Monday Torah Tweet (Sukkot): The etrog represents our ability to grow our moral character.
Back-story: Torah associates two fruit as bearing the quality of good. One is the equivocal “p’ri eitz ha-daat tov v’ra, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad” prohibited to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:17; 3:2). The second is “p’ri eitz hadar, the fruit of the goodly tree” used ceremonially at Sukkot (Leviticus 23:40).
Neither context identifies the fruit tree in question. Western Christian tradition identifies the fruit in the Garden of Eden as an apple, perhaps because the Latin word for “apple” and “evil” are similar, perhaps because the apple originates in central Asia, perhaps just because artists needed a bright object. Classic Judaism, on the other hand, offers a plethora of suggestions, for the sages did not just read the Torah, they read the Torah deeply. When one reads the Torah deeply, one frequently encounters perceptive insights.
Some, through the ages, identified the fruit as a pomegranate because the abundance of seeds immediately calls to mind the 613 commandments; that is, all knowledge. In the midrash (B’reishit Rabbah 15:7; compare also, Talmud B’rakhot 40a and Sanhedrin 70ab), R. Meir identified the fruit as wheat, which in the Garden of Eden grew like a tree, because, when you think about it, it takes sophisticated knowledge to move from the kernel to bread, and until the diet expands to bread, babies do not even begin to speak. R. Yehudah bar Ilai identified the fruit as grapes because it is a truth of life that grapes made into wine can lead to good or bad. R. Yosi suggests figs because there is a deep psychological truth in that the same instrument that brings about the downfall can sometimes be used as a “vaccination” against the problem; that is, the fig was right there ready for clothes when Adam and Eve realized they were naked.
In the same midrash, R. Abba of Akko identified the fruit as an etrog because in Genesis 3:6 the tree itself is called good; that is, ready to eat, fruit and bark, and only the etrog fits this description. Our midrash concludes by taking note that because Torah leaves the fruit of Eden unmentioned, the fruit of no tree is impugned. Surprisingly, centuries-old tradition already had identified the etrog as the fruit central to the mitzvah of the four species during Sukkot. That the sages, therefore, could have even entertained the thought that the Sukkot etrog had been Adam’s “apple” is especially remarkable. Assigning to the beautiful and glorified etrog an inglorious history carries with it a deep Jewish insight, namely, that the etrog, suggesting in size and shape the heart, teaches that we have it within us to bring our best side forward. We cannot, for instance, rationalize a temper by saying that is how G‒d made me. Instead, the etrog, starting as the fruit of good and evil, teaches us that we can grow our moral character. This rich lesson connects Yom Kippur and Sukkot, and this week, at the end of Sukkot, we will, as always, begin again the story of Genesis.
What the etrog teaches us as individuals, it also teaches us as a people. In ancient times, when a nation was defeated in battle, it was interpreted also as a defeat of that people’s god and as a vindication of the god of the victors. By that logic, in the 6th century BCE, when we were exiled into Babylon by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, we should have taken it as a sign of our G‒d’s failure. Instead, the prophet Isaiah reasoned G‒d was successfully using the peoples of the world as a scourge to bring the people of Israel to improve their ways. As a result of such positive thinking, we returned from Babylonia to refine prophetic Judaism and the priestly system. Similarly, in 70 CE, suffering from the destruction of the Temple and the decimation of our people, we established a school at Yavneh that in turn ushered in the greatest period of renewal that Judaism has ever known, an unprecedented period of legal and theological discussion and the recording of the Mishnah and the Talmud. Judaism today is once again in a crisis that adopting still more of today’s same will not solve. At the Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School, we believe that by re-rooting ourselves in the ancient truths that first inspired our people, modern Jewry, too, can be rejuvenated.
The etrog also has something to teach the world. That is what it means when the Torah begins with creation. Almost imperceptibly, the world has accommodated itself to many of the social ills that beset us. You can think of many examples: Terrorist murderers are presented as “guerrilla freedom fighters.” Nations with the worst record of human rights are elected to leadership on the United Nations Human Rights Council. We have learned to accept a worldwide society of violence. Attitudes of entitlement threaten our societal structures.
The etrog says do not accept what is. We have it within us to bring our best side forward. Take the fruit of Adam and Eve, that crab apple, go back to basic principles and turn it into a beautiful etrog.
G’mar tov, may you and yours receive a final decree for a significant and meaningful New Year.
Click here for a complete list of Torah Psychology.
Canadian Yeshiva's Blog 