The Etrog: Heart of Judaism

(14) Rabbi Mani began: “All my bones will say: Lord, who is comparable to You” (Psalms 35:10) – this verse is stated only for the sake of the palm branch. The spine of the palm branch resembles the spine of a person, the myrtle resembles the eye, the willow resembles the mouth, and the citron resembles the heart. David said: There are none among the limbs greater than these, as they are equal in significance to the entire body. That is, “all my bones will say.”

(9) And they celebrated the Festival to the Lord for eight days, like the festival of Sukkot, and they remembered the previous days when they celebrated of the festival of Sukkot in the mountains and in the caves, and they went out in the desolation/wilderness, like wild beasts.

(10) And they took the willows of the brook and the branches of palm trees, they and sang a song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, who gave them courage and salvation to purify the temple of his holiness.

(12) Another matter: “The fruit of a pleasant [hadar] tree” – this is Israel; just as the citron has taste and has fragrance, so Israel has people among them who have Torah and have good deeds. “Branches of date palms” – this is Israel; just as the date palm has taste but has no fragrance, so Israel has people among them who have Torah but do not have good deeds. “A bough of a leafy tree” – this is Israel; just as the myrtle has fragrance but has no taste, so Israel has people among them who have good deeds but do not have Torah. “Willows of the brook” – this is Israel; just as the willow has no taste and has no fragrance, so Israel has people among them who do not have Torah and do not have good deeds. What does the Holy One blessed be He do to them? To eradicate them is not possible. Rather, the Holy One blessed be He said: Let them all be bound together in a single bundle and they will atone for one another. If you do so, at that moment, I will be ascendant [mitaleh]. That is what is written: “Who built His upper chamber [maalotav] in the heavens” (Amos 9:6). When is He ascendant? When they are made into a single group, as it is stated: “And established His group upon earth” (Amos 9:6). Therefore, Moses exhorts Israel and says to them: “You shall take for you on the first day.”

(7) What was that tree [of knowledge] from which Adam and Eve ate? Rabbi Meir said: It was wheat. When a person does not have knowledge, people say: That person has never eaten wheat bread in all his days.27This shows that wheat is a food that stimulates knowledge and intelligence. Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak asked before Rabbi Ze’eira, saying to him: ‘Is it possible that it was wheat?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘But is it not written that it was a “tree”?’ He said to him: ‘It [the wheat in Eden] rose to a great height, like the cedars of Lebanon.’28And therefore could rightly be described as a “tree.”
Rabbi Yaakov bar Aḥa said: There is a dispute between Rabbi Neḥemya and the Rabbis.29They were discussing the blessing over bread, which praises God for “bringing forth bread” from the earth. The difficulty is that bread does not, of course, grow from the ground. Rabbi Neḥemya said: [“Blessed be God…] who brings forth [hamotzi] bread from the earth, [meaning] that He brought forth bread from the earth in the past.30Hamotzi (“who brings forth”) can also connote an event in the past (see Numbers 23:22). When Adam was created and placed in the Garden, finished bread grew from the ground. This was discontinued when he sinned. The Rabbis say: [Blessed be God …] who brings forth [motzi] bread from the earth, [meaning] that He will bring forth bread from the earth in the future,31Motzi (“who brings forth”) can also connote an event in the future (see Exodus 6:7). In the Messianic future finished bread will grow from the ground. as it is stated: “There will be bread [pisat] from grain upon the earth” (Psalms 72:16).
Lefet32Lefet means turnip. In some dialects, the word pisat (translated in the Psalms verse under discussion as bread) also means turnip. The midrash explains the connection. – there is a dispute between two Amora’im, Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak and Rabbi Shmuel bar Ami. One said: Lefet – was it not [once] bread [lo pat]?33In Adam’s day one did not need to eat turnips, because there was bread growing from the ground. And the other said: Lefet – is it going to be bread [lo pat] in the future?34In the Messianic future, instead of turnips there will be bread growing from the ground.
Rabbi Yirmeya recited the blessing before Rabbi Zeira: Who brings forth [hamotzi] bread from the earth, and he praised him. [Did he act] in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Neḥemya? This is bewildering.35In a dispute between an individual rabbi and the Rabbis as a group, it is the view of the majority that should be followed. In this case, Rabbi Neḥemya was arguing with the Rabbis. [No,] it was, rather, so as not to slur the [adjacent identical] letters.36The word before “hamotzi” is haolam, which ends with a mem. Were one to recite the word as motzi, the first letter of motzi would be slurred with the final letter of haolam. Using the word hamotzi solves that problem.
Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai said: They [the forbidden fruits that Adam ate] were grapes, as it is stated: “Their grapes are grapes of poison, clusters of bitterness for them” (Deuteronomy 32:32) – those clusters brought bitterness to the world.
Rabbi Abba of Akko said it was a citron. That is what is written: “The woman saw that the tree was good for eating…” (Genesis 3:6).37Implying that the tree itself had a good taste. Go out and see which is the tree whose wood has a taste like its fruit, and you will find only the citron.
Rabbi Yosei says: They were figs. It is a matter that is derived from its context.38After the sin, Adam and Eve used fig leaves to hide their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). This is analogous to the a prince’s son who sinned with one of the maidservants. When the prince heard, he expelled him and had him removed outside the palace. He circulated among the houses of all the maidservants, but none would receive him. But the one with whom he sinned opened her door and received him. So, too, when Adam the first man ate from that tree, the Holy One blessed be He expelled him and had him removed outside the Garden of Eden. He circulated among all the trees but none would receive him.39They would not allow him to use their leaves to clothe himself. What did they say to him? Rabbi Berekhya said: ‘Here is the thief who deceived his Creator.’ That is what is written: “Let no arrogant foot come to me” (Psalms 36:12) – the foot of one who was arrogant towards his Creator. “Let the hand of the wicked not move me” (Psalms 36:12) – you may not take a leaf from me. But the fig tree, whose fruit he had eaten, opened its door and received him. That is what is written: “They sewed fig leaves” (Genesis 3:7).
What [type of] fig was it ? Rabbi Avin said: It was the berat sheva species, as it brought seven [sheva] days of mourning to the world.40As a result of the sin, death, and the ensuing seven-day period of mourning, was introduced into the world. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: It was the berat elita species, as it brought weeping [elita] to the world.
Rabbi Azarya and Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Far be it that God should have revealed [the identity of] that tree to any man, nor will He reveal it in the future. See what is written: “A woman who will approach any animal [to copulate with her, you shall kill the woman and the animal]” (Leviticus 20:16) – though the person sinned, what sin did the animal commit? [The animal did not sin,] but it is [killed] so that the animal should not pass through the marketplace, where people would say: This is the animal on whose account so-and-so was stoned.41And the memory of that woman would be sullied. If He is concerned about the dignity of his [Adam’s] descendants [even though they had committed a grievous sin], is it not all the more so regarding his [Adam’s] own dignity [after his sin]? That is a rhetorical question.