Etrog

How A Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol

David Z. Moster

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9783319737362
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Teología judía

Every year before the holiday of Sukkot, Jews all around the world purchase an etrog—a lemon-like fruit—to participate in the holiday ritual. In this book, David Z. Moster tracks the etrog from its evolutionary home in Yunnan, China, to the lands of India, Iran, and finally Israel, where it became integral to the Jewish celebration of Sukkot during the Second Temple period. Moster explains what Sukkot was like before and after the arrival of the etrog, and why the etrog's identification as the "choice tree fruit" of Leviticus 23: 40 was by no means predetermined. He also demonstrates that once the fruit became associated with the holiday of Sukkot, it began to appear everywhere in Jewish art during the Roman and Byzantine periods, and eventually became a symbol for all the fruits of the land, and perhaps even the Jewish people as a whole.

© The Author(s) 2018

David Z. MosterEtroghttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73736-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

David Z. Moster¹

(1)

The Institute of Biblical Culture, Yonkers, NY, USA

Abstract

Moster introduces the etrog by describing the sights and scents of an etrog market just before the holiday of Sukkot (Tabernacles). After relating his particular interest in the fruit, which is also known as the citron or Citrus medica, Moster explains the etrog’s importance to Jews in both the ancient and modern worlds. He next outlines the contents of the book and situates his writing in the context of the field of citrus studies, which began more than eight centuries ago. Moster ends the introduction with a note regarding the terminology of ancient lands that are contested today, especially the land of Israel/Palestine.

Keywords

Etrog Citrus medica CitronSukkotCitrusBotany

End Abstract

There is nothing quite like the experience of picking out an etrog (אתרוג) for the holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). Every year around late September, I find myself in one of the etrog markets that pop up in Jewish neighborhoods around the world (see Fig. 1.1). Some of the markets are expansive and bustling bazaars, while others are small operations run out of the trunk of a seller’s car. Etrogim (the plural of etrog) might be separated by shape, size , color , or country of origin, but they are most usually separated by price . Inexpensive etrogim can be bought for around 12 dollars but the sky is the limit for the choicest ones, which usually start at a few hundred dollars apiece (see Fig. 1.2). The most expensive etrogim in New York City in 2017, for example, cost between one and two thousand dollars.

Fig. 1.1

An etrog market on the streets of Brooklyn, New York

Fig. 1.2

A $345 etrog for sale in Brooklyn, New York

For me, choosing an etrog is highly personal; so I never get too impressed by the subjective price tags created by the merchants. I peruse the market until I find a fruit with an enticing shape, an energetic yellow hue, a solid firm grip, and, most importantly, a strong citrusy fragrance . Before entering the market, there is no way of telling which one of the hundreds of fruits will appeal to me—it just happens on its own. While the sights, sounds, feels, and aromas of the markets are always exciting, the most pleasurable moment is bringing my new acquisition home. I walk straight past the kitchen, where my regular fruits are stored, and place the etrog on the living room mantel in a silver box I received for my Bar Mitzvah. A few days later, I wave the etrog in prayer in synagogue, and dwell upon the historic journey the fruit has taken from its evolutionary home in Yunnan , China , to its privileged position in synagogues around the world. When I look around the synagogue I feel as if I had chosen the most beautiful etrog, though I am confident that many of my neighbors feel the same way about their own choices. When not in use, the silver-boxed fruit takes center stage in my home, radiating a splendid sight and fragrant smell appropriate for the holiday.

My particular interest in the etrog, which I grew up calling “esrog ” in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is more than ritualistic. When I was 21, I cut the fruit open for the first time and planted its seeds in a Styrofoam cup (see Fig. 1.3). The seedling that shot up is now 4 ft tall and, despite a number of setbacks due to my many moves, has begun to produce fruit. In recent years, I have been growing other citrus varieties such as Buddha’s hand (fingered) citron, Yemenite citron , kumquat, lemon, lime, orange, pomelo, and tangerine, all inside my home in the winter and outside in the summer. In addition to my agricultural interest in the etrog, in a graduate school class on biblical Hebrew syntax at Yeshiva University in New York, I realized that the scriptural phrase associated with the fruit, peri ‘eṣ hadar (פרי עץ הדר, Leviticus 23:40), is ambiguous; it can mean either “the fruit of the beautiful tree” (פרי from an עץ הדר) or “the beautiful fruit of any tree” (פרי הדר from an עץ). The difference is whether the fruit needs to be beautiful or whether the tree needs to be beautiful. This textual problem led to a decade of research on how Jews have been interpreting the biblical text, and my interest in the etrog has continued to “grow” as time marches on. This book, then, is the culmination of years of ritualistic, agricultural, and grammatical/historical fascination.

Fig. 1.3

An etrog sliced in two

This book explains how the etrog became integral to the practice of Judaism . It begins (Chap. 2) with a chronicle of the etrog’s step-by-step journey from its home in Yunnan , China , to northern India , Iran, and finally the land of Israel. It then explains (Chap. 3) the many ways interpreters have understood Leviticus 23:40 , the biblical verse associated with the etrog. It ends (Chap. 4) by explaining what Leviticus 23:40 originally meant, and how and why the etrog became a Jewish ritual object during the Second Temple period (530 BCE–70 CE) as well as a symbol of Judaism itself during the post-Temple Roman and Byzantine periods (70–636). By tracing these physical and socioreligious journeys, the etrog’s unique place in Judaism will be brought to light.

The etrog is scientifically known as Citrus medica but is more commonly called the citron . All etrogim are citrons but not all citrons are etrogim. The Buddha’s hand or “fingered” citron, for example, is a different cultivar of Citrus medica that is not an etrog and is therefore not used for Sukkot. Etrogim are typically yellow or green, ovoid in shape, have very thick peels with very little pulp, and are bumpy. Some have a “belt ” (גרטל) or narrowing around their mid-section; others are spherical, and many have an unusual antenna-like “pittam ” (פיטם) ma...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Journey from China to Israel
• 3. The Many Interpretations of peri ‘eṣ hadar (Leviticus 23:40)
• 4. From Foreign Import to Jewish Symbol
• 5. Conclusion
• 6. Addendum: Hala Sultan Tekke and Karnak
• Back Matter