The Moroccan citron () is a true

citron The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick Peel (fruit), rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the Citrus taxonomy#Citrons, original citrus fruits from which al ...

variety native to Assads, Morocco, which is still today its main center of cultivation.

Sweet citron

The Moroccan citron was described by the Moroccan professor Henri Chapot, as being a sweet citron, meaning that its pulp is low in acid. He discovered that the acidity in the more common citrons or

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

s, is represented by red on the inner coat of seeds specifically on the chalazal spot, violet pigmentation on the outer side of the flower blossom, and also by the new buds that are reddish-purplish. The Moroccan citron which is acidless is completely lacking the red color. This designation was cited by Herbert John Webber and Leon Dexter Batchelor the editors of the fundamental treatise on

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

, namely The Citrus Industry, which was published by the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

in 1967. Chapot was probably first to describe this variety of citron in detail, along with illustrations of many forms of the fruit, and all the properties of the

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

, leaves and blossoms. He also mentions that the true citron of Morocco, which is traditionally only grown in the region of Assads, for the sake of the mitzva of four species, and is oblong, acidless and rather dry, is much different than the rounded citron hybrid,

Rhobs el Arsa Rhobs al-Arsa (''Citrus limon'' (L.) Burm. f.) is a very popular citrus fruit in Morocco. Names Rhobs al-Arsa is Arabic for bread of the garden, or ''"Garden Loaf"''. This citrus hybrid has many other names, such as Al-zanbu, Khoubs al-Arsa, Ko ...

, that is more commonly grown for food in the entire country of Morocco, and its taste is acidic and fruity. The only other known sweet citron is the Corsican.

Use as etrog

The exact date when the variety came into use for

etrog Etrog (, plural: ; Ashkenazi Hebrew: , plural: ) is the yellow citron (''Citrus medica'') used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and ''Aravah (Sukkot), aravah'', th ...

is unknown. According to the local Jewry, it was with them since they were exiled to Morocco after the destruction of the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

. From then on it was highly revered by all the rabbis and communities of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, without any interruption or controversy. During time, it got accepted also by

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

communities all over

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Location of cultivation

The precise location of cultivation is at the village Assads in the Taroudant Province, and a 100 km east of

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

, as was numerously reported by rabbinical and secular sources.

Graft free

Grafted citrons are not

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

for ritual use on the biblical Jewish holiday

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

, according to Jewish religious laws, (''

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

''), and some prefer to search for etrog citrons none of whose ancestors had been grafted. In 1995, professor Eliezer E. Goldschmidt together with a delegation of

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

s were hired by rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, to check out if Morocco is still in the same state of ''

kashrut (also or , ) is a set of Food and drink prohibitions, dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to halakha, Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed ko ...

'', and if any grafted

is to be found over there. Goldschmidt asked the Moroccan professor of horticulture, namely Mohamed El-Otmani from Agadir, to assist. All together they climbed up the Anti-Atlas canyon where the local

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

s have been cultivating the Moroccan citron for many centuries, and they were very impressed from the old tradition which is practiced there, finding not one grafted citron tree. The delegation presented their finding to Eliashiv, who was very happy about the information that the Moroccan wilderness still presents the unbroken lineage, of a non-grafted etrog.

The lack of seeds

However, in 1960, Schraga Schlomai, a renowned etrog grower recounted the misfortunes of all the used etrog types besides the one he was growing, which he claimed to be a descendant of the Balady citron from

Umm al-Fahm Umm al-Fahm ( , ''Umm al-Faḥm''; ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Palestinian citizens of Israel. The city is situated on the Umm al-Fahm ...

. As to the Diamante citron (Yanova) and the Greek citron (Corfu), he argued based on the booklet from the Salant partners, that since some of them are proven to be grafted, no certification may be granted to the rest, since it is impossible to determine if the non-grafted citrons are not descendants of the grafted ones. Halved_seedless_Moroccan_citron

As to the Moroccan and Yemenite citrons he argued, that although there were no grafted trees ever discovered among those kinds, they should be unfit, in light of the differentiation from the Ashkenazi types. The Moroccan citron is allegedly noted for its seedlessness, and the Yemenite for its pulplessness, both are too much different in morphology from the traditional Yanova and Israeli esrogs. In 1980, when the market in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

changed very much in favor of the Moroccan citron, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the Klausenberger Rebbe, reconsolidated the claims of Schraga Schlomai and carried out a banning of the Moroccan for religious use. His ruling was based on the fact that some of them have no seeds, and seeing that the Shiyurei Kneseth haGedola ( Orach Chaim 648) discuses what direction the seeds should be facing to prove their purity, he concluded that an authentic citron should always be seedy. The seeds of the Moroccan citron when present, are actually facing utmost vertically as required, and the partial seedlessness cannot be a result of graft, as the trees were already checked various times, as being completely free of any grafting.

Genetic purity

As to natural hybridization that may have occurred to certain types of citron, and should result in genetic and morphological changes, it is very unlikely in light of the DNA comparison conducted by Elizabetta Nicolosi from

University of Catania The University of Catania () is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest in the world. With over 38,000 enrolled students, it is the largest uni ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and a group of researchers from around the globe, where it was found to be completely pure citron and extremely similar to the rest of kosher

Notes

References

Letter by Rabbi Kluger, the son of Rabbi
Solomon Kluger about the Moroccan citron. * The Report by professor Eliezer E. Goldschmidt, in Halichoth Sadeh תשנ"ח, is available for reading i
Otzar haChochma

{{Jews and Judaism in Morocco Agriculture in Morocco Berber culture Citron Citrus Four species (Sukkot) Moroccan cuisine Sukkot