4 Cheshvan · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yehuda HeChasid Segal HaLevi
Rabbi Yehuda HeChasid Segal HaLevi - The Hurva Synagogue
Yahrzeit - 4 Cheshvan
Resting place - Jerusalem
When Yehuda HeChasid concluded that the final redemption was drawing near, he decided that the Jewish people should return from the lands of exile to their Holy Land and await Mashiach there.
He began calling people to teshuva and to a special level of piety.
Around him formed a "community of the pious."
In it, numerous fasts and special ascetic practices mentioned in the teachings of the Arizal were observed. Members of the community slept on the ground, and only for an hour or two; in winter they immersed in an ice-cold mikveh and rubbed themselves with snow. They ate only after sunset — and even then only bread and, when available, greens. Special attention within the community was given to the study of kabbalistic texts.
In the spring of 5459 (1699), Rabbi Yehuda Chasid set out with a group of his followers — the "chasidim" (about 30 families) — traveling through the communities of Europe. He called people to teshuva and to make aliyah to Jerusalem. His speeches made an extremely powerful impression. His very appearance also had a strong effect on his listeners — a beautiful, spiritual face, a majestic bearing, an exceptionally powerful voice, and a snow-white kittel.
Under the influence of his words, many people sold their property and joined him together with their wives and children. Among those who joined were even outstanding Torah scholars — including heads of large communities and roshei yeshiva.
By the time Rabbi Yehuda Chasid's community arrived in Vienna, it already numbered fifteen hundred people. In Vienna they were fortunate to find a kindred spirit in the person of Reb Shmuel Oppenheimer, treasurer of the Austrian court and one of the wealthiest and most influential Jews in Europe. He chartered two ships on which the "pious ones" could sail down the Danube to the Black Sea, and from there, via the port of Constantinople, out into the Mediterranean and on to the shores of the Land of Israel. But the community was so large that not everyone could fit on the ships. The majority, led by Rabbi Yehuda Chasid, set out on foot for Venice in order to raise the necessary funds and sail from there.
In the month of Elul 5460 (1700), the ships set sail from Venice toward the shores of the land of the forefathers.
During the months of traveling on foot and by sea, about five hundred people perished, and about a thousand reached the holy city of Jerusalem.
Rabbi Yehuda Chasid arrived in the holy city on the first day of the month of Cheshvan, 5461 (October 14, 1700), and immediately, with youthful energy, began caring for his companions, exhausted from their long journey — he rented housing for them and provided for their food.
That very same day he purchased a large plot of land containing ancient ruins where no one lived. According to tradition, two centuries earlier a small community of Jews who had come from Europe had lived there, and a synagogue had stood on the site. The quarter was later destroyed, but the memory remained. The Arabs and the few Jews of Jerusalem called this place Deir el-Ashkenaz — the Ashkenazic Courtyard.
Now it seemed to those who had arrived with Rabbi Yehuda that their leader would bring the ancient ruins back to life, and that Mashiach would soon be revealed.
A Jerusalem tradition relates that on the eve of the first Shabbat, Rabbi Yehuda Chasid intended to go to the surviving Western Wall of the Temple, believing that Mashiach would then come. Before setting out for the Wall, he immersed in a mikveh, but immediately afterward suddenly felt unwell. He was forced to lie down and remained so until morning. But in the morning it seemed he had recovered. He took part in the communal prayer and even apologized to the whole community for the trouble he had caused the previous evening. However, half an hour after the prayer he collapsed again, soon lost his speech, and died the next day.
The community was left orphaned. Most of the newly arrived were ill after their long journey by sea and by land. Many still had no roof over their heads, and winter was beginning. Money and provisions quickly ran out, and no new funds arrived from abroad.
The small number of Jews who had already been living in Jerusalem before them (about two hundred in total) could not, of course, support a thousand newcomers.
Gradually, a significant portion of Rabbi Yehuda Chasid's companions scattered to other towns, and some settled among the Turkish Sabbatean communities or returned to Europe.
But those who remained in Jerusalem nevertheless managed to build a synagogue on the acquired plot of land. The money for construction was borrowed from the Arabs of Jerusalem. Most of the funds went toward bribing officials.
The community founded by Rabbi Yehuda Chasid in Jerusalem lasted only about twenty years.
The debts, taken from the Arabs at high interest, kept growing steadily, and it became impossible to pay them off.
In the month of Cheshvan 5481 (1720), the enraged creditors attacked the Ashkenazic Courtyard and burned down the synagogue, along with about forty Torah scrolls. It was then that this place began to be called "the ruins of Rabbi Yehuda Chasid," or simply "the Hurva."