The Rabonim’s Choice: The Revolutionary Esrog

The Rabonim of Crown Heights and many more prominent Chabad Rabonim around the world have chosen the Hidurah Esrog, as it possesses the advantage of both growing in Calabria, as well as carrying the lineage of the Rebbe’s Esrog – ensuring its integrity.

In the past, you had to choose between an Esrog from Calabria (Yanover Esrog) or one cultivated from the Rebbe’s Esrog seeds grown in Israel. Now, you can enjoy the benefits of both in the same Esrog, under the strict supervision of the CHK and the Badatz Edah Hachareidis.

For generations, the Yanover Esrog has been regarded as the gold standard among Chasidim, as they carry a tradition (dating back to the Reshonim) of being ungrafted with other fruits. Additionally, the Alter Rebbe noted that this practice traces back to Moshe Rabbeinu, who sent messengers to procure Etrogim from Calabria.

However, concerns arose regarding the integrity of Yanover Esrogim. The Rebbe worried that some Etrogim were being artificially enhanced to appear more attractive, potentially disqualifying them for use in the Mitzvah. To address this, the Rebbe sent his own Esrog to be replanted in Kfar Chabad.

This led Chassidim to a dilemma. Every Chosid would love to perform the Mitzvah on an Esrog that was grown from the Rebbe’s Esrog, yet it is hard to abandon the tradition of making the Brocho on a Calabrian-grown Esrog. Many would buy one of each, while others would suffice with just one of them.

Now we can have both advantages without compromise!

Thanks to known Chabad Esrog dealer Betzalel Yakont of Kfar Chabad, a new orchard in Calabria was bought, and under the strict supervision of the CHK, leading Chabad Rabbonim, along with the Badatz Edah Hachareidis, seeds from the Rebbe’s Esrogim were re-planted in the rich “Yanaver” soil.

Remarkably, this is the first time that the Badatz Edah Hachareidis are giving their Hechsher on Yanover Esrogim. They have never done so previously since they were not able to authenticate the Kashrus of the Calabria-grown Esrogim beyond doubt. In this case, however, their professional Agronomists and Mashgichim supervised the process from beginning to end, even demanding 24/7 video surveillance to ensure that no grafting or the like would take place.

This is not possible to achieve in most Etrog orchards being that they are owned by non-Jews that have an interest in beautifying the Esrogim, and cannot be supervised 24/7.

Exactly 750 Esrogim suitable for the Mitzvah were harvested this summer. With Hashem’s help, the orchard is expected to grow tens of thousands in the future.

Available at:

Crown Heights

Mogilevsky’s Esrogim, 382 Kingston Avenue

Merkaz Stam, 309 Kingston Avenue

The Esrog Source, 326 Kingston Ave (Above Noribar)

Kingston

At Rabbi Shimon Hellinger – (347) 422-7704

New Haven

At Rabbi Gershon Borenstein 396 Norton parkway (203) 843-4737

Monsey

At Rabbi Yitzchok Horowitz’s Esrogim (son in law of Rabbi Markowitz) 24 Briarcliff Dr. (914) 906-6878

Montreal