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.