A Shabbat Story: How One Rabbi Changed the Tunisian Market Before the Holiday

Stalls filled the marketplace in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It was the time before Sukkot, and Jews bustled about, trying to buy the arba’at haminimת the Four Species used during the holiday. Everyone hoped to fulfill the mitzvah in the best way they could. But that year, it felt like only three species were really available. No one dared go near the myrtle stands, hadasim, because their price had skyrocketed to nearly two months’ wages.

The local Arab merchants had decided to take advantage of the situation. Knowing the Jewish people needed all four species to fulfill the mitzvah properly, they conspired to raise the price of myrtles, assuming that Jews would pay anything. They believed Jewish homes were full of treasure, and that Jews would part with large sums to get the species they needed.

But the truth was far different. Most Jewish families in Tunis lived modestly. They couldn’t afford the new prices. Since the merchants had made an agreement among themselves, there was no way to buy myrtles at a fair rate.

In desperation, the Jews turned to the city’s rabbinic leaders. The rabbis made a clear ruling: it was forbidden to buy myrtles from merchants inflating the price unfairly. In such a case, one could fulfill the mitzvah with the remaining three species.

Still, the idea of celebrating Sukkot without myrtles was painful to the community. They yearned to do the mitzvah completely. So they turned to one of the most respected sages of Tunis at the time, Rabbi Yeshua Basis, whose yahrzeit (anniversary of passing) is on the 9th of Tevet.

Rabbi Yeshua had been immersed in Torah study, unaware of the crisis in the market. When the matter was explained to him, he listened carefully and then gave a surprising instruction. “Please send two respected members of the community to the market,” he said. “Let them go to the most well-known Arab myrtle merchant. Ask him, in my name, to bring two fresh, large bundles of triple-leafed myrtles to my house. Tell him I wish to choose branches for the mitzvah.”

The men followed the rabbi’s instructions, though they weren’t sure what good would come of it. The merchant, confident and greedy, smirked to his companions. Surely the rabbi just wanted to negotiate. But he had no plans to budge on the price.

When the merchant arrived at Rabbi Yeshua’s home, the rabbi welcomed him and asked if they could examine the myrtle bundles on the rooftop. “In the sunlight,” he explained, “I’ll be able to inspect the branches more clearly.” The merchant agreed and followed him up, rubbing his hands together, already imagining the money he would make.

But the moment he stepped onto the rooftop, something extraordinary happened. He suddenly began rising into the air, floating higher and higher until he became a tiny dot in the sky, still carrying the myrtle bundles on his back.

The Arabs in the city were stunned. They saw their fellow merchant suspended in the heavens and realized the Jewish rabbi had caused it. Fearing he might never come down, they ran to the governor’s palace to complain.

Rabbi Yeshua was summoned. He calmly explained the situation: the Arab merchant had tried to cheat the Jews and prevent them from observing a sacred mitzvah. That was the real offense.

The governor, shaken by what had happened, pleaded with the rabbi. “Please bring him down. I give you my word that prices will return to normal.”

Rabbi Yeshua agreed, and the merchant was brought back to earth. True to the governor’s promise, the prices were immediately lowered, and the Jewish community could once again fulfill the mitzvah of the Four Species in peace and joy.

The name of Hashem was honored that day not only among the Jews of Tunis, but also among the city’s non-Jews, who saw with their own eyes the power of truth, faith, and divine justice.