Holland Bears First Naturally Grown Etrog Fruit In Decades
Image by Naomi Zeveloff
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Following record-breaking temperatures in the Netherlands, a tree planted years ago by a Jewish woman near the capital produced what may be the country’s first naturally grown etrog fruit in decades.
Rachel Levy eight years ago planted several seeds of an etrog tree, a citrus whose fruits are used for ceremonial purposes on the holiday of Sukkot, in a pot on her balcony in Utrecht, the Organization of Jewish Communities in the Netherlands, or NIK, wrote in its weekly newsletter sent out Wednesday, during the weeklong holiday that ends on Oct. 2.
Most of the seeds, which came from a fruit that grew in Israel, did not germinate but one grew into a sapling that produced fruit for the first time this year, which featured the warmest summer in three centuries.
The single fruit is green and about the size of a large plum, and therefore far smaller than the fruit grown in Israel, Morocco and Italy for export during the holiday.
Etrog, or Citrus medica, is a subtropical fruit that originated in China, making its way from East Asia to India. It rarely survives the northern European winters of the Amsterdam region, which is situated one degree north of the latitude of Calgary, Canada. Levy told NIK she takes the sapling inside her home during the harsh winter but returns it to the balcony as soon at the thermometer rises beyond the point of freezing.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
