CCAR RESPONSA
Contemporary American Reform Responsa
183. The Nature of the
Etrog
QUESTION: The modern nature of the lulav and
etrog are quite clear, but the original text in Leviticus 23.40 is not so specific. How do we
know that these items now used are those originally intended? (D. F. A., St. Louis, MO)
ANSWER: There are many uncertainties in the verse cited, “and you shall take on
the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and
willows of the brook. You shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days” (Holy
Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society, 1917). The uncertainty is conveyed by the more
recent translation of the Torah, “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar
trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall
rejoice before the Lord your God seven days,” (The Torah, Jewish Publication Society,
1967). The footnote for hadar, “leafy,” states that the meaning is uncertain. It has been
set for us by tradition. We must now try to establish the age of this tradition. Let us
begin with the phrase peri etz hadar, commonly interpreted as etrog. The
Targum Onkelos translated this as perei ilan m’shubah. The Septuagint provided a
similar translation, while the later Jewish commentaries like Rashi took it for granted that this
was the etrog, and so followed the interpretation of the Mishnah. Ramban
suggested that etrog was simply the Aramaic for the Hebrew word hadar. Ibn Ezra
similarly relied on the earlier tradition and stated that there was no fruit as beautiful, and for that
reason it was called hadar. It was, of course, clear from other uses of the words that it
meant glorious, beautiful or grandly decorated. The modern Biblical critic, Bruno Baentsch
(Handkommentar zum Alten Testament – Exodus, Levitikus, Numeri -1903), suggested
that it either refers to the fruit of paradise or to the citron for which the word etrog was
used later. He also speculated that the fruit might originally have been connected with a fruit
offering as mentioned in some Carthaginian rites (p. 418). We find the term etrog used in
the Mishnaic description of the ritual connected with Sukkot (Suk. III.4). This would make
it clear that by the second century at the very latest, the citron had been thoroughly established.
Naturally, this tradition may go back to a period earlier than the written version of the
Mishnah. We must, therefore, ask when the citron first appeared in the Near East, as it
was not native to that area. It seems that the citron was already reported by Greek
authors; it reached the Mediterranean in the third century before our era (Harrison, Masefield and
Michael, Oxford Book of Food Plants, 1969, p. 88). Immanuel Löw, the great
Jewish authority on plants, arrived at his conclusions through eliminating other possible fruits, for
example, the pomegranate. Although it is beautiful, the tree is not leafy. Another contender was
the karob. That tree is grand, but the fruit is not. That left only the etrog by elimination –
rutaceae, citrus (I. Löw, Die Flora der Jüden III, p. 53, III, pp. 103 ff).
Later Low stated that the fruit originally was the citrus medica which was introduced to the
Mediterranean by the administrators of Alexander the Great. In the time of Alexander,
the tree was first described by the ancient authority Theophrastus. Its use was also reported by
Josephus (Antiquities xiii, 13, 5). He called the etrog a Persian apple, which would
be a citron. Probably the earliest evidence that this is a citron comes from the time of
Alexander Jannaeus (104- 78 B.C.E.), when the people pelted the high priest during Sukkot
with their etrogim. The rabbinic literature made the etrog a tradition from the
days of Sinai (halakhah misinai). Löw felt that the tradition went back as far as 430
B.C.E. (Löw, op. cit., III, p. 289). The fruit had first been cultivated by the
Chinese who found it in the warmer regions of the Himalayas. Subsequently, the fruit was
introduced to Europe through the Crusaders. It may have been introduced to Roman Italy by
Jews who used it on Sukkot by the second century. Citrons were used in villas and
gardens for decorative purposes. The fruit was definitely not known in ancient Egypt (Low, op.
cit., III, pp. 278 ff). We know from the report of Jacques De Vitry, who visited Israel around
1225, that the citron had not yet been introduced into Northern Europe. The numerous
Mishnaic and Talmudic references to etrog do not tell us the precise nature of this citron,
so it is impossible to proceed further into the species of citron available. Many
commentators have found it strange that the fruit was not given a precise name, but simply
described as “the fruit of the glorious tree.” The word etrog came from the Persian
torong and originally from the Sanskrit suranga, its term for orange. Löw
also noted that the German Jews frequently used citrus limon scabiosa, which they
received from the southern lands of Europe. Currently citrus medica is generally used
(Löw, op. cit, III, p. 285). Naturally greater efforts to explain the fruit were made after the
appearance of the Karaites with their questioning attitude, but to no
avail. Maimonides, in the twelfth century, also sought a rational reason for the use of
this particular fruit; he felt it was chosen because it remained fresh through the entire festival
(Moreh Nibukhim 3.43; Yad Hil. Lulav 7.2). Both in medieval and modern times,
various efforts to equate hadar and etrog have been made, but without
success. The efforts of Biblical commentators during the last centuries to find a
solution can be divided into three efforts: 1. Both tree and fruit must be grand; 2. The tree
possess the same taste as the fruit; 3. The fruit remain on the tree throughout the year, as is true
of citrus fruit trees which bloom throughout the year, and whose leaves do not fall (Low, op.
cit, III, p. 288). In conclusion, we can state that the tradition of the etrog is
more than 2,000 years old, but its origin remains obscure.November 1984
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.