Avi Hatsira and the Flying Straw Mat

In the year 1600 hundred approximately, Rabbi Shemuel Elbaz was given a small amount of money and was sent on a mission to go to Morocco to collect funds for rabbinical academies in Jerusalem. Shemuel went to the port of Acres only to realize he did not have enough money to sail to Morocco. Rabbi Shemuel settled on his straw mat to spend the night and watched the boat sailing away with sadness. Then, as usual, he pulled out his prayer book and began reading his favourite Psalms. Suddenly the straw mat rose into the air and followed the boat all the way to Morocco. Rabbi Shemuel Elbaz became known as Rabbi Shemuel Avi Hatsira. He settled in Tafilalet and established a rabbinical academy there. Among his descendents are Rabbi Yaacov Avi Hatsira (1808-1880) and Israel (1890-1984), in addition to other actors of notoriety in contemporary Israel.