Question

Hello Rabbi,
Regarding this Jewish law:
 
a) One who takes an etrog to smell it during the rest of the year recites: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who gives a good fragrance to fruits,” which is the formula for the fragrance blessing on fruits that are fit for eating.
 
b) An etrog designated for the commandment during the days of the festival—if a person takes it to smell it, there is a dispute whether one should recite the fragrance blessing over it, because some say that during these days it is not defined as something intended for fragrance, since it is intended for a commandment. To avoid entering this dispute, the Shulchan Arukh writes that it is proper not to smell an etrog used for the commandment during the days of the festival [emphasis: the very fact that the etrog is being used for a commandment does not prohibit smelling it (see below in the introduction to the expanded responsum), and therefore the avoidance of smelling it does not stem from the fact that it is used for a commandment as such, but only from the above dispute regarding the blessing, which we want to avoid].
   
c) Nevertheless, on the Sabbath during Sukkot, when the commandment is not performed, there is no problem taking an etrog and reciting the usual fragrance blessing over it (“who gives a good fragrance to fruits,” as above).

 
I wanted to ask you about the prohibition against smelling an etrog on Sukkot. Why don’t we say that in cases of doubt about blessings, one should rule leniently, in this context? After all, if we were to avoid everything about which there are halakhic doubts in the context of blessings, we would have to avoid a great many foods as well—for example, rice cakes. But I am not aware of any idea that one should avoid foods whose blessing is doubtful (at the bottom of the email there is a halakhic elaboration on the topic).