(JTA) — A bumper harvest of etrogs is taking a more direct direction to Israel this year, thanks to a historic confluence of geopolitics and devout observance.
Once home to the Arab world’s largest Jewish network, Morocco has a long history of citrus culmination production used by millions of Jews in every Sukkot; in fact, culture says that etrog trees were first planted in the Atlas Mountains about 2,000 years ago through Jews who discovered there a safe haven among Berber tribes after the destruction of the Second Temple. of Jerusalem.
Jewish communities around the world import thousands of Moroccan etrogs every year: they are more affordable than the Calabrian variety, the Citron Diamond, prized by some Hasidic groups, which can charge heaps of dollars for an unblemished specimen.
But the Israeli market, where most of the world’s Orthodox Jews live, has its own etrog and strict controls on agricultural imports.
The only time Moroccan etrogs are welcome in Israel is after the shmita year, the seventh year of the Jewish agricultural cycle, when Jewish law forbids tillage in the land of Israel. Although not all Israeli farmers adhere to the agricultural cycle prescribed by Jewish law, those who produce ritual products such as etrogs will have to do so, or their produce would be out of reach of a devout clientele.
The last Jewish year ended with Rosh Hashanah a shmita year, meaning no etrog is cultivated in Israel for this year’s holiday of Sukkot, which began Sunday night. Instead, a large number of etrogs traveled from Morocco to Israel, as they did seven years ago.
This time, however, its trail was facilitated through a normalization agreement reached through Israel and Morocco two years ago, as a component of a series of industrial agreements between Israel and Arab countries aimed at opening new diplomatic and economic relations.
“Before the deal, we had to sell through a third country,” Hervey Levy, a businessman and member of the Agadir Jewish network that operates an etrog farm, told the Jewish Telegraph Agency. “It may just be Turkey, it may just be Spain. “, it may just be Italy, it had to transit somewhere. “
Several agreements aimed at facilitating industry between Morocco and Israel after their normalization agreement, which is a component of the Abraham Accords negotiated through the United States, have yet to be signed, according to Einat Levi, former head of economic affairs for Israel’s diplomatic project in Morocco. But he said that the industry in etrogs, which as a devout object is subject to other regulations than other agricultures, evidences the prospect of relations between the countries.
“It’s symbolic because it shows how two religions can protect each other, so that when Jews can’t paint their land, their Muslim co-religionists can provide them with whatever they want that year, so they can maintain their ritual and tradition,” Levi said.
This year, Hervey Levy sent his etrogs to Israel from Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s national airline. The normalization agreement has also taken passengers on the other side, he said: competition in etrog trade.
“This year is the first time it’s a shmita after the deals, so we had a lot of other people, some newcomers looking for luck,” Levy said. He doesn’t know the formula for shipping and packing, but he has also experienced other people who have been there for a long time. “
For Levy and the Jews of Agadir, the era of a few weeks before Rosh Hashanah is a moment of satisfaction. A few dozen Jewish merchants descended on the Berber-speaking mountain villages around Agadir, regularly revitalizing local Shabbat facilities during their visit.
“Everyone ended up in the synagogue, so we are very satisfied because the synagogue is complete this time,” Levy said.
This year, however, Levy said there were enough investors to stay together on Shabbat in a hotel in the mountains, where they can walk to the etrog farms.
There are fewer than 2,000 Jews left in Morocco, but Berber-speaking Muslims have long grown the fruit in the Atlas Mountains villages around the coastal city of Agadir. Jews as a vital trading center in the direction between sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe.
Among them, a dozen etrogs. Levy’s father planted his family’s farm decades ago.
“My father, zichrona l’vracha, long ago took small trees from the mountains, to the position where they were first grown here, and began to harvest them in the valley,” Levy recalls, Hebrew words meaning “May your reminiscence be a blessing. “
Levy’s father is far from being an undisputed farmer. Industrialist and entrepreneur, president of the Jewish network of Agadir and member of the Moroccan parliament, however, for him, developing etrogs is a hard labor of love.
Although they exported the fruit abroad, for the Moroccan Jewish community it presented its harvest for free.
His father passed away last year, but Levy, whose full-time job is as a business consultant, made sure the orchard went fallow this year.
Levy’s circle of relatives farm has about 400 trees and has produced about 9,000 completions this year, and another Jewish-run farm in Agadir is at least twice its size, he said. In comparison, the average village orchards in the mountains have only 60 to a hundred trees.
“There are a lot of Muslim landowners who have smaller land,” Levy explained.
However, no one gets through trade. While the most productive quality etrog, rated “Aleph-Aleph” on the Israeli scale, can sell for upwards of $80 in Morocco and more abroad, the lower-quality etrogim “Bet” charges only about $15 and “Gimels” less than $10.
Only 5% of the crop is of Aleph quality, Levy explained, while 40% are Bets and the rest are Gimel.
Along with the lulav, a bundle of bound branches, the etrog is an essential ritual object used on Sukkot; Jewish law calls on followers to tear the holidays to shreds. The increased demand for etrogs meant that the newly eliminated scale in their adventure between Morocco and Israel was never the main impediment to their importation.
“It is very difficult to establish customs for ethrogim from outside Israel,” Levy said, “except for the shmita year. “
Although the synagogue in Agadir may not have been completed this year, the shipments of etrog were. About 600,000 etrogs were exported from Morocco, Levy estimated: 10% more than in a typical year, with a higher percentage than the previous year destined for Israel. but also to Jews all over the world.
“Even in Brazil, in Singapore, anywhere there’s a small community,” Levy said.
Do you depend on The Times of Israel for accurate and insightful facts about Israel and the Jewish world?If so, sign up for The Times of Israel community. For as little as $6 a month, you:
That’s why we introduced The Times of Israel ten years ago: to provide discerning readers like you with the must-have politics of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other media outlets, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do is expensive, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become vital to help our paintings join the Times of Israel community.
For just $6 a month, you can help our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, and access exclusive content only for members of The Times of Israel community.
Thank you, David Horovitz, founding editor of The Times of Israel.