Rabbi Yitzchak ben Masoud Abuchatzeira - Baba Haki, older brother of Baba Sali (1895-1970)
Yahrzeit – 25 Adar;
Resting place – Ramla;
Segula – to pray for «Shalom Bayit» – this was his final mitzvah, with which he ascended to the Heavenly Yeshiva.
Rav Yitzchak Abuchatzeira was the son of Rabbi Masoud and grandson of the famous Rav Yaakov Abuchatzeira - the «Abir Yaakov». He was born in Rissani, in Tafilalt, Morocco, in 1895. His younger brother was Rabbi Yisrael, Baba Sali.
At the age of 13, in 1908, he was left without a father. After the death of his brother Rav David Abuchatzeira, who was murdered by merciless antisemites, he left the city together with his younger brother Yisrael. They settled in Bodneve, where Rav Yitzchak was appointed head of the community at the age of 25.
In 1948, Rav Yitzchak settled in Eretz Yisrael. He was appointed Rav of Ramla and Lod. He was known by the name Baba Haki.
Soon after his brother Baba Sali settled in Eretz Yisrael, the leaders of Netivot, whose population was mostly of Moroccan origin, invited him to move there. Within a short time, Netivot became a well-known and important city, to which thousands of people flocked to receive Baba Sali's brachot.
Sipurei Tzadikim
Chacham Ovadia Yosef, zechuto yagen aleinu, often repeated this story, which was told to him by Baba Sali himself (Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira).
In the city of Netivot, where Baba Sali lived, there was a couple who had problems with Shalom Bayit. Baba Sali knew that his brother Yitzchak was very skilled in his methods of making peace between husband and wife. So Baba Sali asked his brother to come to Netivot to save the marriage. Rabbi Yitzchak immediately drove to Netivot.
After visiting his older brother, he went to the couple's home to resolve the marital problem, and Hashem helped Rabbi Yitzchak bring shalom bayit into their home. Rabbi Yitzchak returned to Baba Sali's house, where they spoke about Torah for a while. Finally, Yitzchak set off for home in Ramla. On the way, a tragedy occurred: Rabbi Yitzchak never returned home, because he was killed in a fatal car accident. When Baba Sali heard the tragic news, he would not accept comfort from anyone. For all thirty days he wept bitterly and blamed himself for his brother's death.
On the night that marked the end of the thirty days, Rabbi Yitzchak came to Baba Sali in a dream and said: «Why won't you be comforted? I felt no pain at all and went straight up to Shamayim. You have no reason to be distressed over my passing».
The next morning, Baba Sali's face lit up with the realization of the high status his brother held in Shamayim, but the feeling of pain never left him.
Mikveh
Rabbi Yitzchak Abuchatzeira (Baba Haki) fought to preserve the purity of the Jewish family. Once he learned that in one of the settlements of the Galilee, the head of the local council had decided that the mikveh would be open only once a week, on Friday. All the requests and complaints of the settlement's residents about the hardships and inconveniences caused by the mikveh's closure went unanswered. One of the female residents wrote a letter to Baba Haki. The Rav, upon receiving the letter, dropped everything he was doing and immediately drove to the Galilee. Upon arriving, he gathered the members of the local and religious councils and demanded an explanation from them. He was told that there was no money to maintain the mikveh: the heating was broken, and there wasn't enough water. The Rav was silent, and everyone thought they had convinced him.
And suddenly the Rav shouted at the top of his voice: «Know that none of your excuses will save you on the day of judgment! The purity of the daughters of Israel is above any budget or expense! I demand that the necessary funds be allocated right now, and that workers be brought in to fix everything that needs fixing — immediately — while I am here! And whoever delays carrying this out will face Divine punishment».
And the budget problems were resolved: workers were brought in, and the mikveh opened…
P.S. On the trip to Baba Haki's grave, at the request of the Yeshiva «Yodei Bina» his son was invited – Gaon Yechiel Abuchatzeira. He spoke about his father, led a prayer, and blessed the participants of the trip.
(from the trip to «Kivrei Tzadikim» in a joint project with the Yeshiva «Yodei Bina»)
