Word Prompt – ETROG – Stephen Flatow

Every year before Sukkot, I watch otherwise rational people turn into fruit inspectors.

The etrog, one of the Four Species, is a beautiful mitzvah object. To perform the mitzvah in the finest way possible, many people spend hours going from one dealer to another examining dozens of etrogim, searching for the perfect specimen. They compare shape, color, texture, and pitom (or without if that’s your preference). They consult friends, rabbis, and occasionally what appears to be a panel of citrus experts.

A young man may spend less time deciding on a college, a career, or even a spouse than he spends selecting an etrog. For a week-long holiday, nothing but the very best will do.

And perhaps that is the genius of Judaism.

It reminds us that holiness is found not only in life's monumental decisions, but also in the care we devote to a fruit that costs a hundred dollars, lasts a week, and somehow manages to teach us lessons that endure far longer.

The search for the perfect etrog is not really about a piece of fruit. It is about bringing beauty to a mitzvah and showing that even the smallest details of Jewish life deserve our attention.

Still, every year I marvel at the sight of grown men standing around a table, carefully examining fruit with the seriousness of jewelers appraising rare diamonds. For one brief season, an etrog becomes the most scrutinized piece of produce in the Jewish world.