There is a minhag Yisrael for a pregnant woman to bite off the pitom of an esrog on Hosha'anah Rabbah. What is the reason for this?
According to the R. Abba of Acco (בראשית רבה טו, ז), the Eitz HaDa'as that Chava ate from was an esrog tree. Thus, by biting off the pitom of the esrog, the pregnant woman declares: "Just as I derive no benefit from the bite of this esrog, I have no wish to partake of the benefit that Chava had when she bit the original esrog. As such, Hashem, spare me from the pains of labor that Chava was thereafter cursed with."
The Minchas Elazar however writes that this minhag has no makor, rather it was printed in the new editions of the "Mateh Efraim" and does not appear in the original editions. He forbids biting the pitom on Hsha'anah Rabbah itself and only permits it after Simchas Torah.
טעמי המנהגים ח"ב ליקוטים אות ס"ח
דרכי חיים ושלום אות תשצ"ו
Would it not be better to just not touch the etrog at all? That would bring out the contrast with Chavah even more! The act of biting the pitum is a start to eating...
ReplyDeleteDan:
ReplyDeleteThat is indeed a good question. Perhaps the explanation is as follows:
Were the woman not to touch the Esrog at all, this would have no indication, as nothing happened. By biting the esrog and simultaneously not deriving any benefit from it, this makes the statement in a more pronounced way.
Another spin on this could be: by biting the pitom off the esrog, as we all know, the esrog becomes instantly passul. Thus, by biting the pitom, the woman not only shows how she has no benefit from the biting, but she can't even have the side benefit of using it for a mitzvah! With this she clearly shows that she wishes not to partake of the sinful original esrog. כן נ"ל בדא"פ