The Beis Medrash of Crown Heights had a hands-on esrog shiur Wednesday night, where the maggid shiur Rabbi Motty Lipskier suggested that buying an esrog is like going on a shidduch date.
“To start with, you need to know what to look for, and you must decide which things are absolutely not negotiable and which things you are willing to do without,” he said.
“But once you’ve decided on an esrog, be committed to it, decide to love it and do not keep opening the box and looking for possible blemishes and second guessing yourself.
“The same goes for shidduchim, he explained. “Once you’ve made your decision and gotten engaged, stop shopping! Stop delving into her maalos and chisronos. Decide to love her regardless of any blemishes you may start noticing.”
Rabbi Lipskier brought down shulchan aruch, gemaras, tosfos and stories from which to understand what a perfect esrog should look like.
He also showed a diagram of a human heart and showed how similar the shape is to the shape of the esrogim that Chabad uses. With the help of some dried esrogim from previous years and a few new, possul esrogim he demonstrated the ideal shape, size, color, pitum, etc. of an esrog.
He also discussed what the Rebbe’s esrogim looked like and the things we can learn from them.
DOWNLOAD:
+ Don’t Get Stuck With a Lemon (Word file)
+ Heart Outline Hand-Out
Key word is “buying”.
With enough money and a bit of mazel you can get the “best” esrog. Money helps for a shidduch, but you still need lots of mazel.
In shidduchim: The “fruit” may be shiny on the outside but rotten at the core. “Blemishes” develop months or years later.
I hope we never have an “Esrog Crisis”. Seriously, if there would be as many shadchonim as there are merchants of esrogim, with the same aggressivness to make the “sale”, I am sure the Shidduch Crisis would instantly dissolve.
You just think the grass is greener by your neighbor, in everything, Shiduch, Esrog, house, bank acct .etc.. But after you check good, you’d rather take back your own “peckel”
And does a bas kol call out which esrog you will get for sukkos before you are born?
They are very different: the esrog you can choose again next year.
yes.. you pick one,, then you see your friends esrog and wish you had his!
the hand out with all the sources was really great. can you make that download available too?
also the heart outline does not come up but then i searched “esrog” on your beismedrash website and i found it so thanks.
mechutonim are like esrog and lulav
for seven days halt men zach tzuzamen and after the 7 days you throw them away…
its soooo true i spent 4 hrs picken one out while learnin all abt it