In the video: Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri held a festive prayer in the private sukkah at his home, during which he presented one of the rabbis with an etrog worth "$5,000 in cash" / Mordechai Halperin, Kol Chai
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri held a festive prayer in his private sukkah on Sunday morning, during which he presented one of the rabbis with an etrog worth "$5,000 in cash," as he put it. The footage shows Deri saying this to Rabbi David Yosef, a member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages and a close associate.
It is unclear whether Deri himself purchased the etrog or received it from others, but if they did pay this amount in cash, it is a violation of the Cash Law, which allows transactions between citizens up to NIS 15,6 at most, and businesses up to NIS 000,<>.
Aryeh Deri, January 1, 2023/Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel
Deri's office said in response that for many years the Shas chairman has been blessing a variety of etrogs of various varieties, including Moroccan and Yemenite etrogs, on Sukkot. "This year there were large etrogs in Deri's sukkah and a small Moroccan etrog," they said. "With a sense of humor and in order to defend the honor of the Moroccan etrog, Deri jokingly said - don't look at the small size of the Moroccan etrog, in Satmar in America they pay thousands in cash for it. This was said in jest. The etrog itself, like all etrogs, Rabbi Deri purchased in Israel for only hundreds of shekels, as was his custom."
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