1 Tevet · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi
Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi (1774) - was born in the city of Fez in the Kingdom of Morocco.
Yahrzeit - 1 Tevet
Resting place - Tunisia
Riding on a Lion
Once, Rabbi Alfasi decided to travel to the Holy Land and joined a caravan of camel traders leaving Fez and heading for the Holy Land. After many days of traveling through the Moroccan desert, Rabbi Alfasi realized that on the sixth day, Friday, the caravan was still in the arid desert. He got off his camel and announced that he would remain in the desert so as not to travel on Shabbat. "What? Have you lost your mind?" his fellow travelers exclaimed. "You can't stay alone in the desert. The sun is scorching, the wind is harsh, the ground is dry, and there are wild animals that could tear you apart. Even a camel wouldn't want to stay." But Rabbi Alfasi would not budge. The members of the caravan argued with him for an hour, but he did not move from his place, so they reluctantly continued on their way to Tunisia, leaving the rabbi alone in the desert for Shabbat. As evening fell, Rabbi Alfasi took a stick and drew a circle around himself in the sand, recited the evening prayer, and began his Shabbat meal. When he finished the meal, he saw a lion running toward him from a distance. The rabbi was not afraid. He finished Birkat HaMazon after the meal, and when the lion approached the circle drawn around the rabbi, it simply stopped and sat down. In the morning, the rabbi woke up, said the morning prayer, and prepared for Shabbat. The lion stayed awake all day. After Shabbat ended, the rabbi placed his bags on the lion's back, mounted the lion, and set off for Tunisia. When Rabbi Alfasi rode into the city on the lion's back, the people of Tunisia were shocked and terrified; many ran to their homes and barricaded their doors. Rabbi Alfasi asked the people not to be afraid: "This lion is a good lion. It will not harm anyone."
Rabbi Alfasi got off the lion and settled into an inn. He thanked the lion, and the lion galloped away from the city back into the desert. A few days later, the caravan entered the city, and the rabbi's former traveling companions were astonished not only to see that Rabbi Alfasi had survived the desert, but that he had arrived days ahead of them. "Join us as we continue on to the Holy Land," the caravan drivers said. But Rabbi Alfasi did not join them. During his first few days in Tunisia, he had gotten to know the Jewish community and saw that they needed a new teacher. So Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi remained in Tunisia and built a renowned yeshiva there.
The resting place of the tzadik Rabbi Masoud Refael Alfasi is in Tunisia.
(https://www.nehora.com/pages/Rabbi-Masoud-Refael-Alfasi-of-Tunisia.html)
Pilgrimage site:
Grave: Masoud Rafael Alfasi