Why does the etrog have to be beautiful?
The Torah does not merely say to take a fruit. It says: “the fruit of a beautiful tree” (Leviticus 23:40), which the Sages identify as the etrog (Sukkah 35a). There is a place for beauty in serving God.
But our culture can turn beauty from a value into a court of judgment. People take dozens of pictures until the right one appears. Filters adjust faces. Life is displayed after editing, and then a person looks into the real mirror and feels inferior to the digital version of himself.
The Torah asks for hadar, beauty, but it does not say that a human being’s worth depends on appearance. There is a vast difference between honoring beauty and becoming enslaved to it.
The problem is not that we want to look good. The problem begins when we can no longer feel good unless we receive confirmation that we also look good in someone else’s eyes.