The Peculiar History of the Etrog

Your Sukkot preparations may well involve purchasing an exotic yellow-green citrus fruit a bit larger than a lemon with a leathery rind, a funny little pollination stem (called a pitam), and a characteristically fragrant smell. But why?

In his new, slender, densely researched, and richly illusjudaistrated Etrog: How a Chinese Fruit Became a Jewish Symbol, David Z. Moster explains the geographic and textual story behind the citrus fruit that has more seeds than pulp, never rots but instead slowly dries out, and appears in the U.S. market at exorbitant prices for the sole purpose of being waved together with branches from three trees indigenous to the Middle East on the holiday of Sukkot.