Siman 648 – The Esrog

וChelek 6

38. A dry esrog is possul. Moisture can be tested by passing a thread through it – if there is moisture, you will feel it absorbed in the thread. Mishna Berura discusses how to make the hole without disqualifying the esrog. Last year’s esrog will be dry and possul. However, if you kept the esrog, airtight and cool, and it is still moist, it is kasher. (ShA 1 – MB 3 – ShaH 8) ### Damaged Esrogim

39. An esrog missing its outer skin is still kasher. (BeH “v’im”)

40. An esrog missing even a small amount of flesh should not be used on the first day of Sukos. On the second day you can say a beracha on it .(ShA 2 – MB 8)

41. A dented esrog that is not missing flesh is kasher if it’s a small dent. A dent that is the size of an isar (≈4 cm²) is possul. (ShA 2)

42. An esrog that has been pierced through and through, penetrating the seed compartments, is possul. (If nothing is missing from the flesh, you may use it only if you have no other option.) This is one extreme. The other extreme that is certainly kasher is where the piece merely passes through one of the esrog’s ridges or bumps. There are many disputed cases in between. (ShA 2 – MB 3, 9 – ShaH 5, 7)

43. Some esrogim become scratched while growing among their own thorns. If they heal, so you don’t see the missing flash, the esrog is kasher. If not, the esrog is possul. If you’re unsure, you may rely on the opinion above that even if there is missing flesh, as long as the hole doesn’t penetrate all the way through, it is kasher. (Rama 2 – MB 10, 11)

44. Rotten inside? Don’t use it unless you can tell the seed compartments are still intact and no other esrog is available. (ShA 4 – MB 17, 19)

45. An esrog that has a deep crack from top to bottom is possul. “Deep” is defined as the majority of the thickness from the skin to the seed compartments. If only a shallow minority of the thick peel is cracked, it remains kasher. (ShA 5 – MB 21)

46. If part of the skin peeled off from the chotem (the part where the esrog begins to narrow towards its pitam – ShA 9, 12)) leaving a discoloration like black or white, the esrog is possul. If the discoloration is a different shade of a kasher color, there is a dispute. You can use the esrog if no other is available. (ShA 6 – MB 26)

47. Many esrogim grow without a pitam. They have a characteristic indentation showing that nothing broke off from the top of the esrog. These are kasher. (Rama 7 – MB 32)

48. Other esrrogim grow with two parts on top (together we call it a pitam). One is a short stick whose base is sunken into the top of the esrog, The other is a shoshanta – like a mini-rose perched on the stick. If the stick broke off from inside the esrog—possul (missing flesh). If it broke off at the level of the esrog, there’s a dispute – be machmir. if part of the stick remains above the level of the esrog, it’s acceptable but not mehudar. (ShA 7 – MB 29, 30, 31)

49. If only the shoshanta fell off, do not trade in your esrog for a less beautiful one. But if you can find a comparable esrog that isn’t missing it’s shoshanta, then do it. (MB 31)

50. If you aren’t sure whether the pitam broke or it grew that way, it’s possible to be lenient due to s’fek s’feika. (ShaH 33)

51. If the esrog stem broke off leaving a hole in the bottom, the esrog is possul because flesh is missing. However, if the stem was cut off at the base and the remnant covers the hole in its entirety, it is kasher. (ShA 8 – MB 33, 34)

52. At the end of Siman 649 we will learn that if no other choice exists, you can take dried or damaged area minim with a beracha. This Certainly applies to a broken pitam or stem that renders the esrog missing flesh. Because we learned above in s’eef 2 that the second opinion there holds missing flesh isn’t a problem unless it’s a through-and-through hole or the size of an isar (see #40). (MB 33 – ShaH 38) END DAMAGES

53. There is another disqualifying blemish on an esrog called “chazazis”. It is described as a type of raised wart on the skin of the esrog. Even one small chazazis on the chotem is possul. (ShA 9, 12, 13)

54. If there are chazazis on the lower portion of the esrog, situated in a way that you can see a chazazis from any angle you view it, it’s possul. (ShA 10 – MB 42)

55. The reason why we are more stringent on the chotem is because people view that part with more scrutiny. Even so, if a chazazis is too small to notice from a (normal viewing )distance, the esrog is kasher. (MB 39, 46 – ShaH 49)

56. We are strict with other small disqualifications on the chotem, including discolored (red/white/black) spots, dry patches, and small cracks. (ShA 12 – MB 47 – BeH “shinui”,”im hu”)

57. Some poskim say one wart is not a chazazis—you need at least two. We rely on this opinion after the first day. (MB 49 – ShaH 54)

58. A disqualifying chazazis results from mold in the fruit. But a chazazis that develops as a result of scabbing from thorn scratches is kasher. (MB 49 – BeH “avabous”)

59. If you can peel off the chazazis and the natural color remains with no flesh missing, the esrog is kasher l’chatchila. Avoid such “surgery” on the chotem. (ShA 14 – MB 52, 53 – ShaT[*])

60. Round as a ball is possul. (ShA 18)

61. An esrog as green as grass is possul unless you know that this type turns ripe later – then it’s kasher even while green. Still, it’s better to see that the green esrog has begun to turn ripe. (ShA 21 – MB 65)

62. An esrog from a grafted tree is possul for the entire Sukos—whether the graft is from or to a different species. If both trees are esrogim, the fruit is kasher for the mitzva. (MB 65)

63. These are simanim of a pure-bred esrog: bumpy (not smooth) and a sunken-in stem. Rely on these only after the first day. For day one, take an esrog with a mesorah that it’s not grafted. Kashrus documents can be forged so be careful to buy only from a trustworthy individual. (MB 65)

64. The Bikurei Yaakov claims most esrogim around the are not grafted. Therefore, if you can’t tell if your esrog is grafted or not, rely on the rov. Beur Halacha uses this rov to rely on the above mentioned simanim. Do not protest against someone who relies merely on simanim to make a beracha. (BeH “shedomeh”)

65. Jewish retailers should buy from Jewish wholesalers rather than from gentiles—in fulfillment of the verse “K’no miyad amisecha.” (ShaH 76)

66. Haddassim are assumed to be pure-bred. If you happen to know that your haddassim are grafted, they are pasul like esrogim. (MB 65)

67. A ba’al nefesh should seek an esrog the volume of at least two k’baytzos. (BeH “pochos”)

68. The smallest esrog that is considered a pri is 1 k’baytza. Less than that is possul. If that’s all you have, take it without a beracha. (ShA 22 – BeH “possul”)

69. Even if the esrog was a k’baytza on the first day, but later shrank smaller, it is possul for lack of haddar. (BeH “possul”)

70. There is no maximum size for an esrog. (ShA 22)