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The Esrog /
A Beautiful fruit
The torah commands us
to take a ‘pri etz hadar’- a ‘beautiful’
fruit as one of the arba minim (four
species). An esrog grows on a prickly
bush and is difficult to be kept blemish
free or ‘beautiful’. A truly beautiful
esrog is therefore expensive. Like gems,
no two esrogim are alike, its value
depending on its Beauty!
What
makes the esrog Beautiful??
The esrog’s beauty
lies in its cleanliness and symmetry of
shape. Focusing primarily on the upper
half of the fruit, a clean esrog will
not be punctured nor have any black
spots. A beautiful esrog has a wide base
which narrows at the top.
Color and blitos
(bumps) are an added beauty, which is
optional.
All esrogim grow with
a pitom, which if broken off is rendered
unfit for the mitzvah. In many cases the
pitom falls off when the esrog is still
on the tree, leaving it pitomless yet
perfectly kosher.
The
Lulav /
A palm Branch
The lulav is a small
date palm branch. It should be straight
and fresh at least 14” long.
The back of the leaves
are green and the front are yellowish.
The leaves come two folded. They cleave
to one another and point upwards. The
center leaf (spine) should not be split.
However a lulav that is split less than
half the length is still kosher.
The
Haddasim /
Myrtle twigs
Haddasim feature green
upright leaves that are evenly grouped,
three per row (meshulash). The stem
should be 11.5” long. Three branches are
used for the mitzvah, while more may be
added for beauty.
The
Aravos /
Willow branches
The name Aravos is derived
from the phrase ‘arvei nachal’ – willow
of the brook; because they grow near water.
It has smooth, long, green leaves. It
should measure a minimum of 10.5”. Two
branches are used for the mitzvah.
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