SPONSORED BY MR. & MRS. JOSH PORTMAN IN MEMORY OF R’ YISROEL BEN R’ AHARON CHECHIK

The Ultimate Shelter

SukkotInstructor’s Guidefor Torah Live’s

Version 1.1

“It is rare to see talent of this order used to so high and holy a cause. Rabbi Roth’s inspirational videos are outstanding. Will unlock the doors of learning to many.”

— Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

SUKKOT: The Ultimate Shelter

Sponsored by

Mr. & Mrs. Josh Portman

In Memory of

R’ Yisroel Ben R’ Aharon Chechik

Dedicated by:

Graham & Belinda Calvert

In Memory of

Baruch Ben Meir

Rachel Rivka bas Shmuel

Moshe Yosef ben Eliyohu

Frimmette bas Mordechai Markel

Johnny & Ayala Finn

In Memory of

Yaakov & Reizel Brenner

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Speaker Notes for Torah Live’s

Sukkot: The Ultimate Shelter

Version 1.1

Please send all questions and corrections to info@torahlive.com

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Instructions.......................................................................................................................... 5

Screen Resolution ........................................................................................................... 5 Pointer ............................................................................................................................. 5 Navigation....................................................................................................................... 6 Settings Page................................................................................................................... 7 Lesson Plan ..................................................................................................................... 7 On-Screen Translation .................................................................................................... 8 System Requirements...................................................................................................... 8 Contact Us....................................................................................................................... 8

Speaking Notes ................................................................................................................... 9 Introduction..................................................................................................................... 9 Arava............................................................................................................................. 13 Hadas............................................................................................................................. 15 Etog............................................................................................................................... 24 Lulav ............................................................................................................................. 35 How to Hold.................................................................................................................. 42 How much to spend ...................................................................................................... 50 Size................................................................................................................................ 53

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Instructions

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Lesson Plan This is not a PowerPoint presentation where you are forced to begin on the first slide and follow a linear path until you reach the end, but rather a flexible program where you can pick and choose sections to teach depending on the time you have and the audience you are teaching.

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On-Screen Translation • The Hebrew sources have a small "E" next to them. Click the E to pull up an English translation for those audiences needing them.

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Contact Us Need technical support? Visit our FAQ page on torahlive.com or write to support@torahlive.com.

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Speaking Notes

Introduction

Welcome to tonight’s presentation on the four species. Torah Live has been producing cutting edge educational material on various topics and it is my privilege to present you tonight with their guide to the Four Species....

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Let’s begin with the source. READ VERSE The Torah (Vayikra 23:40) says…

אלוקיכם שבעת 'ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון פרי עץ הדר כפות תמרים וענף עץ עבות וערבי נחל ושמחתם לפני ה ימים

OPEN EACH ONE TO THE CLASS AND COMPLIMENT WHEN THEY CALL IT OUT CORRECTLY... Who can identify what a pri eitz hadar is? Good: Etrog. How about Kapot tamarim? That’s right: a lulav Anaf Eitz Avot? Fantastic! Hadas. Arvei Nachal? Excellent. Now, who knows how many we take of each one? AGAIN OPEN UP FOR INTERACTION... We take one etrog, one lulav, three hadassim and two aravot. The Talmud in Sukkah 34b derives this from the verse itself. is singular פרי עץ הדר .is written without the 'vav' so it is also singular כפת תמרים .is three words which teaches us you should take three ענף עץ עבות .is plural and the minimum of plural is two ערבי נחלNow if you take a close look at the verse you will notice something very interesting. How many days do we shake the four species? OPEN UP TO CLASS. MOST GET IT RIGHT AND SAY 7 OR 8. BUT SHOW THEM THAT THE VERSE SAYS ONE.... It begins by saying you should take it on the first day, implying just for one day, but concludes by saying to be happy [with it] for 7 days. What’s going on? Which is it: one or seven?

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The Torat Kohanim explains that when it comes to לכם – for you yourself, meaning in the מדינה, you should take it for one day only. However, when it comes to lifnei Hashem, meaning a מקום קדוש, in other words the Beit Hamikdash, then it should be for 7 days. (See Sifra, Emor, perek 16 section 9 with Malbim that writes:

'ש ושמחתם לפני ה''ש שבעת ימים היינו במקדש כמ''ש ולקחתם לכם ומ''ש ביום הראשון היינו במדינה כמ''ל שמ''חז 'פ אלוקיכם

And indeed that is what they used to do originally: shake the lulav and etog for one day in all places outside the Beis Hamikdash. So how many should we shake today? One. So why do we shake it for 7 days? The reason is that after the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, Rav Yochanan ben Zakai instituted that it should be shaken even במדינה for seven days as a זכר למקדש. So it comes out that the mitvzah of shaking the lulav and etog is only min hatorah on the first day, whereas on other days it is only a דרבן because of זכר למקדש. In fact, R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach said that you should realize when shaking the lulav on other days that the reason you are doing so is to remember how it used to be in the Beit Hamikdash and that we anticipate our return – Shalmei Moed p. 149.] Whats the difference between the first day and others? One difference is that ולקחתם לכם which teaches us that you have to own it, only applies on the first day. As it says ולקחתם לכם ביום ראשון.

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The Bikurei Yaakov held that according to the Rambam in his פירוש משניות to Sukka 3:11 ירושלים has the דין of the Beit Hamikdash in this regard and according to the Rambam in Hilchot Beit Habechira that the kedusha of the Beit Hamikdash and Yerushalayim still stand, even today there is a mitzvah min hatorah to shake the arba minim by the kotel or any place we know was part of Yerushalayim. For this reason, Dayan Abramski went out of his way to make sure to go to the kotel every day of Sukkot to chap the mitzvah min hatorah. And that is also what Rav Elyashiv is reported to do (Piskei Teshuvas siman 658 note 3). This opinion also comes out to be a chumra as you would have to make sure that you own the arba minim and that it is kosher with all the chumras of the first day.

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Arava

So lets begin with the halachos of one of the easier one of the arba minim, the arava. PLAY ARAVA VIDEO….

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It is interesting that of all the arba minim, the only one we refer to by the same name that the Torah gives it is the arava: פרי עץ הדר we call “etrog”; כפות תמרים we call “lulav”; …”we call “hadas ענף עץ עבותR’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach explained that this is because the Midrash says that the arava symbolizes the simple Jew and we know that even the simplest Jew keeps his Jewish name – Halichos Shlomo. The Gemara gives 3 simanim with which to identify a kosher arava – red stalk, long leaves, and smooth sides – and 3 simanim with which to identify a possul aravah (known as a צפצפה) - white stalk, round leaves, rough edges. Now if you look at most of our aravas you will see that they have green stalks, not red, and the Gemara said that to be kosher it has to have a red stalk! What’s going on? The reason they’re ok is that when the Gemara says a red stalk, it doesn’t mean it has to be davka red. The main thing is that it should not be the possul color of white (Beis Yosef). Nevertheless, if you are faced with a choice of taking one with a red stalk or a green one, you should take the red (Rav Adass p. 231 quoting Rav Chaim Kanievski). R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach would take one that had somewhat of a red stem (Halichos Shlomo 2:10:ft. 49). [Small grooves on the side of the leaf are ok – Pri Megadim quoted in Rav Stern p. 107.]

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Hadas

PLAY HADAS VIDEO

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This point, that there is no need to hold up the adas close to your nose, is made by R' Shlomo Zalman Aurebach in Shalmei Moed p. 132. Rav Yitzchak Rubin, author of Orchos Shabbos, reports that when he was in charge of checking the hadassim for Dayan Wosner, that’s how they were instructed to check. (Pri Hadar p. 76 quotes Dayan Wosner as saying למשולש נחשב כל שבמראית עין נראה משולש And adds that Rav Moshe Heller said that that was always the minhag of מורי הוראה in Yerushalayim.)

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The Chazon Ish said that as long as you can draw a line that overlaps all of them, then that is enough. There were those who said that according to the Brisker Rav it has to be ממש at the same level, but his son said that it’s not true.

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GO THROUGH 3 IMAGES ON SCREEN TEACHING THAT RIGHT IMAGE AND CENTRE IMAGE ARE OK AND LEFT ONE IS NOT, AS THERE IS NO OVERLAP.

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ASK AUDIENCE IF THIS PICTURE IS OK AND LET THEM ENJOY THE APPLAUSE SOUND AFFECT WHEN THEY GET IT RIGHT.

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ASK THE AUDIENCE IF THIS PICTURE IS OK AND AFTER THE AAAH SOUND MAKE A JOKE ABOUT “Yeh, I’m sorry about that guys! That’s the way the cookie crumbles!” If you are unsure if they overlap or not, that is also kosher - Rav Adass p. 181 quoting Rav Moshe Shapiro.

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The shiur of the hadass is measured from the tip of the branch at the top (not the tip of the top leaf) until the place where the bottom leaf comes out - Rav Adass p. 244 quoting Rav Nissim Karelitz.

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BACKGROUND TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE ABOUT SPREAD OUT: The Gemara 32b, while trying to define what specie a ענף עץ עבות refers to, suggests that perhaps it refers to a דולבא which Rashi defines as an ערמון tree (see also Rashi to Bereishis 30:37). The Gemara says that that can’t be as בעינן ענפיו חופין את עצו וליכא. In other words, even though the but since there are spaces between each level of leaves, they don’t cover the whole קלועה is ערמוןbranch. (See כפות תמרים and אוצר מפרשי התלמוד.) Some authorities say that in the same way as the ערמון is not good, as it has spaces between the levels of leaves, so too a הדס that has spaces between the levels is also not good. (ה''רא and מור .(646:3 שערי תשובה which is Rav Yaakov Emden, brought in ,וקציעהOthers say that only the ערמון which by nature never covers the whole branch is not good, but a which usually covers the wood – only that this particular one doesn’t – is ok. (Rabbeinu הדסYeruchem 8:5 brought in 59 חיים וברכה; Bikurei Yaakov in תוספת ביכורים to 646; Chazon Ish 146:15). Others hold that as long as the leaves cover the wood for most of its length that’s ok. (See Chazon Ish ibid. Bikurei Yaakov ibid. and Rashash to Sukka 12a.) (See Arba Minim Hashaleim p. 29 and p. 247 that Rav Emden learns this from a kal vechomer from lulav where the Gemara says that ציני הר הברזל is not kosher. Rav Ettlinger says that there it’s not the right min, here this min usually is ok, just this one is not. Chaim U’Bracha, although he also rejects the מור וקציעה, says that נכון לחוש for him where possible. Rav Stern p. 96 rules its kosher.) PART OF LEAF MISSING Pri hadar p. 77 says that if most of the leaf is there, it is counted as if the whole leaf is there as .Whereas if most is missing, it is as if the whole leaf is missing .רובו ככולוAdass p.220 brings the same halacha in the name of Rav Karelitz, adding that if many of the leaves are like that, then it would be a lack of וזה קלי ואנוה .

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If the leaves could reach but are just lying at the wrong angle, the Rashash to 32b says that according to the Ran it should not be good and he wonders why people aren’t careful about this. The Bikkurei Yaakov 646:11 says it’s kosher – see ארבעה מינים השלם מילואים טו. Nektam Some say Nktam is kosher. They hold that even though by arava and lulav nektam is possul, hadass is different as the leaves cover it at the top so it’s not recognizable. Accordingly even according to the mekilim, if the leaves also came off then it would be possul – shar hatzion 32. Others are machmir and lemaseh one should be machmir if something else is available – shulchan aruch 646:10. If just the leaves came off and not the branch, that is not called נקטם and is kosher – Rema 646:10.

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Etog

PLAY ETROG MOVIE…

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LET THE SLIDE SHOW PLAY WHILE TAKING QUESTIONS / COMMENTS

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This year make sure it’s a kosher one!

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PLAY SECOND PART OF ETROG MOVIE ABOUT PARTS OF THE ETROG

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TEST TIME! SOUND AFFECT IS TO CREATE DRAMATIC TEST EFFECT And now the moment of truth… (See Rav Adass pp. 382-389 for more information.) On meat part of pittum – possul, as that’s considered part of the chotem (Kaf Hachaim).

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On shoshanta – ok, as its considered wood and wood can be black (Rav Kanievsky).

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On chotem – possul (SA 648:12).

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Inside the groove of the pitum – ok, as its considered wood and wood can be black (quoting Rav Kanievsky).

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On actual wood of ukatz – ok, as its considered wood and wood can be black (quoting Rav Kanievsky).

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On groove of ukatz area – ok, as it’s not seen (Ashel Avraham Butchatch ת''מהד, Rav Nissim Karelitz, Rav Azriel Aurebach, and Rav Heller - Rav Adass p. 389 and p. 360).

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On guf ha’etrog – only if two or three that cover most of the circumference.

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Lulav

PLAY LULAV MOVIE

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The opinion that passals the lulav if even the middle leaf alone is split is the opinion of the Rema. According to the Shulchan Aruch this is only a problem if most of the leaves are split .ברובוSince this is very rare, it means that according to the Shulchan Aruch you will almost never find a possul lulav. Rav Adass, page 54, writes, based on the Kaf Hachaim, that even Sefardim, who usually follow the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, should be machmir in this regards like the Rema.

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In years that the first day falls on Shabbos this passul would not apply for those keeping one day (Mishna Brura in the name of Magen Avraham and Rabbeinu Yerucham). Rav Weisfish page 235 brings R’ Akiva Eiger that is מדייק from Tosafos that the possul is because of hadar and would therefore apply to all days. But Rav Weisfish points out 1. It is against Mishna Brura 2. We have ס''ס to be מיקל. I asked Rav Berkovits if there is any point in being machmir according to the Mishna Brura and he said no. Nevertheless Rav Rubin this morning was telling people to be careful. Those keeping two days would still have to be careful as the Shulchan Aruch says that on the second day you cannot make a beracha on those things which are possul on the first day. And since chutznikim obviously want to make a beracha on their arba minim they would not want such lulavim.

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Any questions?

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PLAY NEXT SECTION OF LULAV VIDEO Say that a split top (himnik) is ok on second day.

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LACKING IN WIDTH: If the second twin doesn’t cover all the width, as long as it covers רוב its ok (Rav Elyashiv and R’Shlomo Zalman Aurebach quoted in Pri Hadar p. 67; Shalmei Moed p. 127; Steiplar quoted in Orchas Rabeinu 2:235). R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach said that it would have to cover most of the width for the whole length, and if even at one point it is less than רוב it is possul – Shalmei Moed ibid. Rav Stern said that as long as it covers most of the width for most of the length it is ok, although not mehudar – quoted in Rav Adass p. 69. [Rav Stern p. 141 says that the possul of having only one middle lead would only be on the first day as בין כך there are other opinions in חד הוצא.]

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If it’s lacking in height then there are various opinions… Some say it’s ok as long as it’s רוב (Shulchan Aruch Harav 645:9-10; Rav Karelitz quoted in Pri Hadar p. 66; Rav Stern p. 142.) Rav Elyashiv is מחמיר if it is noticeable, although even he agrees that a couple of millimeters wouldn’t be a problem (told to me by Rav Berkovits. See also Rav Adass p. 64 and Pri Hadar p.66. Rav Adass says that R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach also agrees.) The Chazon Ish wasn’t מקפיד in height differences between the two middle leaves (Rav Adass p. 64 from Rav Kanievsky. See also Orchas Rabeinu 2:235 where it says he was meikel but doesn’t give a shiur).

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How to Hold

Let’s talk a little bit about how we hold the arba minim. The Shulchan Aruch says…

.בשמאלית והאתרוג ,למעלה ועיקריהם למטה ראשיהם ,האגודה בידו הימנית יטולHold the bundle in your right hand, the tips at the top and the base at the bottom – and the etrog in the left hand. Many people know that - even this little kid! But does anybody know the reason why? OPEN UP TO CLASS That’s right….The reason is because the lulav is 3 mitzvos together, whereas the etrog is only one (Mishna Brura 15).

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What about a lefty? How should he hold it? The Shulchan Aruch holds he does the same as everyone else, and this is the custom of Sefardim. Whereas the Rema says he goes by his weaker and stronger hand and that is the minhag of Ashkenazim. TEFILLIN: Tefllin are considered a chatzitza between your hand and the arba minim and they should be removed – Mishna Brura 651:26. (This is only relevant in Chutz La’ aretz where some people wear their tefillin on Chol Hamoed.)

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If you hold them all in one hand the Mishna Brura brings a machlokes and concludes that on the first day, which is min hatorah, he would have to shake it again, and on the other days he can be lenient – MB 651:15.

The Magen Avrham 6, Shulchan Aruch Harav 13, and Mishna Brura 15 all say that even while saying hoshanos a person should hold the etrog in the left and the lulav in the right.

R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach didn’t like it when people held them both in one hand and the siddur in the other, rather the siddur should rest on your arms – Shalmei Moed p. 161.

Rav Shechter on his tape said Rav Velvel Soloveitchik in Brisk had someone walk backwards in front of the chazan holding the siddur open for him. In those days only one person had a set of arba minim.

The Ben Ish Chai, Chaim U’Beracha, R’ Shternbuch in Moadim Uzmanim make the same point (brought in Piskei Teshuva 651:6).

נטל שניהם בידו אחת ואם .צריך ליטלו בימין נוטלו פעם שני כגון בשעת אמירת הושענות כ"בירך עליו כבר ואח אפילו אחת ועיין במטה יהודא שחולק עליו ודעתו דיצא כיון שלא היה האתרוג עמהם באגודה ז"דלא יצא ודעת הט ח"כתב בא

. וליטלו בלא ברכהלחזור ולענין הלכה יש להחמיר בשל תורה וצריך ח"כהא

ברורה סימן תרנא משנה

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The way to hold it is like as portrayed in the above picture.

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The Ashkenazi minhag of holding the arba minim is like that mentioned in the Taz. The aravos go on the left, hadasim on the right, and the lulav in the middle. And by the way, the Taz 650:1 says the reason is על פי סוד.

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What people don’t always get right though, is the Rema 651:1 that says that the hadass needs to be higher than the aravah

In fact, the Steiplar, brought in Orchas Rabbeinu, says that if you put the aravos at the same height as the hadassim יכול להזיק זה - Rav Adass p. 146.

So be warned!

Anyone know why?

Mishna Brura 651:12 brings down that it is for kabbalistic reasons.

The Vilna Gaon brings a Midrash that the hadassim are compared to the eyes and the aravos to lips and the eyes are higher than the mouth (Gra 651:7 brought in Arba Minim Hashalem p. 305).

The Levush says it is because the hadassim are mentioned in the possuk first (Levush quoted in ibid.).

[The smooth part of the lulav should be facing you and the part where you see it branch out should be at the back (Mishna Brura 650:8)]

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However, the lulav should jut out a tefach above the length of the hadas and arava.

So if you do get a really long hadas or arava, just make sure that the lulav – meaning the spine of the lulav – is a tefach longer (Shulchan Aruch 650:2).

A tefach is 10cm according to the Chazon Ish and 8cm according to R’ Chaim Noeh.

[Research notes: Rav Adass quotes Rabbeinu Manoach that holds that it doesn’t help to push the hadass and arava down below the bottom of the lulav to get a tefach at the top. Rav Rubin in Moriah vol. 125 on Otzar Hachochma writes about this and says that Rabbeinu Manoach is a דעת and that it would help to push it down. He also says that you don’t need to come on to this as יחידthe tefach of lulav at the top above the other minim is only if the minim are bound for the whole length like Sfardim bind it, but according to our minhag that we only bind them at the bottom it is ok even if you don’t have a tefach. He also says that the rings should not be on the top tefach of the spine.]

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There is no maximum shiur of an etrog. Even if it’s so big that it has to be carried on the shoulders it is ok (Shulchan Aruch 648:22 with Mishna Brura 67). And in fact the Gemara relates that Rav Akiva once came to shul carrying such an etrog on his shoulders (Sukka 36b).

Btw, notice how many hadassim he has!

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How much to spend

A word about how much to spend on your arba minim: I am not going to tell you how much to spend but I do want to speak about the correct attitude one should have. When it comes to buying the latest ipod or laptop, most of us are happy to pay a little bit extra for the extra features. Yet when it comes to arba minim, those same people suddenly have the attitude of what no way. Rav Gamiliel spent 1000 zuz (which is equivalent to 5 years living costs!] The Vilna Gaon’s brother, R’ Avraham, married and left Vilna to live in a different town. Later, the Vilna Gaon wrote to his brother, requesting that he return to Vilna so that they could learn together. R’ Avraham replied that that would be impossible, since his wife refused to go back to Vilna. Her refusal was perceived as bizarre until the circumstances became clear. In those days etrogim were few and costly. It was hard to find a kosher etrog because the roads were already laden with snow and travel was problematic. Somehow one etrog made its way to the town that R’ Avraham and his wife went to dwell in. Of course the community wanted to buy the etrog, but they did not have enough money. When R’ Avraham’s wife heard that there was a kosher etrog in their town, but that the community could not afford to buy it, she turned to her husband in despair and lamented, “How can we not have an etrog for Sukkot?” Right away she came up with an idea. “The house we are living in is our own; we received it as part of the wedding stipulations. Why don’t we sell it and use the money to buy the etrog?”

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R’ Avraham and his wife borrowed the necessary sum of money and bought the etrog, and after Sukkos they sold their house to repay the debt and moved into a simple shack. Subsequently, when the Vilna Gaon’s request came, asking them to leave their town, R’ Avraham’s wife refused. She said, “I cannot agree to leave this town. Every time I pass by our old home that we sold for the etrog, my heart fills with joy. How then can I move back to Vilna?” (Brought in Arba’at Haminim Le’Mehadrin page 295) The Arizal would give whatever the seller wanted and wouldn’t haggle. He even put a wad of money down and said take what you want! See Arba Minim Hashelem p. 442 for more quotes on this topic. R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach saw a person who would come into shul on Yom Tov night and tease people about how he paid only a small amount for his arba mimim, explaining that he waited till right before Yom Tov when the prices are next to nothing. R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurebach went up to him and told him that although Hillel waited till just before Shabbos that was because middah acheres hoyso bo, i.e he was like that for all his personal matters as well. But someone who for all his personal items would never act in such a risqué way has no right to do so for arba minim. It is no more than טפשות וקלות .Shalmei Moed p. 163 – !ראש

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When it comes to buying gadgets like MP3 players we want the best, with all the extra features – despite how much extra it may cost. And truth be told we often don’t even end up using all the features in the end!

If we realized how many extra ‘features’ we are getting by spending that bit more to buy the finest set of arba minim we would gladly spend the extra buck.

USE GRAPHIC TO SHOW PEOPLE WHAT “FEATURE” THEY ARE GETTING BY HAVING A MEHUDAR ETROG AND ASK THEM IF IT ISN’T WORTH THE MONEY?

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Size

The lulav should be 4 tefachim. This is 40cm according to the Chazon Ish and 32.7cm according to Rav Chaim Noeh .(p. 157 מינים השלם ארבעה)This shiur is of pure שדרה – spine, not of the leaves (Mishna Brura 650:2). PLACE TO MEASURE FROM THE BOTTOM: Since a lulav that doesn’t have leaves on the side is not kosher, the bottom part of the lulav that is not covered with leaves cannot be counted as part of this 4 tefachim (ארבעה .(p. 7; Pri Hadar p. 68 מינים השלםPLACE TO MEASURE TILL THE TOP: Since we are measuring the spine, you measure until the point where the middle leaf comes out (Pri Hadar p. 68). There is no upper shiur to the hadas, arava, and lulav. They can be as long as you want (Shulchan Aruch 650:2). In fact, the Magen Avraham writes that it is a hiddur mitzvah to have a long lulav and a big etrog – 672:3. (See מינים השלם ארבעה p. 231). [Btw, the reason this part is called the spine is because it is like the spine of the animal. Just like the spine of the animal has rib bones branching out of it, so too the lulav’s spine has leaves branching out of it.]

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The minimum size of an etrog is the size of an egg.

[ADVANCED AUDIENCE: There are two reasons given for this shiur: Some say because less than this it is not considered fully grown; others say the reason is because of הדר. The מ''נפק is going to be if it was once an ok shiur and then shrunk. If you say the reason is because of הדר, its not good because now it’s too small. Who cares that it used to be ok? Whereas, if you say the reason is because of פריו נגמר then as long as it was once the right size, we know it finished growing and there would be nothing wrong with it now being smaller.]

[ADVANCED AUDIENCE: We know that the Chazon Ish follows the opinion of the Noda B’Yehuda that our eggs are smaller than in the time of Chazal and so we need to double shiurim. Does this apply to etrogim? In other words, according to the Chazon Ish would we need to double the minimum size of an etrog? The Beur Halacha brings the Chasam Sofer (that there is no need to be machmir for if our eggs have shrunk so have our etrogim) and the Bikurei Yaakov who says The sevara to not double it would be that what Chazal really wanted is .'לבעל נפש להחמיר לכת נכוןthat the etrog should be complete and the comparison to an egg is just a siman. Even though their etrogim grew to a bigger size, our etrogim are complete when they reach the size of our eggs, which in real terms is smaller than their eggs.]

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Conclusion

Let me leave you with a final thought…

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There are 3 festivals during the year – Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Each represents another stage of our relationship with God. First comes Pesach when God took us out of Egypt. He singled us out as His nation. This represents our engagement to God. By taking us out of Egypt, He was choosing us as His beloved. Then comes Shavuot when God betrothed us. This represents the wedding ceremony. In fact, many say that placing Har Sinai over our head was like the wedding canopy and the Torah was like the kessef kidushin. And finally Sukkot, which represents the yichud room, the closest bond between chosson and kalla, between God and His people. (Rabbi Dovid Tugendhaft noted how this theme fits in with the comments of the Shach on the Torah who writes that Gentiles are not allowed in a sukkah. It is the time of solitude between husband and wife, between Hashem and His nation.) The sukka is a place of tremendous unification, the ultimate connection between man and Creator. It’s one of the only commandments we do with our whole body. It is a week spent connecting with God, experiencing the yichud room, where the choson and kalla share the closest bond, tremendous focus, unification and connection. Little wonder that many righteous people, as they leave the sukkah, kiss it to show their affection.