Actually, in Hebrew, the Torah does not specifically describe the esrog as the fruit of a citron tree. Rather, the Torah uses the expression hadar to describe it, and the Sages interpreted the word to mean the esrog. Since one of the translations of hadar is "beautiful," it is understood as a restriction of the Torah that the esrog be as nice as possible. Those who are very observant often spend a lot of money to purchase an esrog which is categorized by the Rabbis as being a hadar.

Throughout Jewish history, there were many periods when it was practically impossible to purchase an esrog which was hadar. On the one hand, the supply of these uncommon fruits was extremely limited, especially in times of wars and other disasters. And on the other hand, Jews were persecuted by their many enemies and most could not afford to pay the price of the rare novelty, even if and when it was available.

At such times, most people would simply purchase the best that they could under the circumstances and were sure that Hashem would take into consideration the quality of their efforts and consider them to be "beautiful" even if the esrog was not. However, great Rabbis and Holy Men would make superhuman efforts to obtain a real hadar; no matter what it entailed to do so. There are many inspiring stories about such exceptionally devoted "servants of Hashem" who, sacrificially, forfeited their basic needs in order to be able to fulfill the mitzvah perfectly. But some of these stories have an unexpected switch at the end which teaches us an even greater lesson. Following is such a narrative which is recorded in Chassidic literature (Yeinah Shel Torah; Chaim Sheyeish Bahem; Sippurei Chassidim and others).

The Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai of Nischiz zt"l, would save his pennies all year 'round to be able to afford an esrog which was really hadar. No matter how difficult it was for him, he simply would not settle for less.

One year, as the Sukkos holiday approached, the Rebbe traveled to the town of Brod, with a hefty amount of money in his pocket, to buy an esrog. That year, he had succeeded in saving quite a bit and he was confident that he would be able to return home with a beautiful fruit.

On the way, he met a distraught Jew who was sitting and crying. The Rebbe asked him what the problem was and he replied that his horse, which was the sole source of his livelihood, had fallen and died and he now had absolutely no way of supporting his family. Without even a moment's hesitation, the Rabbi handed over his entire bundle of money to the unfortunate man and told him to buy himself a new horse and take care of those who depended upon him.

Upon returning home, the Rabbi called out to his family and students, "Baruch Hashem Who afforded me the opportunity, this year, to have a hadar shebehidurim, - a beauty among beauties. Everyone else will recite their prayer upon an esrog - while I will recite it upon a horse!"

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