20 Cheshvan · Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit of Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi - Ramash
Rabbi Mordechai ben Yefet Avraham Sharabi - Ramash - Mekubal
Yahrzeit - 20 Cheshvan
Burial place - Har HaMenuchot
The most powerful Seder Melave Malka - according to Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi
He was born in Yemen and lost his parents, one after the other, at the age of 2. The Arabs in Yemen would take Jewish orphans in order to convert them to Islam. What the Jews came up with was to arrange shidduchim for such children, and the Arabs, respecting this custom, did not touch the Jewish children.
At the age of 8 he began teaching Torah to children, and by the age of 15 he already knew the entire Shas, the Shulchan Aruch, and all of the Rambam. At 15 he became a Dayan.
The Yemenite Torah School
Why the Yemenite Torah school was so strong - they had no books; there was terrible poverty, and the entire community shared a single Torah scroll. The children would sit in a circle, with a stone placed under their chin so they wouldn't get distracted, and in this way the little ones learned the Torah by heart, verse by verse.
For 6 years he fasted from Shabbat to Shabbat and broke his Yetzer Hara.
In Jerusalem, on Agrippas Street, there is a kabbalistic yeshiva called "Nahar Shalom". The yeshiva was founded by Rabbi Shalom Sharabi - another great Yemenite kabbalist - the Rashash.
Next to the yeshiva building stands the building known throughout Jerusalem as the "Cursed Building." According to legend, Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi cursed the building because, when it was built, it was much taller than the surrounding houses and blocked out the sunlight. After the contractor refused to stop construction, the rabbi placed a curse on the site, and the outcome was severe: most of the businesses that opened there went bankrupt and closed down.
It is known that the Admor of Belz studied Kabbalah under Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi.
Sipurei Tzadikim - The Motorcycle That Keeps Shabbat
One Shabbat, the Ramash was walking home from the synagogue for the meal, accompanied by his students. Suddenly a motorcyclist appeared and began doing wild stunts, making a lot of noise and provoking the yeshiva students.
The students began to protest, to which Rav Sharabi said:
- Why are you blaming him? Blame the motorcycle - it's the one riding around and making noise.
The motorcyclist, who turned around and decided to ride past once more between the rabbi and his students, suddenly stopped dead in his tracks - the motorcycle wouldn't move.
Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi came up to him and said:
- Listen, son, your motorcycle won't move from this spot anymore - it's keeping Shabbat now. The motorcyclist smirked and tried to start the motorcycle, but in vain. Rav Sharabi went home, and the students came up to the motorcyclist and said:
- You'd better go ask the Rav's forgiveness, and then your motorcycle will start.
The motorcyclist came to the Rav and asked for forgiveness. The Ramash said:
- I'm not upset with you, I already forgave you back then. Look, after Shacharit there will be a Kiddush - stay, then you can go.
He stayed, sitting through the meal impatiently, waiting to get back to his motorcycle.
When the meal ended, he said to the Ramash:
- Well, that's it, I'll be going, Rav.
To which the Rav said:
- I know you're in a hurry to get to your motorcycle, but your motorcycle is keeping Shabbat.
The young man smirked and hurried to his motorcycle, tried to start it - it wouldn't start. He returned to the Ramash in confusion, and stayed with him through Mincha and Seudah Shlishit. After Havdalah, the Ramash said to him:
- Now you can go back. Just know - your motorcycle will run 6 days a week, and rest on the 7th.
The young man hurried to the motorcycle - and it started. He couldn't believe his eyes.
He rode home - the first week the motorcycle started every day of the week, but not at all on Shabbat; the second and third weeks the same thing happened.
He decided to go to the Ramash again:
- Rav, my motorcycle won't start on Shabbat - and this is no longer a joke.
- Of course it's no joke, son, your motorcycle already keeps Shabbat - come on, you stay too, and learn Torah with us.
From that day on, the young man began doing teshuva and became one of Rabbi Mordechai's students.
Emunah
"And it happened that on Friday, they prepared what they had gathered" (Shemot, 16:22).
The early days of the State of Israel were very difficult times. Hunger was the lot of many families, and the family of the tzadik and kabbalist Rav Mordechai Sharabi was no exception. The Rav, however, was completely immersed in his studies and paid no attention to the hardships. But one Friday turned out to be especially hard: it was already noon, and there was nothing at home for Shabbat - no wine, no challahs, not to mention fish or meat. The Rebbetzin sighed bitterly, resigning herself to the fact that their Shabbat would be just like a bleak weekday.
Then the Rav looked up from his book and said: "Preparing everything needed for the holy Shabbat is a mitzvah."
He got up from his chair and put on his coat. Outside it was pouring rain, and the tzadik left the house, relying completely on the Al-mighty.
He went down the steps, stood at the edge of the sidewalk, and began to think: which way should he go, right or left? And to whom could he turn, to whom could he go?
Meanwhile the rain grew even heavier. Then he thought: "The Al-mighty, Who would help me whether I went right or left, can help me right here, in this very spot!" He decided to stay put and ask the Al-mighty for help. Any moment now, someone would come and give him everything he needed. He hadn't the slightest doubt about it!
The rain kept pouring down, and streams of water flooded the road.
Suddenly Rav Sharabi noticed a small stone being carried along by the water. The stone rolled up and stopped at his feet. While the Rav was looking at it, the water carried over a scrap of paper, which caught on the stone and wrapped around it. Looking more closely, the Rav saw that it wasn't just paper, but a ten-lira banknote! (About three hundred shekels in today's money…)
The tzadik bent down, picked up the banknote, and returned home. Beaming, he handed his wife this gift from the Creator - which turned out to be more than enough for Shabbat, and for the whole week besides!
May the merit of this tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/552-Rabbi-Mordechai-Sharabi; Stories based on an article by Leah Shuchman)
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Grave: Mordechai Sharabi