Any homiletic explanation on this? Very odd to compare fruit to animal.
hgschild, ny usa
Dear hgschild,
The Pnei Yehoshua asks your question: what does a sign of Tereifa, lacking life, have to do with an Esrog?
He explains that just as a watery lung could be within the category of a lung with a hole, so too a watery Esrog would be like an Esrog with a hole. A watery Esrog, if Pasul, could be considered Chaser, lacking Hadar, or even not be called Pri Etz Hadar (see Chavas Da'as 36:3).
Perhaps one can add that since the Esrog is compared to the heart (Midrash Rabah Vayikra 30), the term Tereifa has more meaning.
All the best,
Reuven Weiner
How would this answer the other types of Treifos, like how Tosfos learns the P'shat on Niklaf like an animal that was skinned alive. Or the Magen Avraham's broken spine of a Lulav?
I theorized that it could be included in the P'sul of Lo Hameisim Yehalilu Kah like dried out, since Treifos are considered as dying.
Dear Chaim,
A Niklaf Esrog will wither away until it dries out or rots, and therefore is already now not considered Hadar (Levush 648:6).
Your suggestion sounds good about Tereifa and dying. However, we must emphasize: the Gemara is perfectly understandable even if Tereifa for Esrog is a borrowed term. In fact, Poskim, when explaining the Psul, mention Chaser, Hadar, etc, and not Tereifa.
All the best,
Reuven Weiner