It was just a day before the festival of Sukkot, and not a single etrog could be found in all of Berdichev. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, the Rebbe of Berdichev, and the entire community, were concerned about how would fulfill the mitzva (commandment) of reciting a blessing on the "four species" which included the lulav and etrog. They gathered together in the synagogue to raise their voices in prayer to the Alm-ghty to send a miracle, or at the very least, an etrog! The hours ticked by and Reb Levi Yitzchak instructed a few of his Chasidim to travel to the crossroads of the main highway. Perhaps there they would find a Jew who was traveling home for the holiday with an etrog.
Indeed, they found a Jew who was on his way home after a long business trip. He had with him a beautiful etrog. But the traveler's destination was not Berdichev; he was merely passing through on his way home to another city.
Reb Levi Yitzchak's Chasidim persuaded the businessman to stop for a few minutes in order to greet their Rebbe. Reb Levi Yitzchak tried with all his persuasiveness to convince the man to spend Sukkot in Berdichev. In this way, an entire town full of Jews would be able to properly perform the mitzva of lulav and etrog.
But, alas, the Jew would not agree. He was traveling home to his family whom he had not seen for a long time. What kind of simchat Yom Tov, joy of the holiday, would be and his family have if they were separate for the festival?
Reb Levi Yitzchak increased the pressure in an attempt to convince the businessman. A few hundred Jews fulfilling the mitzva in his merit wasn't enough? Reb Levi Yitzchak promised the Jew wealth and nachat (pleasure) from his children. But this, too, was refused by the Jew. For, thank G-d, he was already wealthy and he had a household of fine children.
But every man has his price. And so, in desperation, Reb Levi Yitzchak offered the man that if he would stay in Berdichev for Sukkot, the Rebbe would assure him that they would be together in the World to Come.
When the businessman heard this offer from the Rebbe, he immediately agreed to stay in Berdichev for the festival of Sukkot. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak and the entire community were delighted. But the businessman was sure that he had gotten the better deal.
The businessman retired to his lodgings to prepare himself for the holiday. Unbeknownst to him, Reb Levi Yitzchak issued an order to the entire Jewish community that no one should invite the businessman home for the holiday meals. Not only that, under no circumstance should anyone invite him into their sukka. It should be noted that it is a mitzva (commandment) to "dwell in the sukka" during the festival. This includes partaking of one's meals in the outdoor, temporary hut.
When the services in the main synagogue in Berdichev were over, the businessman thought it a little odd that no one invited him to their home and sukka to partake of the holiday meal. He returned to the Jewish inn where he was staying to contemplate the situation and found there wine, challahs, and a table covered with mouth-watering food. The businessman was once again baffled. Surely the inn has a sukka. Why did the innkeeper set up the meal in his room?
The businessman walked outside and easily located the sukka. He looked inside and saw the innkeeper and his family gustily singing songs in honor of the festival. Meekly at first, and then a bit more aggressively, the businessman knocked on the sukka door. But what was this? The innkeepers was utterly ignoring him, as if he did not exist at all.
This scene - the businessman knocking at sukkot throughout the town and not being invited to enter - repeated itself at each sukka he visited. His request to be invited in fell on deaf ears. The rumbling in his stomach meant nothing to him compared to the longing in his heart to sit in a sukka on the first night of the festival. After much effort, the businessman finally managed to extract from one of the Chasidim that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak had decreed that he should not be allowed into a single sukka in Berdichev.
With trepidation and growing panic, the businessman went to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's home. "How have I wronged you that you commanded your Chasidim not to allow me to enter their sukkot?" he cried to the Rebbe.
Calmly but firmly Rabbi Levi Yitzchak demanded, "If you will nullify the promise I made to you that we would be together in the World to Come, I will tell my followers to allow you into their sukkot."
The businessman weighed his options. He tried using his keen business sense to decide if this was a good deal, or at the very least, not a total wash-out.
"What can I do?" he reluctantly thought to himself. "It is indeed a great thing to be assured a place with the Rebbe in the World to Come. However, I have never in my life not fulfilled the mitzva of eating in the sukka!" An inner struggle took place within the businessman. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was very patient and finally the businessman came to his decision. "All Jews are sitting in sukkot tonight and I will eat inside the house like Ivan? Rebbe, I give you back your portion in the World to Come so that I may fulfill the mitzva of eating in the Sukka. He then joyously sat himself down in the Rebbe's sukka.
When the festival concluded, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak called the Jew to his home."I am returning my promise. You see, I didn't want you to merit the World to Come as if it were a business deal or bargain. I wanted you to earn your place in the World to Come. So, I caused you to be tested in the mitzva of sukka and you have passed. You have shown true resolve concerning the sukka. Now you surely deserve an exalted place in the World to Come."
