Sukka 36 a, b

We continue learning about the etrog.  What kinds of damage can the etrog endure and still be part of the mitzvah of lulav?  What blemishes or problems inside of the etrog will cause it to be unfit?  The rabbis look at factors including holes, cracks, splits, piercings, liquefication,* swelling, spoiling, pickling, boiling, colouring,** blanching, size and shape, and state of ripening.  Each of these is detailed and argued to determine the fitness of the etrog.  Every year when I buy an etrog, I look at it, bring it to my nose to inhale its unique, serene aroma, and I admire its physical shape and texture.  I had no idea what had already gone on with my etrog: someone had examined it for all of the listed factors to ensure its halachic fitness.  I wonder how many etrogim are discarded every year.  Are they composted?  Made into jam? 

Some of my questions about yesterday's daf were explained in today's learning.  I was not clear on how the rabbis were able to use tithing and related practices to determine the fitness of etrogim.  Today I learned from Abaye that tithing is applied to things that grow from the ground, which were determined to be fruit.  An etrog that is too young or too small or green in colour might not be considered fruit at all.  It is not 'beautiful'.  And if it is not a fruit, it cannot be tithed.  I know that I am still missing information about how this works, but it was fun to put together these particular puzzle pieces.

Amud (b) takes these considerations further.  We cannot purposefully use a mold to shape an etrog into another shape and use that etrog for our mitzvot.  The etrog must look like an etrog.  But what does that mean, to look like an etrog (I am reminded of Plato's forms).  And although an etrog that is missing a small portion because of a mouse is unfit until that section is removed - because it is repulsive - Rabbi Chanina would take a bite from his etrogim and then use them for the mitzvot.  The rabbis enjoy debating about how this was possible.  Did he have many etrogim?  Did he interpret the halachot differently?  

In order to understand one of the rabbis' debates regarding etrogim, we learn about another debate.  What is interesting to me is not the debate but the learning about societal norms that comes from this debate.  On Shabbat, apparently our halacha allows us to carry three stones (they debate about the size of those stones) with us when we go to the bathroom.  We are permitted to break the Shabbat requirement 'not to carry' in order to preserve human dignity.  So we learn again (this was also detailed in Masechet Shabbat) how people cleaned themselves after defecating.  But using only stones sounds both ineffective - and painful!  

We conclude today's daf with a Mishna: Rabbi Yehuda teaches that we should bind the lulav only with one of the four species.  Rabbi Meir counters that string and even gold rings were used to bind the lulav.  However, one of the species was also used as binding in these circumstances.

Rava extends Rabbi Yehuda's ruling to include the trunk of each tree.  If we use another substance, we are carrying more than the four mandated species.  He goes on to teach that this argument is connected with the construction of the sukka.  Should we only use the four species to construct the roof of the sukka, as well?

Thinking about the binding of the lulav, I cannot quite picture the material used.  Certainly it is a natural fibre, though.  I can picture the casing that holds the four species.  It is a long, rectangular basket woven of what must be leaves from the palm tree.  But I am imagining that those leaves are treated somehow.  Perhaps I'm wrong... and I am not sure at this point whether I will look this up or whether I'll have to wait for next Sukkot to find out.


*the rabbis compare etrogim that are fine on the outside but liquefied on the inside to animals' lungs that have been damaged to the point of liquefication.  They discuss some of that halacha, which includes examining the bronchial to determine whether they are intact.

**if an etrog is dark, it might be called a Kushite etrog.  The theory is that etrogim in Kush were darker than average etrogim.  If all etrogim are darkly hued, they are fit.  If they are extremely dark, they are unfit.