OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 37

E

very year in the days 
before Sukkot, Jews 
make an effort to obtain 
a nice etrog (Citrus medica), 
to fulfill the mitzvah of taking 
“the fruit of the beautiful tree” 
or “the beautiful fruit of the 
tree” along with a palm branch, 
and branches of myrtle and 
willow (Leviticus 23:40). Jews 
everywhere want the etrog, but 
the citron tree does not grow 
everywhere. 
“Etrogim now grow wher-
ever other citrus trees grow,
” 
according to Asaf Avtabi, an 
agronomist who has retired 

after 40 years of with the Israeli 
Department of Agriculture, 
where he counseled orchardists 
in growing citrus trees, and 
especially the citron. Avtabi 
looks forward to the publication 
of an English translation of his 
book, The Etrog. 
Even more than other citrus 
fruits, the etrog is sensitive to 
cold temperatures, but Avtabi 
reports that etrog trees do 
much better in hot countries. 
“I saw etrog groves in a climate 
of up to 50 degrees Celsius 
[122 Farenheit], in completely 
healthy condition.
” 
Like other citrus trees, the 
citron originally grew only 
in some parts of southeast-
ern Asia. Starting in ancient 
times, orchardists brought 
citron trees farther and far-
ther west, to Persia, then to 
the Middle East, and then to 
North Africa and southern 
Europe. Jews who celebrated 
Sukkot probably midwifed 
much of that migration. 
 Erich Isaac, a professor 
of geography at Tulane 
University, wrote that “the 
spread of the citron through 
the Mediterranean coincided 

with the growth of Jewish com-
munities in the Mediterranean 
Diaspora.
” 
The etrog was the pioneer. 
Other citrus trees came west 
long after the etrog or were 
developed by cross-pollination 
from the citron and the few 
other original citrus varieties. 
The citron, though, has changed 
little over the centuries. The cit-
ron flower self-pollinates, so the 
fruit on a citron tree generally 
has not gained genetic mate-
rial from other species. Over 
the centuries, orchardists have 
grown varieties of citrons with 
different external appearance 
(phenotype); however, Avtabi 
notes, “the greatest part of the 
genetic matter remains the orig-
inal etrog.
” 
Now etrog trees grow in 
central and southern Israel, and 
even in the relatively inhospita-
ble Aravah desert, according to 
Avtabi. He adds that orchardists 
grow etrogim for use in Jewish 
ritual in the Greek Islands, in 
Morocco and in Italy. 
He notes that Jewish ritual 
forms only part of the story: 
Much of the world’s citron crop 
goes for fresh fruit, spices and 

industrial food production. 
Brazil, for example, grows a 
huge crop of citrons (according 
to Joshua Klein of the Volcani 
Institute in Israel), using them 
for food, primarily for marma-
lade, syrup and candied peel, 
often an ingredient in cakes. An 
old name for the candied peel, 
“succade,
” might come from 
the Latin word for juicy, but 
might come from the Hebrew 
“Succah.
” 
Cut an etrog in half (after 
the holiday, please), and you 
will see that it has a thick white 
layer below the skin, and only a 
small volume of pulp and seeds. 
The etrog works well as candied 
fruit because this thick white 
layer, called albedo, does not 
taste bitter. 

A HOMEGROWN ETROG
But the etrog does not produce 
much juice, so Metro Detroiter 
Joe Lewis “used to regret each 
year paying for an etrog and not 
being able to use it.
”
To get some use from his 
etrog after the holiday, Lewis 
decided to plant the seeds and 
“after a while I had seedlings. I 
didn’t know if they’
d grow, so I 

SUKKOT

Where the 
 Etrog Grows

continued on page 38

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Joe 
Lewis

An etrog from the 
Gardins’ citron tree.

