Living Torah Archives

In the late 1950s, When Rabbi Nachman Elbaum raised the issue of using an esrog from a tree that had been grafted, the Rebbe gave him a solution and a mission. The result was a new orchard in the village of Kfar Chabad, Israel.

Elimelech Leiman relates that when the Rebbe heard about his father’s upcoming trip to the Soviet Union to visit family, he requested to see him. Handing him a bag of esrogim and a secret code, the Rebbe stated, “This mission will be good for them and good for you.”

Rabbi Menachem Teichtel was a refugee student in Vichy France during the war. He recounts just how far the Rebbe was willing to go to uphold a Jewish custom during wartime (circa 1940).

The Midrash teaches that each of the Four Species on Sukkos represents one kind of Jew and concludes: “On Sukkos, all four Jews must join together, for each one completes the others.”

“The word ‘Esrog’ forms an acronym for the verse: ‘Let not the foot of arrogance overtake me.’ This is especially pertinent to a successful doctor, that he should never claim: ‘My own strength has brought me my success.’”