R. Eliezer and R. Joshua [ben Ilem] were going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem when they saw an angel carrying a luminous shirt. They asked for which of them
it was destined and he replied that it was for Joseph the Gardener in Askalon. After the festival, they went to that town, told him about the luminous shirt and mentioned that the seam was not complete. He told them that he had been rich, had spent his father’s money and now lived on the produce of his garden which he divided with the poor. The wife, having heard the conversation, asked him to sell her as a slave, promising to keep faithful and she told him to give away the money he received in alms so as to complete the shirt. He did so but she refused to obey the will of her master, who handed her over to his shepherd who illtreated her. After a time her husband came and tried to tempt her. She indignantly refused, then he made himself known, having found her faithful, and a voice was heard from heaven saying, “Thy shirt is complete, but a more beautiful one is awaiting thy wife. Go to a certain place and there you will find a treasure which thy father has hidden away.” He did so, ransomed his wife and they continued to give alms to the poor.