Otzar Beis Din - Purchased Esrog

Q. I bought an otzar beis din esrog. I understand it has kedushas shemita. What halachos should I be aware of?

A. Although one may use the esrog for the mitzvah, the esrog is kodesh. One may not waste or degrade the esrog in any way. For example, one may not scratch the esrog (even after Sukkos) so that the esrog will give off a good scent. This is considered a misuse of the esrog. One may not throw away the esrog so long as it is edible, even if it is double wrapped. Instead, one must wait until it completely dries out. Sefer Pe’as Hashulchan cites the Maharit (1:83) who writes that although one is not permitted to destroy fruits that have kedushas shemita, one may degrade them by means of grama (indirect causation). Therefore, one may leave the esrog unwrapped, which will cause it to dry out after a few weeks. Once it becomes inedible, it may be disposed of. However, since it was used for a mitzvah, it is inappropriate to place it directly in the garbage; instead, it should be double wrapped and then discarded. If the esrog is still edible when the time of biur arrives (in the month of Shevat), then biur (removal from your possession) must be done. Some require returning the esrog to Eretz Yisroel so that biur can be done is Israel. However, many poskim, including Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe OC 1:186), write that this is not required. This is especially true if the esrog was bought through otzar beis din.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.