JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

no pittam. There are several distinguishing signs by which
the grafted and the ungrafted etrog can be distinguished. The
skin of the latter is generally rougher than that of the former,
and, according to some halakhic authorities, the seed of the
latter lies longitudinally within the fruit, and that of the former,
latitudinally. Until the end of the 19th century the center
for the cultivation of etrogim was the island of *Corfu, from
where they were exported to Jewish communities in Europe.
Later these began to use the etrogim of Ereẓ Israel. Today the
etrog groves in Israel supply local needs and also export many
etrogim abroad.
Bibliography: V. Loret, Le cédratier dans l’antiquité (1891);
Loew, Flora, 3 (1924), 285ff.; S. Tolkowski, in: JPOS, 8 (1928), 17–23; J.
Feliks, Olam ha-Ẓome’aḥ ha-Mikra’i (1957), 66–70.
[Jehuda Feliks]
ETROG, SOREL (1933– ), sculptor, painter, poet, filmmaker.
Etrog was born in Jassy, Romania. In 1950, he immigrated with
his family to Israel. He studied at the Israel Institute of Painting
and Sculpture in Tel Aviv (1953–55). From 1955 to 1958, he
was a member of the Ein Hod artists’ colony. Etrog held his
first solo show in Tel Aviv (1958). Awarded a scholarship to
the Brooklyn Museum Art School/Institute, he studied in New
York in 1958–59 and established a studio there.
In the summer of 1959, Etrog was invited to work in
Canada by prominent art collector Samuel Zacks. That year,
he held a solo exhibition at Toronto’s Gallery Moos and in
1963 he moved permanently to Toronto. From 1964 to 1984
he worked in his studios in both Toronto and Florence, Italy.
Etrog was one of three artists representing Canada at the 1966
Venice Biennale, where his reputation as a leading contemporary
sculptor was confirmed.
Etrog is best known for his large public sculptures which
range from the biomorphic to monumental bronze and steel
structures. Marshall McLuhan described his “hinge” and “link”
work as a drama of dialogue and interchange that reflects the
“transformation of the old machine and its consumer products
into new vital images of primal art and perception.” Etrog
also began as a painter in Israel. His “painted constructions”
investigate the interdependency of painting and relief. He also
realized a significant body of drawings, including studies and
large-scale works on paper and canvas. His art is a process of
exploration into the nature of human consciousness and the
human condition. A poet himself, Etrog worked collaboratively
with writers such as McLuhan, Claudio Aveline, Samuel
Beckett, and Eugene *Ionesco.
The subject of numerous exhibitions, Etrog’s art is widely
represented in major museums and collections around the
world, including the Tate Museum, London; the Museum
of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New
York; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Israel
Museum, Jerusalem; the Kroeller-Mueller Museum, Otterlo;
the Musée d’Arte Moderne, Paris; and the National Gallery of
Canada, Ottawa. Among his many public and private commissions
is Powersoul, which he created for the 1988 Olympics
Ettelson, Harry William
in Seoul, Korea. In 1968, Etrog designed the Canadian film
award statuette (called “the Etrog” until 1980, when it was renamed
the “Genie”).
In recognition of his contributions to contemporary
art, Etrog was named a Member of the Order of Canada in
1995 and a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by
France in 1996.
Bibliography: T.A. Heinrich, The Painted Constructions
1952–1960 of Sorel Etrog (1968); C. Ragghianti, Sorel Etrog Sculptures
Engravings Lithographs Documents (1968); P. Restany, Sorel Etrog
(2001); W. Withrow, Sorel Etrog (1967).
[Joyce Zemans (2nd ed.)]
ETTELSON, HARRY WILLIAM (1883–1975), U.S. Reform
rabbi. Ettelson was born in Mobile, Alabama, and received
his B.A. with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of
Cincinnati in 1900, at the age of 17. He was ordained at Hebrew
Union College, where he was valedictorian of his class,
in 1904. Ettelson earned his M.A. from the University of Chicago
while serving as rabbi of Temple Achduth Vesholom in
Fort Wayne, Indiana (1904–10), and his Ph.D. from Yale University
in 1916 while serving as rabbi of Congregation Beth
Israel in Hartford, Connecticut (1911–19). He served as a Navy
chaplain at Pelham Bay Training Station during World War I,
then became rabbi of Temple Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia
(1919–24), where he also served as president of the Philadelphia
Board of Jewish Ministers, vice chancellor of the Jewish
Chautauqua Society, and a member of the editorial board of
the Jewish Publication Society.
In 1925, he moved to Memphis to assume the pulpit of
Congregation Children of Israel (later, Temple Israel), where
he remained until his death, serving his final 21 years as rabbi
emeritus. He was both a religious and civic leader in Memphis,
where he was founder and first president of the Cross-
Cut Club, an organization of Memphis clergymen of all faiths
that formed the nucleus of that city’s chapter of the *National
Conference of Christians and Jews (NCCJ). He also instituted
several citywide interfaith initiatives, including Peace Heroes
Day; Good Will and Brotherhood Day (later expanded by the
NCCJ to Brotherhood Week); and non-sectarian Union Civic
Thanksgiving Day services.
Ettelson’s reputation as both a scholar and an orator
reached its zenith in 1932, when he engaged in a public debate
on religion with Clarence Darrow, the noted attorney of
Scopes trial fame, who traveled around the country debating
clergymen. Although there was no official decision as to
a winner, according to the Memphis Press-Scimitar, “by and
large, the majority sided with Dr. Ettelson’s masterly approach”
to the question, “Is Religion Necessary?” That same year, his
congregation awarded him the Joseph Newberger Memorial
Cup, in recognition of his service to the Memphis Jewish
community. In 1940, Southwestern University awarded him
an honorary doctorate.
As chairman of the CCAR-UAHC Joint Commission on
Information on Judaism in the 1940s, Ettelson developed the
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 541