Etrog: Difference between revisions

'''Etrog''' ({{lang-langx|he|אֶתְרוֹג}}, plural: ''{{transltransliteration|he|etrogim}}''; [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]]: ''{{transltransliteration|he|esrog}}'', plural: ''{{transltransliteration|he|esrogim}}'') is the yellow [[citron]] or (''Citrus medica'') used by Jews during the week-longweeklong holiday of [[Sukkot]] as one of the [[four species]]. Together with the ''[[lulav]]'', ''[[hadass]]'', and ''[[Aravah (Sukkot)|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.<ref>{{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 &#124; the Times of Israel | website=[[The Times of Israel]] }}</ref>

The [[Romanization of Hebrew|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.<ref>[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 }}</ref> The Hebrew word is thought to derive from the [[Persian language|Persian]] name for the fruit, ''wādrang'', which first appears in the [[Vendidad]]. {{sfnp | Moster | 2018 | p= 24 }} Related words are Persian ''turunj'' ({{lang|fa|ترنج}}) and Aramaic {{lang|tmr|אַתְרוּגָּא‎{{Script/Hebrew|אַתְרוּגָּא}}}} ''ʾaṯruggā''.<ref>{{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}}</ref> TheIt has also made its way into [[Arabic]] as {{Script/Arabic|أُتْرُجَّةِ}} ''utrujjah'' notably in a [[hadith]] collected in the ''[[Sahih Muslim]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>[https://sunnah.com/muslim:797a Hadith no. 288], Book 6 of the ''Sahih Muslim''. via Sunnah.com</ref> A rare Aramaic form, ''etronga'' ({{Script/Hebrew|אתרונגא}}), is significant because it retains the [[alveolar nasal]] sound (as indicated by the ''[[nun (letter)|nun]]'') of ''wādrang''. The ''nun'' (n) can, also be seenobservable in the English word '[[wikt:orange|orange]]'.{{sfnp | Moster | 2018 | p= 25 }}

{{mainMain|Citrus taxonomy#Citron varietiesCitrons}}

{{QuoteBlockquote| 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.

| image3 = P1110901_(7112818305).jpg

* [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]</ref>

After the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE]], exiled Jews planted citron orchards wherever the climate allowed: in Southern Europe ([[Spain]], [[Greece]], and [[Diamante citron|Italy]]) as well as in North Africa and [[Yemenite citron|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]].{{cncitation needed|date=April 2020}}

A ''pitam'' or ''pitom'' (Hebrew: {{Script/Hebrew|פיטום}}; plural ''pitamim'') is composed of a style (Hebrew: "{{Script/Hebrew|דַד}}" ''dad''), and a [[carpel|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.

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.<ref>{{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|via=JSTOR|doi=10.2307/2441301|jstor=2441301 }}</ref>

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.<ref>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 }}</ref> If the tree is germinated from [[Plant propagation|seed]], it will not bear fruit for about seven years, and there may be some [[Citrus fruit growing|genetic change]] to the tree or fruit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sunkist.com/products/growing_packing.asp|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017033439/http://www.sunkist.com/products/growing_packing.asp|url-status=dead|title=Sunkist Website|archivedatearchive-date=October 17, 2007}}</ref>

[[File:EtrogC.jpg|thumb|On the right: An Etrogetrog ([[citron]]) next to its Etrogetrog carrier]]

After the holiday, eating the ''etrog'' or ''etrog'' jam is considered a ''[[Segula (Kabbalah)|segula]]'' (efficacious remedy) for a woman to have an easy childbirth.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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]].

File:PikiWiki_Israel_15578_etrog.jpg|''Pitam'' perceptiveclose-up

* {{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}}

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