At the end of last year, it wasn't so easy for me. Thank God, I was able to bring in the holidays and buy what I needed, but it was hard. I asked myself what I could save, and so the end fell on the etrog. In previous years, I used to buy an elegant etrog, the shofra deshupra, without looking at the money. I spent all the money they demanded of me without batting an eyelid, as long as I had an etrog that grew nicely. His face is smooth and shining, and his whole head says, "This is Kelly and Anahu." This year, so I decided sadly, I will not go to the expensive etrog seller, the one who already knows me well from years past, and immediately takes out the jewel in the crown for me. If I go in there, my eyes will only come out, and I cannot afford such a large expense. Therefore, from the outset, I will go into a store that sells cheaply, and from there I will choose the one that is more beautiful, comparatively.
I just decided, and a friend asked me to do him a favor, to go into the Beit Midrash in Yala in London, and bring him a coat that his son had forgotten there. I complied with his request, went into the beit midrash, and found a holy book on the table. I opened it, and it opened to me on the page that brings a quote from the holy Ari about the magnitude of the matter of buying four species at a high price. It was a pretty clear sign from Heaven that I had to think again about my decision regarding the etrog, but after two days had passed and I still hadn't bought an etrog, the evil inclination came back and claimed to me that at this stage of the year, every book I found would deal with the affairs of Sukkot, and it was only natural that it would begin with the matters of the four species. After all, the book is in a beit midrash where many people study, and what will they learn if not the matters of the holiday? In general, the decision to lower the price of the etrog came against my will against my will, because of the economic situation, so who said that what is brought in the book will be the one that decides, what action should I do?
Two days later, I made my way to the cheap store, and on the way I entered a beit midrash. There I came across a book from the "Yigdil Torah" collection of pamphlets by the Belza Chassidim. I opened it, and immediately my eyes came across a quote from the Mishna Berura, about the great virtue of buying four species with precious blood. At this point I already understood that it was not a coincidence, but that God had brought these books before me, and with special providence they were opened before me in these very places. At that moment I decided that I was going to abandon my plan to go to the cheap store, and make my way to the seller of etrogim from time immemorial. I closed the book with a determined decision, and there, there, in the beit midrash, I met a Jew whose son works with me. He was happy to meet me, and then he took something out of his pocket and stuck it in my hand, "Take something for Yom Tov." I look at that "something," and see that he put eighty pounds in my hand. "Such a large sum?" I ask in astonishment. "May you have an etrog" - - - What can I tell you? That same year I bought a wonderful and elegant etrog, when I torment myself, how could I not know how important my etrog is in heaven. How did Divine Providence turn for me to see the Scriptures and receive the support, as long as I reached a fancy etrog, when I wore the capsule? Oh, I wish my heart was clean and pure, like the etrog I bought that year.
