Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira - Baba Sali

Rabbi Yisrael bar Masud Abuchatzeira (Baba Sali – the praying father). Yahrzeit - 4 Shevat Resting place - Netivot, Israel Baba Sali was the greatest sage, kabbalist, and miracle-worker of modern times. His grave in Netivot is a popular site for prayer, especially on his Yahrzeit, when hundreds of thousands of Jews gather there. A descendant of the illustrious Moroccan family of Torah sages – the Abuchatzeira family – he displayed exceptional intellectual gifts from an early age, studying in the family yeshiva alongside adults from the age of 13, and was distinguished by his piety and righteousness. According to tradition, as a child he once witnessed a fight between his peers. "The instigator of it all made me so angry that I nearly cursed him," young Yisrael shared with his father, and in response received the greatest lesson, one that would shape his entire future life: "My son! A great future is destined for you: whatever leaves your lips will come to pass. So strive your whole life only to bless and to speak kindly with people, but never to curse!" Baba Sali stayed away from politics and was respected in every circle, including the greatest Ashkenazi and Chassidic leaders, from Rav Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar to Rav Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, the Chazon Ish, who called him "the greatest servant of the Creator." In his book "Ahavat Yisrael" (Love of Israel), Baba Sali demonstrates vividly how every commandment of the Torah is connected, in one way or another, to the commandment "Love your fellow as yourself" — as Rabbi Akiva said: "'Love your fellow as yourself' — this is the great principle of the Torah." Arak (anise brandy) and the Abuchatzeira family An explanation is needed for the custom by which every rabbi of the Abuchatzeira line would bless the Jewish people with arak (anise brandy) — after all, it is well known that they abstained from all worldly pleasures and led an ascetic lifestyle, wearing themselves out with fasts, so why arak? It turns out that this tradition, too, holds a secret. The most famous descendant of Abir Yaakov - Baba Sali, once explained that "arak" - ערק - is an acronym for "Kabel Rinat A'mecha" - the second verse of the well-known prayer "Ana Be-Koach." And we know that this prayer is an encoded 42-letter Name of Ha-Shem. Which means that "arak" has the same numerical strength (the same letters) as "kra" - from the phrase "kra Satan" (tear apart the Satan...). There is also a well-known tradition that Baba Sali would cover the bottle of arak with a towel when pouring it out for Jews, and the arak would pour from that bottle endlessly, never running out. This was a miracle of blessing for shefa (abundance)... Rav Adir Amrotzi reveals to us his secret, that in many communities arak was made from tmarim (dates) in order to bring shefa, since the tamar (date) is a symbol of shefa. The sages of the Abuchatzeira family blessed through arak, performing great and holy yichudim, binding the Holy Shechina, which today is in exile, to its Source.   Sipurei Tzadikim Rishon LeZion Rav Mordechai Eliyahu on Baba Sali When Baba Sali arrived by ship in Haifa, a car was waiting for him to take him to Yerushalayim. Baba Sali didn't want to go by car and asked where he could find a bus. They showed him where the bus stop to Yerushalayim was. The tzadik waited, the bus arrived, Baba Sali got on, and as they were driving, Baba Sali suddenly asked the driver to stop the bus - he needed to pray Mincha. The driver said this was a direct bus to Jerusalem with no stops, and he couldn't wait for anyone - if he wanted, he could get off. Baba Sali said, fine, that would do. Baba Sali got off the bus, stepped aside, prayed Mincha, and asked passersby where the bus to Yerushalayim was; they showed him. The tzadik arrived at the stop and got on a bus... the same driver and the same people. Baba Sali thought the driver had waited for him. As soon as the tzadik sat down, the driver said to him: "Tell the bus to go, it won't start." Then Baba Sali said: "Let's go" - and the bus started moving. Rav Mordechai Eliyahu (alav ha-shalom) once asked Baba Sali - was it really true that all this happened? Baba Sali said: yes - everyone knows this story. Baba Sali's Watch Before passing from this world, Baba Sali came to Rav Mordechai Eliyahu and gave him his "glima" (a hooded cloak) and said to him: "Take my cloak; this is the cloak with which they will greet Moshiach. Before Moshiach comes, I will send you a sign." Some time later, Baba Sali appeared in a dream to his son Baba Baruch and told him: "Take my gold watch and give it to Rav Mordechai Eliyahu; this watch shows the time - the hour and the day - when Moshiach will come", and the son did as his father had instructed. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu was deeply moved. This was Baba Sali's sign concerning the coming of Moshiach. Rabbanit Rachel Bazak, granddaughter of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, says that this watch is not shown to anyone - it is "hasifat geula" - but she had the merit of glimpsing it out of the corner of her eye, and she can say that we are already be-geula.   Whose Gilgul is Baba Sali Once Baba Sali came to Yerushalayim and met Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi, (incidentally, the name of Baba Sali's son - Meir Shalom - was given in honor of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes and Rabbi Mordechai Shalom Sharabi). Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi saw Baba Sali and said to him: "You know, I study from the books of your grandfather - Maran Abir Yaakov Abuchatzeira" (Abir Abuchatzeira, of blessed memory, wrote 12 books corresponding to the 12 tribes of Israel), "how wisely he wrote these books - so much knowledge in a single sentence." Then Baba Sali asked Rabbi Sharabi for a favor - could he find out what his "shoresh neshama" (root of the soul) was. Rabbi Sharabi said he would try; he performed a "taanit chalom" and in a dream, Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira came to him and said: "Tell my grandson that his 'shoresh neshama' is Chizkiyahu HaMelech, and whoever receives a bracha from Baba Sali is as though blessed by Chizkiyahu HaMelech himself, and this is precisely why Baba Sali's brachot come true."  

A Blessing from the Depths of the Soul

"And Israel saw the sons of Yosef and asked, who are these" (Vayechi, 48:8)

During the Second World War, the cursed Germans occupied large parts of the state of Morocco. In the city of Bodenib, where Baba Sali - may his memory be a blessing - served as rav, there was a fortified prison where the occupiers imprisoned former rulers, among them the well-known governor Al-Hajj Thami El Glaoui. He was tormented, humiliated, and abused until the appointed day of his execution by hanging. On the day of his trial, he was led through the streets of the city in chains under heavy guard. As he passed through the streets of the Jewish quarter, he saw Rabbeinu Baba Sali, who had come out onto the threshold of his home. He stopped and asked: "Jew, do you have a son?" The soldiers accompanying him stopped as well to listen to the exchange between the head of the enemy government - a dangerous prisoner - and the Jewish rav. The rav saw this and was seized with dread. Who could tell whether this would not result in an accusation of "collaboration with enemy activity"? And the Germans' attitude toward the Jews was well known. They only sought a pretext to destroy, to kill, to annihilate... But the deposed ruler had always treated the Jews well, and who knew - perhaps he would even return to power. The rav placed his trust in the Almighty and answered: "Yes, I have one son." "What is his name?" asked the deposed ruler. "Meir," answered the rav. "Then bless him," the former ruler commanded. The rav, shaken by the tension of the situation, murmured a blessing for his son. "That is not how you bless a son," said the ruler. "Bless him from the depths of your soul!" The rav began blessing with special intensity, and the ruler whispered to him: "Include me in your blessing, so that G-d, Who can do all things, may save me from their hands." The rav included the ruler's name in his blessing, and when he finished, the ruler was led away to trial. To everyone's astonishment, the ruler was acquitted and set free. His first step afterward was toward the rav's house. He came to him and said: "I know for certain that it was in the merit of your blessing that I was saved from the hands of those accursed ones. This is not the time for lengthy words, but remember: when the anger has passed, come to me at my palace in Marrakesh or in Fez." When the war ended, Baba Sali came to the ruler's summer palace in Fez. After an exchange of courtesies, the conversation turned to memories of that earlier trial. "There is one thing I don't understand," said the rav. "You asked for a blessing - fine. But why did you first ask me to bless my son?" "How do you not understand," answered the ruler. "A blessing takes effect above when it is spoken from the depths of the soul. And what blessing is spoken with greater strength and deeper feeling than a father's blessing to his son? I knew that if I were included in the blessing for your son, it would extend to me as well and produce its effect. And you see - I was freed immediately, and my fortune turned for the good. Now I owe you my life, so ask whatever you wish." The rav said to him: "I ask that you protect my brother Jews from those who scheme against them and slander them." The ruler promised him this and kept his promise. (Avoteinu Siperu Lanu, "Sidna Baba Sali")  

Baba Sali's Blessing

Mordechai and Rivka had been married for many years, but still had no children. Nevertheless, they never lost hope of one day becoming parents. The couple visited countless doctors. They sought counsel from leading experts both in Israel and abroad - they had been to see them all.

Mordechai, seeking yet another blessing or piece of wise counsel, was a frequent guest in the homes of eminent Torah scholars, Chassidic rebbes, and tzadikim. There was no longer a segula - a miraculous remedy - that he had not tried. And in their prayers, torn from the depths of their hearts, Mordechai and Rivka begged the Almighty to grant them what every married couple so wishes for: children.

They had just returned home to Haifa from America, where they had visited a renowned specialist in this field of medicine. He told them that he truly did not know what else they could try.

The couple were close to despair. It was then that Mordechai decided to make the trip from his home in northern Israel to the southern city of Netivot. Living in this city was a giant of Torah who had made aliyah from Morocco not long before - Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira - known among the people as "Baba Sali."

Baba Sali blessed Mordechai, assuring him that his wife would become pregnant within that year.

And indeed, that very year the couple were overjoyed to discover that Rivka was pregnant. But their joy soon vanished when she suffered a miscarriage. Mordechai returned to Baba Sali.

He sorrowfully recounted what had happened. With tears in his voice, he said to the tzadik: "This surely wasn't the pregnancy you meant." Baba Sali, surrounded by an atmosphere of holiness and purity, seemed to be far away, lost in thought. Suddenly he called for the shamash and asked him to bring the tallit in which he usually prayed.

The shamash hurried to the synagogue to bring Baba Sali's tallit, which had absorbed the holiness and warmth of his prayers.

Baba Sali always prayed with special kabbalistic kavanot that drew blessing and abundance upon the Jewish people.

While Mordechai waited impatiently for the shamash to return, Baba Sali called several other people over. He then asked that they answer Amen with deep sincerity of heart to the blessing he was about to recite.

And then the shamash arrived with the tallit. Baba Sali unfolded the tallit and, with great awe of G-d and love for Him, recited the blessing: "...asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav ve-tzivanu le-hitatef ba-tzitzit!" When he finished the blessing, a resounding, heartfelt Amen filled the room. Baba Sali turned to Mordechai and told him he could return home with a peaceful heart. He explained that in the merit of the Amen they had answered - with sincere kavana and heartfelt joy - his wife would become pregnant once more and give birth, le-siman tov and mazal tov!

The following year, on the very same day that the resounding Amen had been said in Baba Sali's room, Rivka safely gave birth to a boy. And a month later, Baba Sali himself came to the couple's home in Haifa to inquire after the newborn's health. He brought as a gift a rare book, "Machsof HaLavan", written by his grandfather, the great Sephardic sage Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira - Abir Yaakov. The memory of that powerful Amen and of the effect it produced remained forever engraved in the hearts of the happy couple. (Keter Meluchah) The Beard of the Ben Ish Chai, or the Segula of Gazing at Portraits of Tzadikim https://silatehilim.com/борода-бен-иш-хая-или-сгула-смотреть-на/   Baba Sali's Prayer - A Patent on Gratitude https://silatehilim.com/молитва-баба-сали-благодарственный-п/   Sipurei Tzadikim - Baba Sali and Rav Mordechai Eliyahu https://silatehilim.com/сипурей-цадиким-баба-сали-и-рав-мордех/   How Baba Sali's Song Saved Soldiers in War https://silatehilim.com/как-песня-баба-сали-спасала-солдат/