In Leviticus 23; 40 Moses conveys the Torah’s commandment: “On the first day [of the Festival of Sukkot] you must take hold for yourself… Fruit of the Beautiful Tree…”
This in-depth mini-series focuses on portions of Masechet Sukkah that record teachings of our Sages about the Etrog. First focusing on deciphering the Torah’s deliberate use of enigmatic language and then highlighting other issues that crop up regarding ensuring the Kashruth of this organic Mitzvah item!
In these presentations the words of our Sages are richly illuminated by earlier manuscripts and layered commentaries of the medieval, classic, and modern era.
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Episode Four: “IN ORGANIC WE TRUST”
Over the past three Episodes, we’ve dug deeply into scriptural soil to uncover biblical roots on the identity of the Torah’s Beautiful Fruit. Multiple endeavours employed a garden variety of fertile methods, as we radically redefined botanical beauty.
After navigating the hazards of identifying the species and genus of the Kosher Citron, we move onto the need to locate one! And, surprisingly enough, Fruit of Trees Worshipped becomes the first major issue to require clarification.
Simply stated: would using an Etrog plucked from an Oracle, or harvested from a Forbidden City amount to an ill-fated attempt at performing a Mitzvah, or would we say that as long as you we’re well intentioned — the details don’t count that much?
This is the fourth segment of an ongoing Talmud Series on The Etrog.
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