Yedidya and the Esrog Tree [Paperback]

Yaffa Ganz (Author), Harvey Klineman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1980 | ISBN-10: 0873062353 | ISBN-13: 978-0873062350

All about a charming but stubborn boy in far-away Australia who is determined to have his own esrog, the special citron used during the Feast of Tabernacles. (Succos).

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Feldheim Pub (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873062353
• ISBN-13: 978-0873062350
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,092,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet fruit, September 8, 2002

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Yedidya and the Esrog Tree (Paperback)

This is a sweet story of a boy in Australia whose small town had lots of stores, but none that sold the lemon-like citrus fruit needed to help celebrate Sukkot, an eight-day fall festival that comes five days after Yom Kippur.

During this time the Jewish people recall 40 years in of wandering in the desert before they arrived in the Promised Land and celebrate the fall harvest. They build huts with roofs fashioned from fruits and vegetables--and open to the stars--in which to eat their meals. Daily festival ceremonies require a perfectly shaped etrog, and a lulav (or palm branch) adorned with the leaves of myrtle and willow, symbolizing eyes and heart.

As this story opens, Yedidya was five years old, and excitedly awaiting Sukkot, for his father had ordered him his very own etrog from Israel. But when the package arrived, and he opened it, the etrog was all mushy and brown, not at all the perfect fruit required to celebrate the holiday. Yedidya was crestfallen. But then he got an idea. He peeled the etrog, gently picked out its seed, placed it in some dampened cotton and watered it every morning and night.

After a long time, despite his brother's jokes, the etrog seed sprouted. He put it in a small pot, covered it with earth and watered it week after week until a tiny green point erupted from the soil. His sister laughed and said it would never grow. But Yedidya tended the pot, wrapping it on the window sill against the winter drafts, and in the spring, planted the sapling etrog tree outside.

The next year, when Yedidya was six, there was still no etrog. His father told him growing fruit would take three years and that he could not pick the fruit until the tree was four. Worse, he had never heard of an etrog tree growing in Australia.

Yedidya, of course, was not to be discouraged. The years passed, the tree grew, and what do you suppose happened? I can't tell. But boys are like trees. They grow, and the wise ones bear good fruit. Alyssa A. Lappen