Dear Mary,
Thanks for your compliments.
I'll breefly try to explain about the fruit. This fruit is called Etrog, and its a kind of a cytrus fruit, a bit like lemon, but not as sower.
It has a simbolic meaning in Judaism, and it resembles some of the reaches of the holyland. In the Sukkot holiday Jews need to bless on the Etrog while in the Suka (temporary house to resemble the fled from Egypt). Therefore, a market of those fruits is occuring each year before the holiday, and price per unit goes from 2$ to hundreds of dollars. As cleaner and perfect the piece is, the higher the price is, so therefore they are examining it so much to make sure its Kosher and worth the price.
mary
10-Dec-2004 17:45
I love your photographs; they are wonderful! But I am not so sure why this man is transfixed by the fruit? Interesting indeed!