The Frozen Esrog & Why No Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah? 

Two Sukkos Quandaries

1. The Mysterious Case of the Frozen Esrog

A few years ago, I was zocheh to a stunning esrog for yom tov. It was beautiful subjectively and, more importantly, it was close to perfection halachically. One night during chol hamoed, I used my halacha shiur following mincha to explain my excitement. I allowed the esrog to be carefully passed around as I explained some of the halachos of esrogim and its hiddurim.

   I concluded, “This is why I am so thrilled with this esrog and why it is very rare to find one like it. As it was being handed back to me, one of the balla battim asked aloud, “Why don’t you freeze it for next year? Use it for seven days this year, freeze it, use it next year for seven days and, perhaps, freeze it again to get another year out of it!”

   Everyone laughed…but did he have a point?

Leaving aside a freezer for a moment, the Rema rules that a year-old esrog will likely be considered too dry to be used for the mitzvah (siman 648:1).

    However the Chofetz Chaim comments (Shaar Hatzion, #8), “I once an esrog after a full a year since it was picked from its tree. It was protected from the elemnts by being sealed in a special metal utenils and left in a cold and humid storage. He ends by ruling that such an esrog has the potential to be kosher if one can find a way to test its moisture without causing a halachic blemish in it!

   Would this also be a halachically feasible option for my prized esrog if placed in a freezer?

   At the time, I was only able to respond with the psak of Rav Moshe Feinstein (shu”t Igros Moshe, 1:185) who rules in the negative. He bases this on the words of the Shulchan Aruch who rules that an esrog whose inside are crushed or ruined in some other way -even if on the outside it looks perfect, should be ruled as pasul (ibid., sif 4). Rav Moshe then explains how we all see how frozen items such as fruits will spoil rapidly upon thawing or be otherwise quick to rot. Just as the Shulchan Aruch assumes that an inner rot or ruin in a concern even if not now visible, the same would apply to a frozen esrog.

   However, in preparing this article, I’ve found that not all agree. The new Piskei Teshovos brings in the name of Rav Elyashiv that perhaps we can allow such an esrog! This is because perhaps what causes quick rotting soon after thawing is not due to an inner havoc, rather it is due to its managing going from one extreme temperature (cold) to another (warm). Therefore, so long as it had not spoiled it is perfectly acceptable to use (ibid. new edition, page 634, note #15)!

1. The Mysterious Case of the Silent Hoshanah

   Two week ago, we reminded readers of the calendar rule: lo ad”u rosh. The Ibn Ezra (Sefer HaIbur) used this to remind us of the following tenet: “Not [on] Sunday (aleph), Tuesday (daled), and Friday (vav) [will fall] Rosh Hashanah (rosh). The phrase is borrowed from Ezra’s request to message Eido, the leader of the exiled Jews. “V’atzevah osom al Eido harosh hachasifya hamakom…//and I sent them to the leader of the place Chasifia…” (Ezra, 8:17;).

   Let us briefly elaborate so as to share a most fascinating question.

Most know that the reason for this Rosh Hashanah rule is to avoid a ‘two-day Shabbos’, which would lead to both a physicall and spiritual challenge (e.g., preparing in advance two-days’ worth of food, lights, etc., as well as avoiding the 39 melachos, at a Torah level and at risk of kares – for two day straight).

    How could a two-day Shabbos have occurred?

If We Allowed a Friday Rosh Hashanah: Yom Kippur would then fall motzai Shabbos, overlapping immediately with Shabbos.

If We Allowed a Wednesday Rosh Hashanah: Yom Kippur would fall on a Friday, with Shabbos beginning during neilah.

OK, but what then is the concern with a Sunday Rosh Hashana?

Well, this would lead a Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah, not allowing us to perform the minhag of aravos.

    So what is the mystery?

Have you stopped to wonder why we manipulate the calendar just to avoid an outcome of a Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah to be able to perform what is today but a minhag chazal …while at the same time resigning ourselves to the common outcome of a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah or a Shabbos first day of Sukkos, which prevent us from performing actual Torah requirements (shofar, daled minim yom rioshon deroissa)?!

   Many approaches were suggested through the ages, first providing some further background, going in historical order:

• In the yerushalmi (sukka, 4:2), R’ Symon suggested his preference that neither Rosh Hashana nor Hoshana Rabbah fall on a Shabbos. However, he concludes that if this is unavoidable and we are forced to choose between them, then we should rather a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah than a Shabbos Hoshanah Rabbah. Why? It is implied that this is because the shofar will at least be blown on the second day. Although we would still lose the positive Torah command of the first day, at least in such a case it isn’t a complete avoidance. On Hoshanah Rabbah, however, if we miss its aravos, there is no second day to make it up (see below, where this answer is stated more explicitly by many rishonim).

• Later, in the bavli (sukka 43b), chazal first share that in the time of the beis hamikodosh we would not only have a Shabbos Hoshanah Rabbah, but would even allow the performance of the arava ceremony on Shabbos! This was because, among other reasons, by doing so on a Shabbos it demonstrated to the public that although unwritten in the Torah, this mitzvah is indeed a halacha Moshe m’sinai. The gemara then wonders if perhaps even today we should allow the performance of Hoshanah Rabbah’s aravos ceremony on a Shabbos. After all, this would further demonstrate that in the time of the beis hamikdosh this mitzva is/will be from the Torah. To this challenge, Bar Hedya explains that we need not wory about it, as we don’t allow Hoshana Rabbah to fall on Shabbos (as we practice in our present calendar). However, the gemara thebn brings the opinion of Ravin, who argues on Bar Hedya, sharing that we indeed do allow Hoshana Rabbah to fall on Shabbos! However, if this occurs, aravos no longer overrides Shabbos (for reasons stated there).

• In fact, according to many, in Hillel’s original calendar Rosh Hashana was indeed able to fall on a Sunday, leading to a Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah (on which we simply wouldn’t do aravos)! According to this view, at some point in the geonic era when, for some reason, we avoided the Sunday Rosh Hashana/Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah (6^th to 9^th centuries; see Mavana Luach Hashana, by Rav Tzvi Kohen, p. 219, very end of note #4).
• However, Tosfos to this gemara seems to assume that our present calendar is indeed based on Bar Hedya’s view, and then proceeds to ask our question: why avoid a Shabbos Hoshana Rabbah while allowing a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah, etc.? Tosfos explains that because aravos is not explicit in the Torah, and is not even a Torah commands in our days, if it is missed one year due to a Shabbos there is a real fear it could come to be belittled or even forgotten. This is as opposed to shofar which is explicit and known to be a Divine command where, of if we need to skip it one year due to a Shabbos there would be no concern of its future abandonment. This approach is also offered by Rashi (shu”t Rashi, 118, as recorded by Rav Menachem Kasher in his Torah Shleimah vol. 13), the Tifferes Yisroel (Shibelie D’Rikia, found at the end of seder moed, 1:11;1), and many others.
• Tosfos then gives us a second answer, similar to what we inferred from the yerushalmi above: a missed shofar or daled minim due to Shabbos can still be performed the next day, whereas aravos on Hashana Rabbah is one and done.
• The Ravyuh (d. 1225) suggests -in addition to the above answers -that a Rosh Hashanah on Shabbos still has unique quilities that speak to its uniqueness, such as malchiyos, zichronos, and shofros. On Hoshanah Rabbah, however, if we don’t do aravos, t will look like any day of chol hamoed Sukkos. This is when we don’t allow a day to fall on a Shabbos (hilchos lulav, siman 669)
• The Levush (d. 1612) has a novel approach to this mystery. Part of the minhag of aravos is banging them on the ground. Now, removing leaves is itself a violation of Shabbos law at a Torah level. Should we allow Hoshana Rabbah to fall on Shabbos we would have, likely, simply not banged them, leading to this newer minhag being forgotten in time! –this the chief factor in our complete avoidance (siman 428:1 -his approach, and that this would even be an issur doraissa, is questioned and debated, see Elyah Rabbah ibid. and shu”t Shaar Efraim #2, et al.).
• Machatzitz Hashekel (d. 1806) quotes the Rokeach (d. 1238) with an extraordinary approach: He writes that the reason we avoid a Shabbos Hoshanah Rabbah has nothing to do with aravos! Rather, since HOshanah Rabbah is a time of din on water [and, later revealed to be the final din for all else-MT]. Due to this day’s finality, we cry, we plead, and we supplicate before our Creator. On Shabbos such bakashos are generally not allowed. This is the true reason we move it away from Shabbos! (Why wouldn’t this same logic be activated for a Shabbos Rosh Hashanah as well? Interestingly, the Gra and others forbade crying on any Rosh Hashanah! There is even some debate regarding which type of bekashos are allowed on the yom hadin, as well as certain piyyutim left out when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos-making this Hoshana Rabbah approach dependent on that expensive discussion)
• Finally, and perhaps the best answer of them all. This approach to our question can be foundfrom the 20^th century Aruch Hashulchan (Hasid, kiddush hachodesh, siman 98: 3 and 7) to the 18^th century Pnei Yehishua (to rosh hashana 20a), from the holy rebbe the Avnei Nezer (shu”t, y’d, chelek 2, 469;7) to the gaon of the litvish world the Brisker Rav (kuntros kiddush hachodesh), from the  16^th century descendent of Rashi, the Levush (kidush hachodesh 7:7) to its main source as found in Rabbeniu Chananel (d. 1055, see his commentary to rosh hashana 20a): Some say the following in response to our question, and others state this in response to other anonymities of the calendar: All of the calendar omissions, tools, skipped days, etc. were handed down from Moshe to Yehoshua, etc. until our time. This is what is known as as the ‘sod haibur’ (cf. Chazon Ish, siman 140; see Mavana Luach Hashana, ibid. notes #5 and 4#5).

In other words, while chazal may share ‘reasons’ for certain decisions – such as why we don’t allow a Friday or Sunday Yom Kippur -, or allude to others – such as our discussion-, none of these get to the true majestic secrets that lay beneath their necessity (how their approach would explain the approaches that our avoidance of a Shabbos Hoshanah Rabbah only came about in the middle ages, I simply do not know).

These may have to wait until yimei hamoshiach…may they come soon!

Wishing you all a wonderful yom tov!

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