21 Tevet · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Matzliach Mazuz - Al Kiddush Hashem
Rabbi Chaim Kadir Matzliach Mazuz - «Ish Matzliach»
Yahrzeit - 21 Tevet
Burial place - Har Ha-Zeitim, Jerusalem
Mekubal from Tunisia - Rabbi Chaim Kadir Matzliach Mazuz - son of Rachel and Rafael, was born in 1911 in Aryana. He first studied Torah with his father and Chacham Yehuda Hajjaj. In 1922 he moved with his family to the island of Djerba. In 1929 Chaim Mazuz married his cousin, and the couple moved to Tunis, where he became Rosh Yeshiva at Chevrat HaTalmud.
The great Kabbalist Rabbi Ovadia Hedaya sat at his table, deep in thought. He had just received a letter from abroad, and as was his custom, he studied its contents carefully. It was clear that this long letter was different from others. Having read it, the Gaon had no doubt that what he held in his hand was a letter from an outstanding man, a sage among sages - perhaps even the rabbi of a community. He hurried to send a long and detailed reply to the author (who lived in Tunisia), and at the end of his reply he asked the author if he would kindly help raise funds for his kabbalistic Yeshiva in Jerusalem, "Beit El." "I would be very grateful if you could raise funds for our Yeshiva in Jerusalem," he wrote at the end of his reply.
The author, who lived overseas, wasted no time in giving an unexpected answer to this request: "I cannot fulfill your request, because I am too young. I am studying in Yeshiva and do not have enough experience in fundraising."
He was only 16 years old, but everyone already saw in him a man destined for greatness. His name, Rabbi Matzliach Mazuz, later became known throughout the Jewish world.
In 1947, Chacham Matzliach Mazuz was appointed Dayan for financial and inheritance matters in the rabbinical court of Djerba. Tunisia gained independence in 1956 and banned the Jewish committee, and in 1958 its rabbinical court was also closed; Chacham Mazuz continued to preside as a judge in the regional court.
In 1961, Chacham Mazuz resigned from his position in the court because he was asked to work on Shabbat, and began dividing his time between Torah study and working as a jeweler.
In 1962, Chacham Mazuz opened the Sephardic Yeshiva "Kissei Rachamim" and taught there. He personally took care of all his students' needs and also managed to raise money for them and for the Yeshiva.
Attacks on Jews in Tunisia intensified after the Six-Day War of 1967.
On 21 Tevet 1971, Chacham Chaim Kadir Matzliach Mazuz, on his way to the morning Shacharit prayer, was shot by local Arabs. He was first temporarily buried in Tunisia, but forty days later his remains were brought to the Har Ha-Zeitim cemetery in Jerusalem.
He is the author of the monumental three-volume halachic work "Ish Matzliach" (Responsa on the Arba'ah Turim).
On the night of Passover, Tunisian Jews have a custom of studying the works of the Mekubal Matzliach Mazuz, the great Posek, the last of the Geonim of Tunisia and Rav of all Jews in exile.
(https://www.hyomi.org.il/eng/page.asp?id=285)