Some 500 etrogim, or citrons as they are called in English, have been sent via the United Arab Emirates to the Iranian Jewish community for use in the “four species” tradition used in prayer services over the upcoming Sukkot holiday.
Etrogim are grown in Italy, Israel and Morocco, but not in Iran. The Jewish community usually imports the item through Turkey, but, since that country has had a high level of COVID-19 infections in recent weeks, it has made delivery of etrogim to Iran more difficult.
For that reason, the consignment of etrogim for Iranian Jews was delivered in a few large suitcases through the UAE this year instead.
Packages of myrtle, another one of the four species, were also delivered to Iran through the UAE since they, too, are not grown locally, while the local Jewish community is able to source the other two species – palm and willow branches – from inside the country.
Members of the Jewish community in the UAE assisted in the delivery of the items to Iran.
“Jews have been practicing Judaism across the Muslim world for thousands of years,” said Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States, which coordinated the deliveries.
“It is just natural for Jews in Muslim countries to help each other facilitate holiday needs to enable other Jews to carry out their religious obligations,” he continued. “We have seen that governments across the Islamic world are very much supportive of Jews practicing Jewish life.”
The alliance has also been active in ensuring that the four species are delivered to Jews in other Muslim countries, where they are also not readily available, with help from the Jewish Agency and the Meromim Foundation.
It helped import etrogim and myrtle to Turkey, which was imported by air freight from Israel, and helped import and distribute the Four Species in Kazakhstan and far-flung Kyrgyzstan as well.
Back in the UAE, the alliance helped import 300 sets of four species for the Jewish communities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and Rabbi Levi Duchman and the Jewish Community Center organization he heads distributed them.