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SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
I n Eve Merriam’s poem “Simile Willow and
Ginkgo,” she writes, “Th e ginkgo forces its way
through gray concrete/ Like a city child, it grows
up in the street./ Th rust against the metal sky,/
Somehow it survives and even thrives,” lauding the
tree’s persistence in an environment for which it’s not
suited. Th e same can be said for etrog trees growing in
Philadelphia. About a year ago, West Philadelphia resident and
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Assistant
Director of Th riving Communities/Tikkun Olam
Specialist Rabbi Micah Weiss planted about 75 etrog
seeds. Over the year, nearly all germinated, produc-
ing little etrog saplings.

For Sukkot, Weiss has gift ed some of the saplings
to his coworkers and plans on selling 45 of them to
raise money for his shul’s, Kol Tzedek’s, 18th year.

Along with the tree comes some guidance: Weiss
Rabbi Micah Weiss among his many etrog
saplings has put together a “Pri Etz Hadar” WhatsApp group,
where new etrog growers can share wisdom on how to
cultivate trees known to thrive in the Mediterranean
in a cold urban locale.

“Tactile things are a wonderful way to be inti-
mately connected to your Judaism,” Weiss said.

In a world where it’s easy to have anything shipped
to your door in 48 hours, fi nding a new Jewish ritual
in your backyard can help fl ex a diff erent Jewish
muscle. “It’s amazing that you can go on Amazon and
order a tallit and a chanukiah and a tzitzit and a
lulav and a lulav holder. We have instant access
to mass-produced, cheap Judaica,” he said. “And
there’s a disconnect ... you don’t get to know the
fabric and how to tie the knots and the symbolism
of each of the knots.”
With the grassroots project spreading to house-
holds all over the West Philadelphia Reconstructionist
community, Weiss hopes many can share in a Jewish
practice that is both ancient and adapted to today’s
climate and technologies.

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6 OCTOBER 13, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Courtesy of Micah Weiss
A Backyard Orchard of Etrog Trees
Thrives in Philadelphia



“I didn’t grow up in a place where etrogs could
grow, much less knowing what they were, so having
one to tend to could help me connect personally
with my ancestral land-based rituals, moreover in
a neighborhood web of others doing the same,” one
WhatsApp member said.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been a challenge. To be
kosher for the harvest holiday, etrog trees must have
unique genetic material; they can’t be clones of a
parent plant. Kosher etrog trees cannot be grafted —
planted from the existing limb of another etrog tree
— and instead must come from a seed.

After Sukkot last year, Weiss frantically called on
community members to donate their leftover etrogs,
from where he harvested his many seeds.

Because of the Northeast’s colder autumn and
winter temperature, the trees must be closely moni-
tored in chillier seasons and brought inside before a
frost. They require year-round sun and regular water.

When Weiss wasn’t keeping his dozens of etrog trees
on a folding table in his backyard, they sat on his
enclosed porch, serving as a Zoom background for
meetings (and a nifty conversation starter).

Weiss was inspired by Rabbi Vivie Mayer, a teacher
of his who also raised etrog trees on the East Coast.

Mayer, however, had little guidance when she took
on a similar project years ago.

“I brought the trees indoors before the first frost
and back outdoors after the last frost. As those weeks
approached, I paid special attention to the nighttime
temperatures,” she said. “When I brought them
outside, I put them near my bee balm and butterfly
bushes, which attract pollinators. But clearly, I was
managing the fertilization like a farmer, as we only
got two fruits in 10 years from four trees!”
With the many variables that any agricultural
process entails, there’s no guarantee that the saplings
will one day flower and fruit, helping to fulfill the
sukkot mitzvah and what Mayer calls “‘hiddur mitz-
vah’ — making a mitzvah lovely and cherished.”
However, Weiss, in the spirit of following the
farming practices of his ancestors, wants to play by
the rules. He’s entrenched in the complicated Jewish
agricultural laws, trying his best to navigate and
apply them to his makeshift etrog arboretum.

As is common in Jewish tradition, the very laws in
question have already been debated and discussed.

Nati Passow, founder of the now-closed Jewish
Farm School in Philadelphia and the director of
operations and finance at Dayenu: A Jewish Call to
Climate Action, has worked in the past to help iden-
tify the beginning of a tree’s orla period, the three-
year wait before a tree’s fruit can be harvested, as well
as answer other questions.

Weiss’ etrog growing project is among a growing
number of Jewish grassroots agricultural projects in
the past two decades, Passow said. It’s an opportunity
to learn from tradition and apply it to today’s world.

“It’s a pretty amazing way to draw from this tra-
dition that emerged from a land far away and then
make it more local and more personal,” he said. JE
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