A lulav and etrog set, known as the “four species” for the holiday of Sukkot, can range in price from $40 to $180. Premium sets can set adherents back $500, or more, and when holiday observers purchase the palm frond, willow and myrtle branches and citrus, some can be seen inspecting the items closely, even with magnifying glasses at times.
So what are they looking for, and is there a risk that those preparing for the holiday, which begins on Friday night this year, could go too far?
“Can people go overboard? Of course. We’re Jews,” Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish, told JNS. “Give us a mitzvah,” a commandment, “and we can always find something to debate.”
But beyond all of the close scrutiny of the yellow fruit and the branches is “a really lovely idea,” according to the rabbi.
“Once a year, Jews will stand in a marketplace and spend serious time trying to find the most beautiful object they can use to serve God,” Burg told JNS. “There’s actually something very beautiful about watching people inspect a lulav and etrog so carefully.”
The Torah describes the etrog as a “beautiful or splendid fruit,” according to Burg, which suggests that Jews are meant to do more than pick any old citrus.
“Jewish law sets out specific requirements for each of the Four Species,” he told JNS. “People are looking to make sure that the etrog and lulav are kosher for the mitzvah, checking things like their condition, shape, blemishes and various other details.”
But “there are different levels of scrutiny,” according to the rabbi.
“There is a difference between making sure something is halachically kosher and searching for an especially beautiful specimen, what we call hiddur mitzvah, beautifying a commandment,” he told JNS. “That’s why you sometimes see someone examining an etrog as carefully as a jeweler might examine a diamond.”
“In a world where we inspect cars, clothes and electronics before buying them, there’s something rather moving about watching someone devote that same attention to a mitzvah,” he said.
Many Yeshiva students circulate a graphic on WhatsApp that helps them inspect the Four Species for things like black spots, blemishes, detached leaves and a missing stem.
Rabbi Reuven Taragin, dean of overseas students at Yeshivat Hakotel and educational director of the World Mizrachi Movement, told JNS that inspecting the Sukkot species for the beauty that the Torah calls for comes at an important time on the calendar.
“It being our first opportunity after Yom Kippur to show our care for mitzvot adds to the fact that people should express their care,” he said. “In addition to the general idea that we should try to do a mitzvah nicely, the Torah requires something beautiful.”
Rabbi Ezra Sarna, director of Torah and halakhic initiatives at the Orthodox Union, told JNS that lulav and etrog “are a beloved mitzvah to the Jewish people.”
“There is no shortage of interpretations of what the Four Species represent, including a bouquet of thanksgiving for what the Almighty has given us, different types of Jews coming together and a symbol of victory following our emergence from Yom Kippur with a new dedication to Torah and the Jewish people,” he said.
Sarna also noted the rabbinic notion of beautifying commandments.
“When a person goes out to buy a lulav and etrog, it isn’t like buying fruit from a grocery store,” he told JNS. “There is a wide range of acceptable options for an etrog readily available in modern times. Personal preferences have developed based on a range of colors, shapes and sizes.”
“Part of the hiddur mitzvah is the idea of spending a little extra to fulfill the mitzvah,” the rabbi told JNS. “A mitzvah is not something we do in the quickest and least expensive way. It is a privilege that we cherish.”
