10 Shevat · Yahrzeit

Rabbi Shalom Shabazi

Rabbi Shalom ben Yosef Shabazi was a kabbalist, the greatest Yemenite poet (1619-1720)

Yahrzeit - 10 Shevat Burial place - Taiz, Yemen Shabazi was born in 1619 in the city of Al-Said. His family lineage traces back to Zerach, son of Yehuda ben Yaakov, who is called Israel. After the death of his father, Rabbi Yosef, Shalom moved to the small town of Shabbez, near the city of Taiz. Soon after, he moved again and settled in Taiz, where he built a house of prayer and a mikveh outside the city, beneath Jebel Sabir. Near the synagogue he found a cave with a small spring, in whose waters, through the merit of Rabbi Shalom, many people were healed. In his time there lived a gentile named Evan Aluan, who drew crowds of people with his wonders, told fortunes and healed the sick, and many Jews followed after him. Rabbi Shalom found it necessary to stand against him, so that the idolaters would not draw away the hearts of the Israelites, and through his holiness and wisdom, Rabbi Shalom managed to win back the hearts of his brethren from the idolaters. He was a salvation for oppressed and ailing Jews. Rabbi Shalom's prayer bore visible fruit and many were saved through him. Even after Rabbi Shalom's passing, people came and prostrated themselves at his grave in Taiz. Rabbi Yaakov Sapir wrote in his book "The Chambers of Yemen": "At the site of his burial there is a large Tziyon, and a cave to the side, and a well of water. At his grave I light a candle, which, the locals say, never goes out. I asked people who came there and they told me wondrous things - that if a sick person feared G-d and believed in the wonder-worker Rabbi Shabazi, then after prostrating himself on the grave, he would enter the cave to bathe and draw water, and if he was healed, water would appear before him, and on the living water he would see a talisman - a blade of grass, which he would take with joy. But if the person was not G-d-fearing, he would receive no healing, and no living water with the little leaf would appear before him. They say that every evening he would rise and perform 'kfitzat ha-derech' (a shortening of the way) - once he fasted in Jerusalem, once in Safed, once in Tiberias, once in Hebron, and then would return to his home in Yemen. I read of this in his book." (Rav Yaakov Sapir) His father, Yosef ben Avigad ben Chalfon, was also a rabbi and a poet. Rabbi Shalom had two sons, Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehuda, and some of his poems begin with the names of his sons. Rabbi Shalom also had a daughter - Shima. She was known for her wisdom and righteousness. The Daughter of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi Rabbi Shalom's daughter died young. It is told that the son of the King of Yemen was consumed with desire for Shima Shabazi. He ordered her father to arrange her marriage to him. The King summoned Rabbi Shabazi and said, "Give your daughter to my son." Rabbi Shabazi answered him, "How can I give my daughter to your son? We do not belong to the same faith." "There is nothing wrong with that. I want your daughter to become my daughter-in-law. My son loves her. That is enough." "But, my lord the King, how is this possible?" "What do you mean, impossible?" the enraged King replied. "Are you holier than I am?" Realizing that arguing with the King would lead to nothing good, Rabbi Shabazi agreed. At home, he explained everything to his daughter and prepared her for the wedding. He dressed his daughter in white garments and mourned her with a wedding melody. He accompanied his daughter in the bridal procession until it met the groom's procession. At the very moment the two processions met, the bride fell down and died. "What have you done?" the King cried out. "I told you this marriage was impossible. We belong to different religions." The King asked Rabbi Shabazi for forgiveness. And from that time on, he was held in even greater honor and esteem. Rabbi Shabazi wrote a commentary on the Torah called "Chemdat Yamim" (Pleasant Days). His guidance played an important role in helping the Jews of Yemen survive some of the most terrible persecutions in their history. He was called "Mori" (Yemenite Jews often call their spiritual leaders "Mori," meaning "my master" or "my teacher"). Shabazi wrote a kinah (lament) to be read on the Ninth of Av, recalling the terrible exile of the Jews during his lifetime (known as the Mawza Exile) from all the cities and towns of Yemen into an inhospitable desert called Mawza, during which about 20% of the Jews perished. Mori Shabazi refers not only to this terrible event of 1679, but also to the Headwear Decree of 1667. Shabazi's surviving collection of poetry, comprising about 550 poems, was first published by the Ben-Zvi Institute in 1977. He wrote in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Scholars today consider him the "Yemenite Shakespeare." Rabbi Shalom Shabazi's piyyutim expressed the Jewish longing for the day of redemption: "May G-d look forth from His holy abode and strike down / all the enemies of His people in the blink of an eye. With this G-d arises and stands upright, to judge the oppressors / He will give them a cup of poison to drink, but not wine. The destroying angels will hasten to them, to strike / them with heavenly arrows and weapons of war. Turn, O Zion, and behold the comfort of your son / when Cain shall be given over to destruction. My Savior, summon the day when I shall draw my sword and strike / all who are fair and pleasant to look upon."

The Gaon Yanuka says of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi that he is the one who performed signs and wonders greater than all the wonder-working tzadikim we have heard of - that the tales of the Baal Shem Tov and other tzadikim, and the stories told of their supernatural powers, fall far short of what Rabbi Shalom Shabazi accomplished. How the Sun Stood Still for Rabbi Shabazi's Funeral His disciple, Rabbi Yitzchak Sharabi, was the father of Rabbi Shalom Sharabi - the holy Rashash. Rabbi Shalom Sharabi was born on the very day Rabbi Shalom Shabazi passed away. Remarkably, the two greatest Yemenite tzadikim share the same yahrzeit - 10 Shevat. Rabbi Shalom Shabazi passed away on a Friday, almost two hours before Shabbat, and people did not know what to do - whether to bury him or not. Many people came to bid farewell to the Gadol Ha-Dor, and suddenly everyone saw the sun retreat in honor of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The Rashash himself testified that his father, Rabbi Yitzchak, told him of this and wrote about it - "hachama halcha achora" - that the sun stopped and began to move backward. Such was the greatness of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The Mekubalim say that he was a gilgul of three great Jewish luminaries at once: King David, Chizkiyahu Ha-Melech, and the "Raaya Meheimna" - that is, Moshe Rabbeinu. It is told that he came down into this world with a note saying: "whatever your soul desires to do in this world - do it." The Grave of Rabbi Shabazi In 1989, a delegation from the United States, headed by members of Congress, arrived in Yemen wishing to visit the grave of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, and upon arriving at the grave, they announced to the Yemeni media their intention to remove Rabbi Shalom Shabazi's remains to Israel. The residents of the city, for whom Rabbi Shabazi was a saint, heard of this and, together with the owner of the cemetery, complained to the head of the city. The latter voiced firm objection and ruled that under no circumstances would he allow Rabbi Shalom's remains to be taken out of Yemen (which is also impossible under Sharia law). About two days later, a tractor arrived and destroyed the gravestones in the cemetery, and when it approached the grave of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, the tractor driver was bitten by a snake and died on the spot. Two days later, local residents poured concrete about a meter and a half high, covering the entire area of the cemetery. Four months later, a school for girls was built over the grave of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi, occupying the entire area of the cemetery. The domed building visible in the photo below was a synagogue, which is now an abandoned building located about 800 meters from the grave of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. The stream visible from the mountain is the spring that appeared, like a mikveh, through the prayer of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi.

In the photo below one can make out a "Magen David." Based on his piyyut, a song now famous in Israel was written: "Im Nin'alu Daltei Nedivim" - אם ננעלו דלתי נדיבים‎. In Jerusalem there is a street named after Rabbi Shalom Shabazi. May the zechut of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael! (https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/257-Rabbi-Shalom-ben-Yosef-Shabazi)