The Artistry of the Etrog Box
A silver and gilt esrog box from Frankfurt, Germany in the early eighteenth century. Courtesy of a private collection in New York.
The concept of hiddur mitzvah—enhancing the way in which we perform mitzvot in the most aesthetically pleasing manner—has allowed for a dazzling abundance of creativity and artistry in the pursuit of ways to beautify observance of the Torah.
An oft-quoted source for this idea is found in the Talmud’s instruction (Shabbat 133b) to choose the most beautiful sukkah, lulav, shofar, tzitzit and sefer Torah when creating or purchasing them. However, while they may exude beauty, each of these items needs to meet specific halachic requirements of size, shape, materials and/or appearance in order to be kosher. This obviously limits the possibilities of embellishing most of them any further.
However, the objects that we use to cover or to hold items that are intrinsic to the observance of mitzvot have no such limitations. Many homes and shuls, as well as Judaica collections and museums, boast magnificent examples of embroidered fabrics and silver pieces, such as bimah covers, Torah ornaments, challah covers, mezuzot, candlesticks, bags for tallitot and tefillin, chanukiyot, Kiddush cups, and many more such needs and appurtenances.
Hiddur mitzvah is inherent in the mitzvah of etrog, since the Torah refers to it as peri etz hadar (Vayikra 23:40), and the design of the etrog box has proved to be inspirational for many Judaica artists, sparking their originality and craftsmanship.
Given its fragility, the etrog must be protected from any possible damage when not in actual use, yet containers designed specifically for etrogim are a relatively modern idea, with the earliest we know dating from the late seventeenth century.1 Silver was then, and still is today, the most popular material from which to make etrog boxes, but they may also be made of wood, ceramic, glass and even fabric or cardboard. Most often oval or rectangular, some boxes are constructed vertically. The design may even mimic the etrog itself, with its ribbed sides and sometimes with some leaves or the pitom at the top.
Contemporary Judaica artists continue to explore innovative ways to enhance the mitzvah.2 “Every etrog box that is created,” says Sharon Liberman Mintz, senior consultant of Judaica at Sotheby’s, “will reflect the specific time and place and the art and the aesthetics of the Jews at that moment.”
Some of the earliest containers used for the etrog were originally created for other purposes. Since sugar and tea were very expensive commodities in the early modern period, the wealthy would obtain ornate, even extravagant, silver boxes or caddies in which to serve them.3 The shape and size of these containers were often ideal for the safekeeping and storage of an etrog.
Even today, there are silver boxes for sale online described, for example, as “Antique Silver Sugar/Etrog Box.” If the design allows, appropriate pesukim or images related to the holiday of Sukkot may be engraved onto them, completing their transformation from a domestic object to a treasured Jewish family heirloom.
A typical European silver-gilt sugar box (“Zukerdose”) with cover, which influenced the form of custom-designed etrog containers. By Tobias Remshardt, Augsburg, Germany 1730. Photo: ©The Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, 1973
Parcel-gilt (partially gilded) silver etrog container, bound with gilt straps and gilt tubular handle. By Arie Ofir, Jerusalem, early twenty-first century. Courtesy of Sotheby’s, New York
This mustard pot was repurposed by the Gomez family, eighteenth-century Sephardic merchants in New York, as an etrog container. Courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society
A 1920s-era etrog case from the Bezalel School Jerusalem. Brass, inlaid with silver (damascened). Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
This olive wood etrog box with copper alloy lettering was very popular in the second half of the twentieth century. By Arieh Klein, Jerusalem, Israel, c. 1955-1970. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
An etrog box from the Russian Empire (Moscow?), 1896. Parcel-gilt silver, cast and chased. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
A Polish tankard from 1767 that was repurposed as an etrog container, with Hebrew inscriptions added in available blank spaces. Silver, repoussé, engraved, and punched. Photo: ©The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Avi Ganor
Silverplated oval etrog box with wooden ring closure and stand, seen together and in its individual parts. By Zelig Segal, Jerusalem, c. 1980. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
Closed version of the silverplated oval etrog box with wooden ring closure. Photo: The Jewish Museum, New York/Art Resource, New York
Notes
1. Shalom Sabar, “Hadar and Hiddur: The Etrog in Jewish Art,” in Be Fruitful! The Etrog in Jewish Art, Culture, and History (Jerusalem, 2022), edited by Warren Klein, Sharon Liberman Mintz and Joshua Teplitsky, p.177.
2. Sharon Weiser-Ferguson, “Out of the Box: The Design of Modern and Contemporary Etrog Containers,” Be Fruitful!, pp. 239-252.
3. See, for example, https://www.ascasonline.org/ARTICOLODICEM89.html.
* My grateful thanks to Sharon Liberman Mintz of Sotheby’s, Professor Shalom Sabar of the Hebrew University, and Sharon Weiser-Ferguson of the Israel Museum, each of whom helped guide me in my research of this topic. My gratitude also to Joyce Faust of Art Resource, Inc., Warren Klein of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, Risa Fuchs of the Israel Museum, Megan Malta Scauri of the American Jewish Historical Society, and Sara Goldberg, associate editor of Jewish Action, for their help in obtaining the photographs.
David Olivestone, the former OU director of communications, was previously on the staff of the British Museum and of the Encyclopaedia Judaica.