vacation, however most of us are content material with dinner. Inviting family and friends to your sukkah, and being invited to others’, is a crucial a part of Jewish communal life.
Reasonably just like the fruit that obtained Adam and Eve into all that bother, the Torah (Hebrew Bible) doesn’t point out the etrog explicitly by title. The biblical commandment is as follows:
…on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, whenever you collect within the produce of the land, you shall have fun the pageant of the Lord […] and also you shall take for yourselves on the primary day, the fruit of the goodly tree, date palm fronds, a department of a braided tree, and willows of the brook. (Leviticus 23:39-40).
The information that the fruit in query is Citrus medica comes all the way down to us from historical occasions through the Torah sh’bal peh (oral custom) (Posner, n.d.). Not like date palms, myrtle, and willow, the citron will not be native to modern-day Israel. Originating in southeast Asia, maybe within the westernmost foothills of the Himalayas, it most likely got here to the Levant through Media (now northwest Iran) (Langgutt, 2017). The species epithet medica is believed to discuss with the traditional kingdom of Media, somewhat than to the fruit’s medicinal makes use of.
This interloper from the subcontinent is gorgeous, aromatic, and weird, nevertheless it isn’t essentially the most sensible herb: its albedo (rind) is thick, its flesh is small, and it isn’t the juiciest citrus fruit available on the market. Why then did it turn out to be one of many symbols of the harvest—not to mention of the Israelites’ return residence from Egypt? I don’t know…nevertheless it’s a practice!
Since a minimum of the primary century CE, Jews have grown or imported the etrog particularly to be used on this one ritual. The etrog isn’t usually eaten on Sukkot, simply held and shaken to satisfy the mitzvah (commandment) from Leviticus. Although the citron may need been traded via west Asia and the Levant in biblical occasions, the earliest proof of it being grown in historical Israel dates to the 5th or 4th century BCE, although not essentially by Jews (Langgut, 2015). Archaeologists in Israel lately discovered citron pollen within the ruins of a Persian imperial property outdoors Jerusalem, and the phrase etrog is assumed to derive from Persian.
The primary cultivation of citron within the Mediterranean predates the arrival of different citrus species by centuries.
Just like the symbolic nature of its use in Judaism, it has been speculated that due to its nice scent and its rarity (particularly in these days), the citron was initially traded all through the Close to East not as meals or an edible herb, however as an elite standing image.
Nevertheless, C. medica does have some sensible makes use of. Theophrastus, Democritus, and Pliny all be aware that, when positioned amongst garments, it repels moths. It has additionally been used to freshen breath. Oils from the flowers and rind have been—in response to the Andalusian botanist Abu Marwan—used as a abdomen tonic (Arias, 2005).
Within the Jewish custom, an etrog can’t be thought of appropriate to be used on Sukkot if it comes from a grafted tree. Although Jewish non secular regulation (halakhah) permits for grafting of fruit bushes onto rootstocks of the identical species, the rabbis of the late 16th century engaged in an extended discourse over the permissibility of utilizing etrog fruit from a grafted tree. Can an etrog be thought of the “fruit of the goodly tree” if it’s grown on a chimera of two completely different bushes? Rabbis being extraordinarily cautious about edge instances in non secular regulation, they went for stricture somewhat than lenience. Not solely can’t fruit from grafted bushes be used, however fruit from a seedling grown from the fruit of a grafted tree can’t both (Nicolosi, 2005).
This controversy arose fairly late—a minimum of 15 centuries in! —most likely as a result of there hadn’t been different citrus species grown within the Mediterranean, the place the rabbis in query lived, till the Arabic interval. No different citrus species, no want to fret about interspecies grafting.
So essential is that this lumpy yellow lemonoid to Jewish non secular follow, that many observant households even personal a specifically made etrog case, usually manufactured from silver, to honor and defend it. My household by no means had one which ornate—we made do with the Styrofoam-lined cardboard field the etrog arrived in annually. However the truth that many Jewish households personal a particular case for a fruit they don’t eat, that’s solely used for one week a 12 months, speaks to the kavanah, the non secular intentionality, with which Jewish individuals observe the vacation of Sukkot, and the non secular significance of the etrog.
This previous October, I visited a pal’s sukkah a couple of blocks away, and introduced my nephew alongside. Although he obtained sleepy and needed to go to mattress earlier than we might fulfill the commandment, I obtained a photograph from his dad and mom a couple of days later, exhibiting the youngest member of the Zakalik household holding an etrog bigger than his two fingers put collectively.
The custom lives on.
Medicinal Disclaimer: It’s the coverage of The Herb Society of America, Inc. to not advise or advocate herbs for medicinal or well being use. This data is meant for instructional functions solely and shouldn’t be thought of as a suggestion or an endorsement of any specific medical or well being remedy. Please seek the advice of a well being care supplier earlier than pursuing any natural remedies.
Picture Credit: 1) Orthodox Jewish boys carrying lulav and etrog across the streets of Warsaw, Poland, possible so others can fulfill the commandment (YIVO Institute for Jewish Analysis, New York); 2) Sukkah in Nice Synagogue of Herzliya, Israel (Ron Almog); 3) Etrog fruit (Erin Holden); 4) Two males examine etrogs for blemishes in Warsaw, Poland (N. Kuszer, YIVO Institute for Jewish Analysis, New York); 5) Etrog flowers (Erin Holden)
References
Arias B.A., L. Ramón-Laca. 2005. Pharmacological properties of citrus and their historical and medieval makes use of within the Mediterranean area. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 97(1):89-95.
Langgut, D. 2017. The historical past of Citrus medica (citron) within the Close to East: Botanical stays and historical artwork and texts. Agrumed. pp. 84-94, in: Archaeology and historical past of citrus fruit within the Mediterranean: acclimatization, variations, makes use of. Publications du Centre Jean Bérard, Naples.
Langgut, D. 2015. Prestigious fruit bushes in historical Israel: First palynological proof for rising Juglans regia and Citrus medica. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. 62(1-2):98-110.
Nicolosi ,E., S. La Malfa, M. El-Otmani, M. Negbi, E.E. Goldschmidt . 2005. The seek for the genuine citron (Citrus medica L.): Historic and genetic evaluation. HortScience. 40(7):1963-1968.
Posner, M. n.d. What’s an etrog? Accessed October 20, 2024. Accessible from https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/support/746603/jewish/What-Is-an-Etrog.htm
