The Pomegranate Tree

The following story took place a long time ago in a small town in Eretz Yisroel. In this small town, there were many stone houses.

There was one house that was different. What set this house apart was that it had a big pomegranate tree growing in front of it. This pomegranate tree was not like any other. It had big, beautiful, delicious pomegranates that everyone loved.

This pomegranate tree helped the owner of the house make a living. The owner of the house was Reb Nissim. He and his family lived from the money that they received for the pomegranates that they sold.

Every summer, Reb Nissim and his sons would go and take all the pomegranates off the tree so that they could sell them. People loved the pomegranates. It did not take long for them to be sold and Reb Nissim and his family would have money for the entire year!

It happened one year, that Reb Nissim and his sons went outside to pick the pomegranates from the tree, as they did every year.

However, this time something unusual surprised them: there were no pomegranates on the tree!

“Uh oh,” they thought. “There are no pomegranates. What are we going to do?” Well, Reb Nissim’s sons looked around to see if they were hiding anywhere. They looked inside the tree, and around the yard, in case the pomegranates had fallen off the tree and had been blown away.

Reb Nissim and his sons went back into their house. Now Reb Nissim was worried, because his usual source of livelihood was gone.

Soon people started coming over to Reb Nissim’s house to buy pomegranates, but Reb Nissim’s family had to turn them down. “Sorry, no pomegranates grew this year,” they said.

Reb Nissim realized that he had a serious problem. How was he going to make a parnosa, a living? He definitely would not be able to make a living from the pomegranates.

Before giving up total hope, Reb Nissim decided that he would double check to see if there might be one pomegranate left on the tree. After all, even if it was not enough to live on, a pomegranate would still be a nice treat for his family.

Reb Nissim went outside and climbed up the tree. To his surprise, there were three humongous pomegranates sitting there! These pomegranates were so big, bigger than Reb Nissim had ever seen in his life!

Well, Reb Nissim brought the pomegranates back into his house and told his family the good news. His family was amazed, and so was he!

Now, Reb Nissim was thinking what to do with these pomegranates. Even if he would sell them, the money that he would receive would not be enough for an entire year. So, Reb Nissim decided: “We can have two for Shabbos, and the other one, we will put aside for Tu B’shevat.”

That Shabbos, Reb Nissim’s family enjoyed the pomegranates. Then, after Shabbos, Reb Nissim started thinking how he would make a living that year. Even though Reb Nissim’s family was able to enjoy the pomegranates for Shabbos, and later, on Tu B’shevat, they still needed money for the rest of the year.

Reb Nissim set out to look for a job. He searched “high and low,” but could not find any work that was suitable.

Reb Nissim still did not have a job after quite a while. He decided that he would have to leave Eretz Yisroel and travel to another country to earn money. He might have to even beg for money. Reb Nissim did not want to leave Eretz Yisroel; he had never done so in his life!

Reb Nissim did not want to leave Eretz Yisroel for another reason, too: what would it look like, if a yid had to leave Hashem’s special place, Eretz Yisroel and go ask other people outside of Eretz Yisroel for money? Reb Nissim did not want to suffer that embarrassment, but he had no choice.

Reb Nissim finally decided that he would leave Eretz Yisroel to look for a job, and if he could not find one, he would have to beg for money. Either way, he would not tell anyone where he was from. Then, when Reb Nissim would have enough money, he would return home.

When Reb Nissim was about to set out on his way, his wife said to him: “You don’t know how long you will be away. Why don’t you take the third pomegranate with you, so that way, in case you will still be away on Tu B’shevat, you will have it.”

Reb Nissim wanted his family to have the pomegranate for Tu B’shevat, but his family wanted him to have it. It went back and forth, until Reb Nissim finally took the pomegranate with him.

On Reb Nissim’s journey, he traveled from town to town, from city to city, looking for ways to make some money.

Sometimes Reb Nissim stretched out his hand, and asked people for money. He told them that he had a family and needed money for them. When people asked him: “Where do you come from?” He would reply by saying: “I come from far away.”

This went on for weeks and then months. Reb Nissim was begging for money while looking out for odd jobs.

One day, Reb Nissim arrived at certain city in Turkey. The day was Tu B’shevat, and Reb Nissim was happy and sad at the same time. He was happy because it was Tu B’shevat, a special day, and he had his pomegranate with him. On the other hand, he was sad because he had to go out begging for money, and because he missed his family.

Reb Nissim went to the shul in the city to daven, and there he saw something that surprised him very much. The shul was full of people crying and saying Tehillim. It was not something you would expect to see on Tu B’shevat.

Reb Nissim wanted to find out what was going on, so he asked someone. “I see that you are all saying Tehillim,” he said. “Did anything bad happen?”

“Yes, yes!” the man replied. “Something terrible happened. The Sultan’s son—the prince—is very sick. None of the doctors could help him. The doctors have given up all hope for recovery, and the prince will die very soon.

“The only hope they had, was if a special doctor would come to heal him. The Sultan’s advisors did not know of such a doctor, but they said the best doctors were Jewish. Now, the Sultan decreed that we must send our best doctors to the palace. Otherwise we will be driven out of Turkey, so that is why we are saying Tehillim.”

When Reb Nissim heard what this man said, he immediately took a Tehillim, and began davening with the rest of the people in the shul. As sad as Reb Nissim’s predicament may have been, he knew that the problem that the yidden of Turkey were facing was much more serious.

As everyone was saying Tehillim, suddenly, the rov of the shul stopped, and started smelling the air. He said to his shamesh who was sitting next to him: “There is a guest in this shul from Eretz Yisroel. Please find him, because I would like to meet him.”

The shamesh was taken aback with what the rov had said, but he went around the shul looking for a guest. It did not take long for him to spot Reb Nissim in the crowd, as he was the only guest.

The shamesh approached Reb Nissim and told him that the rov wanted to see him. Reb Nissim was surprised just as the rov’s shamesh was: how did the rov know that he was in the shul, and that he came from Eretz Yisroel?!

Well, Reb Nissim went up to where the rov was sitting and said sholom aleichem to him. The rov said: “I see we have a special guest from Eretz Yisroel.”

Reb Nissim was interested to know how the rov knew that he came from Eretz Yisroel, because, as we know, he did not tell anyone. He asked the rov: “How do you know that I come from Eretz Yisroel? I did not tell anybody.”

“Well,” the rov said, “just in the past few minutes, I smelled an odor that I only smelled when I was in Eretz Yisroel. I thought that there must be a guest from Eretz Yisroel here.”

Reb Nissim then remembered the pomegranate that he had in his bag. He told the rov about it, and said: “This must be what you are smelling.”

When the rov heard that Reb Nissim had a pomegranate, he got excited. In Turkey, they did not have pomegranates, which was one of “the seven kinds” of special fruits of Eretz Yisroel.

The rov then said to Reb Nissim: “It has been years since I have last seen a pomegranate.” Reb Nissim said: “This pomegranate came from a tree that I have in my yard. I would be more than happy to share it with you.”

“No, no,” said the rov. “How can I enjoy a pomegranate when we have this terrible decree upon us. I…”

Suddenly, the rov put his hand on his forehead and gave a big smile. “I just got an amazing idea! Right before the news of the decree reached us, I was learning in a sefer about “the seven kinds,” in honor of Tu B’shevat.

”The sefer spoke about the letters in the names of the seven kinds. Now, as I was learning, I had a very interesting thought:

“The letters of the Hebrew word pomegranates, rimonim, stand for ‘refuah melech u’v’noi Nissim yovi’ah meheirah—healing [for the] king and his son: Nissim will bring it speedily.’

“Maybe,” the rov continued, “the pomegranate that you have, is the cure for the prince!”

Well, there was nothing to lose, so the rov went along with Reb Nissim to the Sultan’s palace, with Reb Nissim carrying the pomegranate in his bag.

When they arrived at the palace, they were let in right away—nobody wanted to waste any time.

The two “doctors” came into the prince’s room. There were many important officers there, and the rov and Reb Nissim were brought to the middle of the room.

They squeezed out the seeds of the pomegranates, and fed them to the prince. Everyone in the room was very excited, not knowing what to expect.

Well, they gave the prince some more pomegranate juice, and slowly, color began to return to his face.

Soon the prince opened up his eyes, and then he sat up in bed! He saw everyone around him, and said: “What are you all doing here? I feel excellent! Why are there doctors here?”

When the people in the room heard that, everyone was happy. The Sultan’s family was happy that the prince was saved, and the yidden, lehavdil, were happy that they themselves were saved.

Of course, Reb Nissim was so happy to have helped the yidden of Turkey, but then he remembered about his family back in Eretz Yisroel and felt a little sad.

However, that sadness did not last for too long. Soon the Sultan said: “Who is this man who saved my son? I want to reward him!”

An officer escorted Reb Nissim to the Sultan, and he introduced him. The Sultan was very happy that Reb Nissim helped save his son’s life, and he wanted to reward him, so he said: “Get many bags of gold for this man, because he has saved my son’s life.”

Reb Nissim knew that he was not the one who saved the prince’s life, but it was only through Hashem’s miracles that the prince’s life was saved. This was, of course, so that later, Reb Nissim would be able to return home to his family, with his mission accomplished.

When Reb Nissim returned to Eretz Yisroel, he gave much tzedaka, spent his money wisely, and lived “happily ever after!”