9 Tevet · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yeshua Bessis of Tunisia
Rabbi Yeshua Bessis (1773–1860) - Chief Rabbi, great Mekubal of Tunisia.
Yahrzeit - 9 Tevet
Resting place - Tunisia
Gilgul of the Arizal
One evening the great Rav Alfasi woke his son and said to him: "Come, let us go greet the soul of the Arizal, which will descend tonight in the form of an infant."
Rav Alfasi blessed the newborn infant, took him in his arms, and promised the mother he would watch over him.
One day, an emissary of the Jerusalem Kollel arrived in Tunisia. He was the master of the Caid (the head of the Jewish community). He asked a sofer to write him an amulet.
When the amulet was finished, he gave it to a respected rabbi, who showed it to Rav Alfasi for review. Rabbi Alfasi summoned his protégé Yeshua Bessis, who immediately noticed errors in the arrangement of the angels' names and made corrections. The bewildered emissary realized his mistake and was amazed that such a young student possessed such deep knowledge of Kabbalah.
Bessis was appointed Chief Rabbi of Tunisia in 1847 and held this position until his death. He wrote responsa on the Shulchan Aruch, of which only the section on "Yoreh De'ah" was published - part of it titled "Avnei Tzedek" and part "Avnei Tzedek u-Meorot Natan." Bessis wrote commentaries on the works of the sages of Tunisia. He engaged in practical Kabbalah and was regarded as holy.
With tremendous kindness and great purity, he healed ailments and helped his people whenever they found themselves in difficulty.
Myrtle Branches for the Sukkah
The Jews of Tunisia had a custom of covering their sukkah with myrtle branches, which filled the air with their sweet fragrance. Every year, non-Jewish merchants would fill their carts with myrtle leaves to sell before the festival of Sukkot. One year, however, they decided to teach a lesson to the Jews whom they hated. They agreed among themselves to raise the price of myrtle - the price of a single branch by seven times or more.
On the morning before the festival, the Jews of the city arrived at the market very early to buy myrtle and finish building their sukkahs. What was their surprise when they heard the exorbitant prices! They went from one merchant to another, but everywhere the price had risen at least sevenfold. The Jews were not willing to accept this outrageous price increase, and so they decided to turn to Rabbi Yeshua Bessis.
When Rabbi Yeshua Bessis was told of the exorbitant price increase, he went to the market. When he approached one of the merchants, he chose a myrtle branch and paid the price demanded. He asked the merchant to deliver the branch to his home and carry it up to the attic. The Arab happily agreed to the Rav's request. As the Arab approached the house, Rabbi Yeshua quietly recited the words of a prayer. His lips were still whispering the holy words when the Arab climbed to the attic with the myrtle branch. Everyone wondered why he was taking so long to come back down, and suddenly they saw his silhouette in the sky, with the myrtle branch on his shoulder, moving farther and farther away from them until he became a small dot the size of a bird.
Word of the silhouette in the sky reached the royal palace within minutes. King Albay, who recognized the authority of the Jewish Rav, immediately sent his most important ministers to him, along with a horse-drawn carriage, so that the Rav could come to the palace.
Out of respect for the royal family, Rabbi Yeshua accepted the invitation without delay. The King said to him: "My friend, I know that all this commotion comes from you. Tell me, why have you wronged this man so?" The Rav answered that he had simply asked the man to carry his merchandise up to the attic, and that this merchant had indeed gone up… and risen into the air.
"Hide nothing from me," the king declared, "you will not be harmed."
Rabbi Yeshua saw that the king was sincere and wished to help him. He began by telling of the Jews' suffering in the city, because the merchants had decided to raise their prices, and not a single member of the community could afford to buy myrtle branches.
"Here is the man who is coming to you now," the Rav added, "he will confirm what I have said."
And then the myrtle merchant, still holding the branch on his shoulder, began slowly descending, step by step, the heavenly staircase. In utter terror, the royal officials fell facedown to the ground. The king, having witnessed the miracle, ordered all his servants to change the price of myrtle back to what it had been the previous year.
This is but one of the many miracles performed by Rabbi Yeshua Bessis.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://hevratpinto.org/tzadikim_eng/033_rabbi_yeshua_bessis.html)