{"id":11049,"date":"2001-01-04T00:10:20","date_gmt":"2001-01-03T22:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=11049"},"modified":"2022-09-14T13:08:57","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T10:08:57","slug":"13-04-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/13-04-10\/","title":{"rendered":"10. A Grafted <em>Etrog<\/em> and the Status of the <em>Pitam<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cfruit of the <em>hadar<\/em> tree\u201d that we are commanded to take on Sukkot is the <em>etrog<\/em>. The identity of the <em>etrog <\/em>is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. Just as with all fruits, there are different varieties of <em>etrog<\/em>: some large, some small, some yellow, some greenish \u2013 and all kosher.<\/p>\n<p>A few hundred years ago, a serious problem arose. Since the <em>etrog<\/em> tree is delicate, sensitive, and susceptible to disease, its cultivators (most of whom were non-Jews) often grafted an <em>etrog<\/em> branch onto a lemon or bitter orange tree. Although some <em>poskim<\/em> were lenient about these <em>etrogim<\/em>, the accepted ruling is that an <em>etrog<\/em> that grows from a grafted tree is invalid. For the Torah commands that an <em>etrog<\/em> be taken, whereas a grafted <em>etrog<\/em> is considered a new being or a combination of two fruits, an <em>etrog <\/em>and whichever tree the <em>etrog <\/em>branch was grafted to (Rema; MA; <em>Shvut Yaakov<\/em>). Others invalidate it because it is the product of a prohibited action \u2013 it is forbidden to graft the branch of one tree onto the trunk of another (<em>Levush<\/em>). Nowadays, <em>etrog<\/em> growers are careful to avoid hybrids, so one can rely on sellers when they state that their <em>etrogim<\/em> are not grafted.<\/p>\n<p>All <em>etrogim<\/em> start out with a <em>pitam<\/em> (blossom-end), but it usually dries out and falls off while the <em>etrog<\/em> is very small. These <em>etrogim<\/em> without a <em>pitam<\/em> are kosher <em>le-khat\u1e25ila<\/em> and are not deficient in any way, as this is how they grow. There are some varieties of <em>etrogim<\/em> that are more likely to retain their <em>pitam<\/em>. Sometimes the <em>pitam<\/em> is very robust and fleshy, and other times it is dry and woody. There is a spray that stops the <em>pitam<\/em> from drying out and falling off, and cultivators who want to grow <em>etrogim<\/em> with fleshy <em>pitams<\/em> use it.<\/p>\n<p>A fleshy <em>pitam<\/em> is the same color as the <em>etrog<\/em>, and its flesh resembles the flesh of the <em>etrog<\/em>. At its tip is a <em>shoshanta <\/em>(stigma), a dry, woody flower knob. The fleshy <em>pitam<\/em> has the same status as the tip of the <em>etrog <\/em>in every respect. Any deficiency or stain that invalidates the <em>etrog <\/em>when found on its sloping top (\u201cnose\u201d) also invalidates it when found on the fleshy part of the <em>pitam<\/em>. With regard to the <em>shoshanta<\/em>, if it is entirely missing, the <em>etrog<\/em> is invalid, but if enough remains of it to cover the flesh of the <em>pitam<\/em>, the <em>etrog<\/em> is kosher. (See <em>Har\u1e25avot<\/em> 4:10:7-9.)<\/p>\n<p>The status of a woody <em>pitam<\/em> is more lenient. If the <em>pitam<\/em> is completely missing, so that nothing at all protrudes, the <em>etrog<\/em> is invalid. If even a tiny bit of it remains protruding from the <em>etrog<\/em>, the <em>etrog<\/em> is kosher (SA 648:7; MB <em>ad loc<\/em>. 30).<\/p>\n<p>If the entire <em>oketz<\/em> \u2013 the end of the branch that joins the <em>etrog<\/em> to the tree \u2013 is missing and the flesh of the <em>etrog<\/em> is visible, the <em>etrog<\/em> may not be used for the first Yom Tov because it is deficient. If enough of the <em>oketz<\/em> remains to cover the flesh of the <em>etrog<\/em>, the <em>etrog<\/em> is kosher and may be used even on the first Yom Tov (SA 648:8; MB <em>ad loc<\/em>. 33).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u201cfruit of the hadar tree\u201d that we are commanded to take on Sukkot is the etrog. The identity of the etrog is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. Just as with all fruits, there are different varieties of etrog: some large, some small, some yellow, some greenish \u2013 and all kosher. A [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[210],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-13-04"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>10. A Grafted Etrog and the Status of the Pitam - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/13-04-10\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10. 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