Contenedor Etrog

Sukkot is both an ancient harvest festival and a commemoration of the 40-year wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness. The agricultural aspect of the eight-day holiday is evident in the ritual involving an etrog, which is a citron or citrus fruit, and lulav (loo-love), which are bound stems of palm, willow, and myrtle leaves. The etrog is often kept in a special protective case.

El etrog es un cítrico amarillo que se cultiva principalmente se cultiva sobre todo en Italia, Grecia, Israel y algunos países de América Central y del Sur. El etrog, muy perfumado y más grande que un limón, se utiliza como complemento del lulav durante la fiesta de Sucot. Es importante que el etrog se guarde en una caja protectora, ya que esta frágil fruta no puede utilizarse si su piel o pitom (pee-tome), que es el capullo adherido a la fruta, están dañados.

The earliest and most prized etrog cases were produced by skilled craftspeople in Augsburg and other cities in the German states, or principalities, during the 1600s. In the early 1700s, a common household container known as a Zuckerdose (which was used to store sugar in many German homes) was used as an etrog case for one week each year. 

As part of the concept of hiddur mitzvah (finding ways to beautify or elevate Jewish rituals and religious commandments), the ideal etrog has no blemishes and the pitom (or pistil) on top is intact and undamaged. It is important to protect the etrog and ensure that it remains undamaged during Sukkot. The etroggim (plural form) that were not used during Sukkot had various other uses. The thick peel was either pickled in vinegar or boiled to a pulp and eaten, or the fragrance from the peel was extracted and used as perfume. According to the Jewish text the Talmud, the etrog was also highly valued as an antidote to poisonous snake bites.The English translation of the case’s engraved Hebrew script is ”the fruit of a goodly tree” (Leviticus 23:40). The Hebrew Bible refers to a tree described as hadar, which means “splendid” or “majestic.”