Greek citron
Encyclopedia
The Greek
citron
variety of citrus medica ( or יְוָנִי) was botanically classified by Adolf Engler
as the "variety etrog
". This is remarking on its major use for the Jewish ritual
during Sukkot
, due to its supposedly extraordinary natural beauty. It was also called Pitima, or the Cedro - Citron with a Pigolo - a Pitom, because its usually persisting pitom (carpel
). The last does not only enhance its character, but also adds Halachic
promotion.
Those specific promotional characteristics were considered a threat to other varieties, resulting in more conflicts and controversies than any other ritual species.
, of which Corfu
is the most prominent one, and that's why Jews sometimes call this the Corfu Etrog. While citron trees are still found on Corfu, and in Naxos, the citron is no longer exported from Greece for the ritual purpose. The Crete citron growers sell it for the candied peel, which is called succade
, and in Naxos it is distilled
into a special aromatic liqueur
called kitron
.
According to the Romaniotes
this variety of citron was in their hands since the times of the Second Temple
or earlier, and was always used by them for the religious ritual. Afterwards it was appreciated by the Sephardim
who settled in Italy, Greece and Turkey
, after their exile from Spain in 1492.
Historically speaking, the citron is considered by numerous writers, to be introduced to Europe by the troops of Alexander
. It was also described by Theophrastus
who succeeded Aristotle
as the curator of the Botanical garden
in Athens
, although it is not certainly clear if they had this specific variety. We don't find a clear illustration of it until the year 1708, when Johann Christoph Volkamer
illustrated it with engraving and text in his Hesperides
1708, and applied to it the name Juden-Citronat. He was probably the first to associate this variety wearing a Pitam to the religious rite, and this is indicating that the variety was already used by Jews in Italy at that time.
tradition to the Genoese variety
were very skeptical about it. The Ashkenazim
assumed that since the Greek is so much different from the Genoese, it might have been grafted
or hybridized
. At the beginning of the 19th century, when the Yanova Esrog
was ceased due to the battles of Napoleon I of France
, it really started to dominate the market.
Rabbi Ephraim Zalman Margolis
in his responsa
Bet Ephraim (volume 1;56) confirmed that time, that no grafted citron trees are found on the grounds of the Corfu Island. He argues that even if we cannot verify if the plant were propagated by cuttings of grafted plants since the tradition lineage is missing, it should still be considered kosher
. Therefore he is concluding that in case no nice, clean and kosher "Yanove Esrog" is to be found, the Corfu Etrog may be used instead. This certification as well as the lenient position of many other authorities, eventually opened doors for the permission of this Etrog.
While the Greek
market expanded, citrons were also imported from the shores of Greece itself, especially from the regions of Parga
, Rapiza and Agia. Now the conflict was if those plantations are in the same state of kashrus
each to another, and to the ones of the Corfu Island.
This controversy started in 1846 when Alexander Ziskind Mintz, an Ashkenazi merchant, started claiming that only those from Parga, the origin of his etrogs, are kosher. He claimed that one could not be sure whether those picked at other places, from newly planted trees, were grafted or not—at least without careful tree checking upon picking. The local Sephardic rabbis in head of Judah Bibas the Chief Rabbi of Corfu, kept arguing that all of them are kosher, and that not one grafted tree is to be found on the island of Corfu as well as at the other regions of cultivation. Their position was supported by the great Rabbi Chaim Palagi the chief rabbi (Hakham Bashi
) of İzmir
in neighboring Turkey
.
The dispute ended up with Rabbi Shlomo Kluger
banning all sources including, those of Mintz, which were said to be from Parga, and Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson
permitting all sources, if they bore a certification from the local rabbis.
In 1875 they incorporated themselves into a cartel and drastically raised the price of each single etrog to six florins
, assuming that the Jews would have no choice and pay the price.
There was an underlying illusion that there is a belief by the Jews that whoever doesn't reveal a Corfu Etrog for Sukkot
will not survive the next year.
However, this was not the case. The rabbi of Kovno
, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
intended to stop this record breaking monopoly, and banned the Corfu Etrog until the prices would be lowered, and the status of kashrus clarified. Even the rabbi of Corfu certified in a letter that there were already many grafted trees in the region, and the certification process was very complex. The ban was further supported with signatures of many leading rabbi's throughout Eastern Europe
.
The preferred etrog was now the Balady citron
of Israel
, which just started being imported, but they placed even the Corsican citron
above the Corfu, while the most respected Genoese citron
was very hard to get.
Each Jewish etrog merchant committed himself to his local rabbi that he would not buy any etrog from the Greek farmers, since this would result in a record breaking expense for the Jewish community, which was impossible for them to pay. This was a great sacrifice from the local Jewry in Corfu, which remained with no income for the year.
This act severely affected the Greek planters and dealers, and caused them to remain with the high costs and no salary, forcing them to stop to monopolize the prices.
In fifteen years later at the pre-Pesach
season of 1891, an unidentified female body was found on a street neighboring the Jewish Ghetto
. The Greek Etrog growers called the police with a claim that this was the work of the Jewish fellows
.
The local Church officials on Corfu (as well as on the other Ionian Islands
) maintained a deliberate neutrality during the anti-Semitic events and did not support the government's efforts to reestablish order, unlike the high echelons of the Church who took measures to limit the anti-semitic mood. Similarly the Greek press played a role in publicizing the unfairness of the accusations. The culprits were never prosecuted however.
After several days of violence, a short investigation found that the victim was Sarda, a member of a famous Jewish family on the Corfu Island, who was killed in sexual violence. The discovery was too late for the total of 139 dead, and this composed the Jewish saying "Rather should the etrog have a "blatt-flaw" (a flaw caused by a scratch from a leaf), but not in any case a "blood-flaw", referring to the blood spill in Corfu.
As a result the Greek citron drastically declined in the eastern European communities that switched to the Balady
etrogs, but was still doing well in the western European and Hungarian
communities, especially with the Hungarians. (Jews from Hungary customarily used the Greek etrog, considering it beautiful, and wouldn't accept an etrog without a Pitam. )
After World War II, when all who remained with their lives through the Nazi
Concentration camps settled eventually in Israel
or the United States, some still continued using the Greek for at least two decades.
In year 1956, Rabbi Yeshaye Gross, a Satmar
from Brooklyn proceeded to visit the orchards in Calabria
, and found out that a large percentage of the trees are actually grafted.
From then on he realized that no Etrog could be picked off the tree without a careful inspection, which he was allowed and able to do.
By the Greek, in contrary, the planters didn't let any Jewish merchants to visit their orchards, neither to check their trees, and only sold etrogs in the Island of Corfu. This forced many Satmars
to switch back to the traditional Yanova Citron, even not wearing a Pitam. The cultivation of the Greek citron is from now on concentrated in Halki, Naxos
where there is a small production for distillery.
In those years, the Moroccan citron
took place and appealed for both traditional purity without any history of grafting, and its bearing a persistent healthy Pitam.
Still the Skverer rebbe manages to get annually one esrog from Corfu. The esrog is brought from Greece by Meyer Knoblach from New Square.
(today's Israel
).
At about 1850, Sir Moses Montefiore
was instrumental to establish etrog plantations in the Holy Land
, in order to help the Jewish settlers
to survive. As the Balady of Palestine
had minor chance for success being not so great in shape, color etc., with a persistent style
ratio as low as 1;1000 – the Sephardic
settlers who were always positive about the Corfu, planted its seeds at coastal region of Israel, especially in region of Jaffa
. The transplantation was witnessed as kosher by the local Sephardic Rabbi Yehuda Halevi.
Arab
ic farmers imported cuttings from Greece, which they budded onto lemon rootstock for longer life. The Corfu variety, which they called Kubbad abu Nunia (-the citron with persistent style), did not acclimatize well in Palestinian land, so growers started grafting on a large scale.
The great scholar and kabballist
Rabbi Aaron Ezrial of the Beit El Synagogue
, still certified some ungrafted citron orchards in Jaffa by eliminating the plants he found to be grafted. The Greek-Jaffa citron was also promoted by most of the Sephardic and even some Ashkenazic rabbis who saw a great future in those beautiful and Pitamed citron. The permission was based upon inspection each and every tree prior to pick, just like it is practiced today in Calabria
. The major Ashkenazic authorities in Jerusalem at that time were Rabbi Meir Auerbach and Rabbi Shmuel Salant
, who permitted only the Balady plantations.
In the following time the Balady was no longer able to compete with the much nicer Greek Citron, and went off the market. In reaction, the Jaffa Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
, who founded and headed the "Atzei Hadar" union for kosher etrog cultivators and marketers, very much promoted intraspecific grafting upon Balady citron rootstock, which is permitted by Halacha.
The act lead to the establishment of a beautiful variety in Israel, yet kosher, and saved the economy of Israel for decades. As of today it is the leading variety in Israel
, and is a very important article in international trade.
views, it induced suspicion from customers who wondered why the Israeli citron was suddenly so beautiful with an erect Pitam. Disbelief arose in Israel and in Diaspora
, and many rumors spread .
We find the late Grand Rabbi of Munkatch, namely Chaim Elazar Spira
being aware about the change. He speculated that it was the same problem continuously claimed against the Greek in their homeland Greece, namely to be grafted or bred with Lemon
, which renders it non-kosher.
This was not completely false, since those not supervised were of course grafted also upon Bitter orange
or lemon
. Also, even with supervision it is very hard to detect the rootstock type, while not the same as the scion.
Such skeptical views about the beautiful Greek-Israeli were also expressed by the Rabbi Shlomo Eliezer Al-Phandri, and by the former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef
.
Later an ungrafted tree was found in the backyard of a Shochet
in Hadera
with the name Ordang. Today, most Hasidic
communities in Israel as well as in Diaspora
are using descendants of this strain when planted under Hashgacha
.
, following are some links to it.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
citron
Citron
Not to be confused with Cintron.The citron is a fragrant citrus fruit, botanically classified as Citrus medica by both the Swingle and Tanaka systems...
variety of citrus medica ( or יְוָנִי) was botanically classified by Adolf Engler
Adolf Engler
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, like Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien , edited with Karl A. E...
as the "variety etrog
Etrog
Etrog refers to the yellow citron or Citrus medica used by Jews on the week-long holiday of Sukkot.While in modern Hebrew this is the name for any variety of citron, its English usage applies to those varieties and specimens used as one of the Four Species...
". This is remarking on its major use for the Jewish ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
during Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
, due to its supposedly extraordinary natural beauty. It was also called Pitima, or the Cedro - Citron with a Pigolo - a Pitom, because its usually persisting pitom (carpel
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
). The last does not only enhance its character, but also adds Halachic
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
promotion.
Those specific promotional characteristics were considered a threat to other varieties, resulting in more conflicts and controversies than any other ritual species.
Role as Etrog
The variety was initially cultivated at the Ionian IslandsIonian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
, of which Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
is the most prominent one, and that's why Jews sometimes call this the Corfu Etrog. While citron trees are still found on Corfu, and in Naxos, the citron is no longer exported from Greece for the ritual purpose. The Crete citron growers sell it for the candied peel, which is called succade
Succade
Succade is the candied peel of any of the citrus species, especially from the citron or Citrus medica which is distinct with its extra thick peel; in addition, the taste of the inner rind of the citron is less bitter than those of the other citrus...
, and in Naxos it is distilled
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
into a special aromatic liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
called kitron
Kitron
Kitron is a lemon liqueur produced on the Greek island of Naxos. It is made from the fruit and leaves of the citron tree, which is similar to the lemon tree but stronger and slightly different in taste....
.
According to the Romaniotes
Romaniotes
The Romaniotes or Romaniots are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and Greek. They derived their name from the old name for the people...
this variety of citron was in their hands since the times of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
or earlier, and was always used by them for the religious ritual. Afterwards it was appreciated by the Sephardim
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
who settled in Italy, Greece and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, after their exile from Spain in 1492.
Historically speaking, the citron is considered by numerous writers, to be introduced to Europe by the troops of Alexander
Alexander
Alexander is a common male first name, and less common surname. The most famous is Alexander the Great, the King of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.- Origin :...
. It was also described by Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
who succeeded Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
as the curator of the Botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, although it is not certainly clear if they had this specific variety. We don't find a clear illustration of it until the year 1708, when Johann Christoph Volkamer
Johann Christoph Volkamer
Johann Christoph Volkamer was a German merchant, manufacturer and botanist.-Life:Johann Christoph Volkamer was the son of the physician Johann George Volkamer. He was occupied by hobby with the botany and maintained a garden in the today's Nurembergian Gostenhof district...
illustrated it with engraving and text in his Hesperides
Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides are nymphs who tend a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in North Africa at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the world-ocean....
1708, and applied to it the name Juden-Citronat. He was probably the first to associate this variety wearing a Pitam to the religious rite, and this is indicating that the variety was already used by Jews in Italy at that time.
In Ashkenazi hands
When the Corfu started to be imported into the rest of Europe in year 1785, the communities adherent through AshkenaziAshkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
tradition to the Genoese variety
Diamante citron
The Diamante citron is a variety of citron named after the city of Diamante which is its most known cultivation point. Diamante is located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, on the south-western coast of Italy...
were very skeptical about it. The Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
assumed that since the Greek is so much different from the Genoese, it might have been grafted
Grafting
Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...
or hybridized
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
. At the beginning of the 19th century, when the Yanova Esrog
Diamante citron
The Diamante citron is a variety of citron named after the city of Diamante which is its most known cultivation point. Diamante is located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, on the south-western coast of Italy...
was ceased due to the battles of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, it really started to dominate the market.
Ephraim Zalman Margolis
Ephraim Zalman Margolis was a Galician rabbi born in Brody.-Biography:He received his Talmudic education at different yeshivas, in which he distinguished himself for the acuteness of his intellect and for his astonishing memory. His correspondence with Ezekiel Landau and other leading Talmudists...
in his responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
Bet Ephraim (volume 1;56) confirmed that time, that no grafted citron trees are found on the grounds of the Corfu Island. He argues that even if we cannot verify if the plant were propagated by cuttings of grafted plants since the tradition lineage is missing, it should still be considered kosher
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
. Therefore he is concluding that in case no nice, clean and kosher "Yanove Esrog" is to be found, the Corfu Etrog may be used instead. This certification as well as the lenient position of many other authorities, eventually opened doors for the permission of this Etrog.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
market expanded, citrons were also imported from the shores of Greece itself, especially from the regions of Parga
Parga
Parga, , is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the cities of Preveza and Igoumenitsa...
, Rapiza and Agia. Now the conflict was if those plantations are in the same state of kashrus
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
each to another, and to the ones of the Corfu Island.
This controversy started in 1846 when Alexander Ziskind Mintz, an Ashkenazi merchant, started claiming that only those from Parga, the origin of his etrogs, are kosher. He claimed that one could not be sure whether those picked at other places, from newly planted trees, were grafted or not—at least without careful tree checking upon picking. The local Sephardic rabbis in head of Judah Bibas the Chief Rabbi of Corfu, kept arguing that all of them are kosher, and that not one grafted tree is to be found on the island of Corfu as well as at the other regions of cultivation. Their position was supported by the great Rabbi Chaim Palagi the chief rabbi (Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities...
) of İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
in neighboring Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
The dispute ended up with Rabbi Shlomo Kluger
Shlomo Kluger
Solomon ben Judah Aaron Kluger , born at Komarow, Congress Poland, was chief dayyan and preacher of Brody, Galicia. He was successively Rabbi at Rawa , Kulikow , and Józefów , preacher at Brody, and Rabbi at Brezany and, again, at Brody...
banning all sources including, those of Mintz, which were said to be from Parga, and Rabbi Joseph Saul Nathanson
Joseph Saul Nathanson
Joseph Saul Nathanson was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day.-Biography:...
permitting all sources, if they bore a certification from the local rabbis.
The Monopoly and its Break
This controversy did not significantly decrease the abundance of the Corfu since its natural beauty was still able to survive a lot, and the good luck of the Corfu influenced the cultivators that whatever will happen, their citron will proceed...In 1875 they incorporated themselves into a cartel and drastically raised the price of each single etrog to six florins
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
, assuming that the Jews would have no choice and pay the price.
There was an underlying illusion that there is a belief by the Jews that whoever doesn't reveal a Corfu Etrog for Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
will not survive the next year.
However, this was not the case. The rabbi of Kovno
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor
Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor was a Russian rabbi, Posek and Talmudic sage of the 19th century.- Early struggles :...
intended to stop this record breaking monopoly, and banned the Corfu Etrog until the prices would be lowered, and the status of kashrus clarified. Even the rabbi of Corfu certified in a letter that there were already many grafted trees in the region, and the certification process was very complex. The ban was further supported with signatures of many leading rabbi's throughout Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
The preferred etrog was now the Balady citron
Balady citron
Balady Citron , is a variety of citron, or etrog, grown in Israel for Jewish ritual purposes. Balady is Arabic for "native." Local Arab farmers began using this name in the mid-19th century to distinguish this variety from the Greek citron, which was cultivated along the Jaffa seashore.The Balady...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, which just started being imported, but they placed even the Corsican citron
Corsican citron
The Corsican citron is a sweet pulp citron, which was traditionally one of the most important varieties employed in Succade production. The name is from its most original cultivation center which is even today, at the French Island of Corsica or Corse...
above the Corfu, while the most respected Genoese citron
Diamante citron
The Diamante citron is a variety of citron named after the city of Diamante which is its most known cultivation point. Diamante is located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, on the south-western coast of Italy...
was very hard to get.
This act severely affected the Greek planters and dealers, and caused them to remain with the high costs and no salary, forcing them to stop to monopolize the prices.
The Blood Libel and Pogrom
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
season of 1891, an unidentified female body was found on a street neighboring the Jewish Ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
. The Greek Etrog growers called the police with a claim that this was the work of the Jewish fellows
Blood libel
Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
.
The local Church officials on Corfu (as well as on the other Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
) maintained a deliberate neutrality during the anti-Semitic events and did not support the government's efforts to reestablish order, unlike the high echelons of the Church who took measures to limit the anti-semitic mood. Similarly the Greek press played a role in publicizing the unfairness of the accusations. The culprits were never prosecuted however.
Partial decline
Balady citron
Balady Citron , is a variety of citron, or etrog, grown in Israel for Jewish ritual purposes. Balady is Arabic for "native." Local Arab farmers began using this name in the mid-19th century to distinguish this variety from the Greek citron, which was cultivated along the Jaffa seashore.The Balady...
etrogs, but was still doing well in the western European and Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
communities, especially with the Hungarians. (Jews from Hungary customarily used the Greek etrog, considering it beautiful, and wouldn't accept an etrog without a Pitam. )
After World War II, when all who remained with their lives through the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Concentration camps settled eventually in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
or the United States, some still continued using the Greek for at least two decades.
In year 1956, Rabbi Yeshaye Gross, a Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
from Brooklyn proceeded to visit the orchards in Calabria
Diamante citron
The Diamante citron is a variety of citron named after the city of Diamante which is its most known cultivation point. Diamante is located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, on the south-western coast of Italy...
, and found out that a large percentage of the trees are actually grafted.
From then on he realized that no Etrog could be picked off the tree without a careful inspection, which he was allowed and able to do.
By the Greek, in contrary, the planters didn't let any Jewish merchants to visit their orchards, neither to check their trees, and only sold etrogs in the Island of Corfu. This forced many Satmars
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
to switch back to the traditional Yanova Citron, even not wearing a Pitam. The cultivation of the Greek citron is from now on concentrated in Halki, Naxos
Naxos
-Places:*Naxos , an island in the Cyclades group**Naxos , a town and former municipality on the island of Naxos**Naxos , a Greek government division created from the former Cyclades Prefecture in 2011...
where there is a small production for distillery.
In those years, the Moroccan citron
Moroccan citron
The Moroccan sweet citron was first described in detail by Professor Henri Chapot, in his article named Un curieux cedrat Marocain . He discovered that the acidity in the more common citrons or lemons, is represented by violet pigmentation on the outer side of the flower blossom, and also by the...
took place and appealed for both traditional purity without any history of grafting, and its bearing a persistent healthy Pitam.
Still the Skverer rebbe manages to get annually one esrog from Corfu. The esrog is brought from Greece by Meyer Knoblach from New Square.
Introduction to Israel
The Greek citron would have been completely lost, if something would not happen, which established it in another country, namely PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
(today's Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
).
At about 1850, Sir Moses Montefiore
Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, Kt was one of the most famous British Jews of the 19th century. Montefiore was a financier, banker, philanthropist and Sheriff of London...
was instrumental to establish etrog plantations in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, in order to help the Jewish settlers
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
to survive. As the Balady of Palestine
Balady citron
Balady Citron , is a variety of citron, or etrog, grown in Israel for Jewish ritual purposes. Balady is Arabic for "native." Local Arab farmers began using this name in the mid-19th century to distinguish this variety from the Greek citron, which was cultivated along the Jaffa seashore.The Balady...
had minor chance for success being not so great in shape, color etc., with a persistent style
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
ratio as low as 1;1000 – the Sephardic
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
settlers who were always positive about the Corfu, planted its seeds at coastal region of Israel, especially in region of Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
. The transplantation was witnessed as kosher by the local Sephardic Rabbi Yehuda Halevi.
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
ic farmers imported cuttings from Greece, which they budded onto lemon rootstock for longer life. The Corfu variety, which they called Kubbad abu Nunia (-the citron with persistent style), did not acclimatize well in Palestinian land, so growers started grafting on a large scale.
The great scholar and kabballist
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
Rabbi Aaron Ezrial of the Beit El Synagogue
Beit El Synagogue
The Beit El Synagogue , has been the center of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem for over 250 years.-History of the Yeshivat HaMekubalim:The yeshiva was founded in 1737 by Rabbi Gedaliah Hayon, originally from...
, still certified some ungrafted citron orchards in Jaffa by eliminating the plants he found to be grafted. The Greek-Jaffa citron was also promoted by most of the Sephardic and even some Ashkenazic rabbis who saw a great future in those beautiful and Pitamed citron. The permission was based upon inspection each and every tree prior to pick, just like it is practiced today in Calabria
Diamante citron
The Diamante citron is a variety of citron named after the city of Diamante which is its most known cultivation point. Diamante is located in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, on the south-western coast of Italy...
. The major Ashkenazic authorities in Jerusalem at that time were Rabbi Meir Auerbach and Rabbi Shmuel Salant
Shmuel Salant
Shmuel Salant served as the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 70years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar.-Biography:...
, who permitted only the Balady plantations.
In the following time the Balady was no longer able to compete with the much nicer Greek Citron, and went off the market. In reaction, the Jaffa Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
, who founded and headed the "Atzei Hadar" union for kosher etrog cultivators and marketers, very much promoted intraspecific grafting upon Balady citron rootstock, which is permitted by Halacha.
The act lead to the establishment of a beautiful variety in Israel, yet kosher, and saved the economy of Israel for decades. As of today it is the leading variety in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and is a very important article in international trade.
Suspicions
Although the graft of Greek citron upon Balady rootstock was a very great idea from practical and HalachicHalakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
views, it induced suspicion from customers who wondered why the Israeli citron was suddenly so beautiful with an erect Pitam. Disbelief arose in Israel and in Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, and many rumors spread .
We find the late Grand Rabbi of Munkatch, namely Chaim Elazar Spira
Chaim Elazar Spira
Rabbi Chaim Elazar Spira was one of the rebbes of the Hasidic movement Munkacz .-Family background:...
being aware about the change. He speculated that it was the same problem continuously claimed against the Greek in their homeland Greece, namely to be grafted or bred with Lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
, which renders it non-kosher.
This was not completely false, since those not supervised were of course grafted also upon Bitter orange
Bitter orange
The name "bitter orange", also known as Seville orange, sour orange, bigarade orange, and marmalade orange, refers to a citrus tree and its fruit. Many varieties of bitter orange are used for their essential oil, which is used in perfume and as a flavoring...
or lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
. Also, even with supervision it is very hard to detect the rootstock type, while not the same as the scion.
Such skeptical views about the beautiful Greek-Israeli were also expressed by the Rabbi Shlomo Eliezer Al-Phandri, and by the former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
.
Later an ungrafted tree was found in the backyard of a Shochet
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
in Hadera
Hadera
Hadera is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel approximately from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along of the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain...
with the name Ordang. Today, most Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
communities in Israel as well as in Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
are using descendants of this strain when planted under Hashgacha
Hechsher
A hechsher is the special certification marking found on the packages of products that have been certified as kosher . In Halakha , the dietary laws of kashrut specify food items that may be eaten and others that are prohibited as set out in the commandments of the Torah...
.
See also
- History of the Jews in GreeceHistory of the Jews in GreeceThere have been organized Jewish communities in Greece for more than two thousand years. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews"...
- Isser Zalman MeltzerIsser Zalman MeltzerIsser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel" - the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
- Kehila Kedosha JaninaKehila Kedosha JaninaKehila Kedosha Janina is a Romaniote synagogue situated in Chinatown, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.-History:Kehila Kedosha Janina holds the distinction of being the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. The congregation was founded in 1906 by Greek Jewish...
HaLevanon Links
The etrog controversy in the years of 1875-6, was mainly led by the Hebrew Newspaper HaLevanon, between the letters from both sides we can obtain very much important information. Today, it is digitized and available online by the Hebrew University of JerusalemHebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, following are some links to it.
- HaLevanon 7 - no 32 - browse right to page 2
- HaLevanon 11 - no 7,no 35, no 36,no 39 The ruling of Rabbi Spektor,no 41,no 44,no 45,no 46 - see also page 6,no 50.
- HaLevanon 12 - no 1 - go to page 3,no 2, no 3,no 4,no 5,no 6, no 7, no 43,no 49, no 50
- HaLevanon 13 - no 3 - go right away to page 4, no 8 - go right to page 3,no 42,no 47.
Google Books
- Origin of Cultivated Plants By Alphonse de Candolle
- Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops ..., Volume 4 By Peter Hanelt, Rudolf Mansfeld, R. Büttner
- The Mediterranean Diets in Health and Disease
- A History of the Jews in Modern Times
External links
- The Extra-ordinary History of Etrog
- Essay by Eliezer Segal
- Innvista page about citrons
- The Citrus Variety Collection by the University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
Riverside - Citrus Pages
- Corfu Pogrom
- Remnants of ancient synagogue in Albania or by Science Daily
- Greek Legends and Stories By M.V. Seton-Williams
- The Jewish Encyclopedia Etrog Corfu
- The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust
- In the Arboretum Today
- The Jewish Encyclopedia Etrog Corfu
- Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia By Audrey H. Ensminger
- Viroid infection on Etrog Citron by the USDA