Today, we are winding down the holiday of Sukkot, and are officially done with waving the lulav and etrog. After 8 days, my lulav is pretty much toast. But, my etrog is still going strong. See what I mean:
David had suggested that we cook something with it, as that's the preferred way to dispose of it? I wasn't so sure of this. Was it really kosher to take something that had been used for a sacred act and eat it? So, I asked my rabbi this morning. As is too often the case, David was right and I was wrong. My rabbi basically said the same thing mentioned here:
Regarding the lulav and etrog: once the mitzvah is complete, the objects no longer have any sanctity, so it is permissible to discard them; however, because they have been used to perform a mitzvah, the should be discarded in a respectful way. You wouldn't want them to wind up in a landfill under a pile of used diapers!
...
The etrog can be eaten. The peel is good for any candied citrus peel recipe.
Turns out, eating is considered an appropriate way to retire the etrog. My rabbi's suggestion? Make etrog vodka. Or, I suppose we could go the more tame route and make etrog jam.
Who am I kidding? We'll no doubt end up drinking Sukkotini's. Etrog vokda, here we come!
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