6293 —בדיקת תפילין מארץ ישראל ומנהג אתרוג קלבריא

B"H, 3rd of Sivan, 5718.

Brooklyn.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

In response to your letter from the end of Iyar, in which you raise: a) What was said in my name, that tefillin sent from Eretz HaKodesh—even if written there by a G-d-fearing scribe and the batim made by trustworthy people—should be checked here upon receipt. My reasoning is that there have been cases where customs officials opened the batim (suspecting that precious stones or pearls were hidden inside), and it is understood that when they resewed them, there was room for various errors, some of which could even affect essential aspects.

b) Regarding the Chabad custom of being particular about specifically Calabrian etrogim. What I have heard and what seems correct to me according to Nigleh I wrote to someone—and an excerpt is enclosed. I also copied this in my notes in the Sukkos booklet from 5712, page 59, where it is also referenced to a sichah of my father-in-law on this matter. As for your comment about our Sages’ teaching on "You shall lack nothing in it—even pepper," it is obvious that Eretz Yisrael is capable of growing beautiful fruit of the hadar tree and is not inferior to pepper. But this does not mean that at present there are actually etrogim in Eretz Yisrael with the highest level of hiddur; Scripture speaks about potential and possibility, not always actual reality. All the more so considering what is said: "Sulfur and salt—a burning; all its land will not be sown nor sprout nor will any grass grow there," etc. Furthermore, with etrogim, hiddur (beautification) is intrinsic to the mitzvah itself, which implies that the ultimate hiddur for this mitzvah may be found elsewhere—in this case, Calabrian etrogim from Greece. There is no deficiency in 'you shall lack nothing' if the ultimate hiddur comes from another land—Calabria of Greece.

With honor and blessing—in the wording used by my father-in-law—for receiving the Torah with joy and inwardness.

P.S. Regarding your comment about Calabria of Greece and your reference to Yerushalmi—I have already said before that this explains our Sages’ source regarding "from the fatness of the earth—this refers to Italy of Greece," which raises a difficulty: since Yitzchak blessed Yaakov with "from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth," then what was left for Esav? The answer: only Calabria of Greece remained—which did not yet exist at that time; therefore Yitzchak could not have had it in mind when blessing Yaakov. This tract of land was formed (according to Yerushalmi) when Shlomo married Pharaoh’s daughter: Gabriel descended and stuck a reed into the sea, causing a sandbank to rise up on which Italy of Greece was built (see Shabbos 56b). Later I found that this was written as well in Sefer Damasek Eliezer quoting R’ Heshel of Krakow. I am pleased that I arrived at this independently. As for your explanation that Calabria mentioned above belongs to the lands of Keni Kenizi Kadmoni—see Bava Basra 56a; Rambam Hilchos Rotzeach ch.8 halacha 4; and more.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches careful attention both in mitzvah observance—such as checking tefillin after customs handling—and in upholding traditions like using Calabrian etrogim, emphasizing both practical concerns and deep Torah sources behind these customs.