Israel: One Esrog Per Visitor and It Must Be Inspected at Airport

Yidden traveling to Eretz Yisroel for the Yom Tov of Sukkos and wish to bring daled minim with them will be permitted to bring just one esrog in their luggage, and upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, they will be required to present their esrog for inspection by a representative of the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry or a customs official.

The representative will perform a detailed visual inspection of the esrog in order to prevent the spread of contagious lesions and pests into the country, the ministry said.

Although clean esrogim will be allowed to be brought into the country following inspection, those arriving in Israel will not be permitted to bring with them any of the other daled minim – lulav, aravos or hadasim. The reason for this, said the ministry, is that for these items, there is no effective method of checking for abnormal abrasions, and the ministry believes that these items have a potential of bringing pests into the country that can cause harm.

Israel produces about 1 million esrogim each year, of which about 700,000 are used in Eretz Yisroel and about 300,000 are exported abroad.

The ministry stated that prices for esrogim range between 10 and 500 shekel, depending on the level of hiddur, but the average price is around 40 shekel.

{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Newscenter}