The Feast of Ingathering

In general, Jews suffer many bodily afflictions – especially diseases of the intestines and lower parts – and need healing; for this, the Jews of my place need even more. What did the Holy Blessed One do? He set up a settlement for them near the beach, Sheba by name, where there are gardens and vineyards; its produce feeds them and its grapes heal them. This settlement does not really belong to us Jews; it is theirs, the Gentiles. The Holy Blessed One had only to hint to the vintners of Germany and the farmers of Switzerland: ‘Come inherit the goodly land on the shores of the Black Sea; build houses for yourself and plant vineyards, and my Jews, the people of my covenant, will come to you each year at the time of the grape harvest, eat their fill of grapes and enjoy your plenty.’ So these Gentiles came, did the will of the Almighty and established a settlement, planted fields and vineyard and now they have the fruits of the land’s produce and much new wine. However, they don’t give away their grapes to the Jews for free, but rather for money. It turns out that Jews too are human beings and were not created to enjoy the world without paying for it. And what’s more, since Jews are a holy people, they must pay double. So the Jews, who are by nature idle, come and pay the price asked by the owners of the vineyards.

But what should the poor...