by Rabbi Nachum Scheiner
Source for using an esrog
The Pasuk in Parshas Emor states: וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר “You shall take on the first day a p’ree eitz hadar, a fruit of a tree, which is beautiful.” How do we know it means an esrog? Also, we need to clarify if the adjective, beautiful is referring to the fruit or to the tree.
There are a number of explanations given:
Rashi, in Chumash, quotes the Gemara Sukkah (35a), that the word הָ דָ ר can also be read as הַ דָ ר – which dwells. While other fruits fall off the tree, an esrog remains on the tree from year to year.
Rashi also quotes another explanation from the Gemara. The words פְּ רִ י עֵ ץ – the fruit of a tree – seem to be superfluous, as every fruit grows on a tree. The Gemara explains that it means the fruit and the tree are the same, meaning that the taste of the fruit and the branches are the same.
The Kapos Temarim explains that this is not referring to the taste of the fruit itself, since the fruit does not have the same taste as the tree. Rather, it means that the taste of the peel and the branches are the same. However, the Kapos Temarim wonders about this, since a lemon also boasts the same characteristic – the taste of the peel and the branches are the same. So, how do we know the Torah means an esrog, and not a lemon? He explains that an esrog is unique, as it is mostly comprised of the peel. It is therefore reasonable to say that the Torah is referring to an esrog, since most of the fruit has the same taste as the branches.
This is all based on the explanation given by the Gemara and quoted by Rashi, that although the esrog is not spelled out, it is alluded to in the language of the pasuk.
The Rambam, in his introduction to Peirush Hamishnayos, discusses the concept of asmachta, an allusion in the language of the pasuk. He explains that whenever the Gemara finds an asmachta, it is not because we were unsure of the fact. We know that it is true, based on our unending chain all the way back to the generation that received the Torah, and we are not questioning its validity.
Similarly, the Rambam adds, when the Torah writes פְּ רִ י עֵ ץ הָ דָ ר, we know that the Torah means an esrog, simply because that is what was taught to Moshe on Har Sinai and handed down from generation to generation. That is what was used by our parents and grandparents, and even if there would be no clear source in the pasuk, we would know that it is an esrog. When the Gemara asks: “how do we know that it is an esrog, maybe it is a different fruit?” the Gemara was not entertaining a possibility that it is a different fruit. The Gemara was just finding an allusion to this fact in the text of the pasuk, but we have no doubt that the Torah is referring to an esrog.
The Ramban in Chumash, however, suggests that there is also a source in the simple reading of the text of the pasuk. He quotes the Ibn Ezra, who says that when the Torah requires a beautiful fruit, it is obviously referring to an esrog, which is, by far, the most beautiful fruit. According to this, the word “hadar” is an adjective, describing the esrog as a beautiful fruit.
The question still remains: Even if an esrog is the nicest fruit, where do we see in the Torah a requirement to take the nicest? As long as it is a nice fruit, it should also qualify. We can suggest that when the Torah writes “hadar,” it does not mean to take a nice fruit, but to take the most beautiful fruit, which is an esrog. Additionally, since the esrog is the nicest, all other fruits cannot be called beautiful, since in comparison with an esrog they are not so beautiful.
The Ramban, himself, suggests that the word “hadar,” which means nice, or desirable, is actually a noun and is another word for the esrog tree, since the word esrog in Aramaic also means nice, or desirable. According to the Ramban the word “hadar” is the name of both the tree and the fruit in Hebrew and the word “esrog” is the name of both the tree and the fruit in Aramaic.
In summary
Rashi and the Rambam, based on the Gemara, maintain that the source for the esrog is from an asmachta, an allusion. And according to the Ibn Ezra and the Ramban, the simple understanding of the text of the pasuk is referring to an esrog.
Rabbi Scheiner
