6 Shevat · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Nissim Moyal
Rabbi Nissim ben Shlomo Moyal - Sephardic Rabbi
Yahrzeit - 6 Shevat
Resting place - Kiryat Gat, Israel
He was born in Aliga near Agadir in Morocco, to Rav Shlomo and Rachel.
His grandfather, Rabbi Masoud Moyal, was a great and renowned kabbalist who was murdered in 1905.
In his youth, Rabbi Nissim studied at the branch of the Lubavitch yeshiva "Tomchei Tmimim" in Marrakesh.
He later received semicha in Morocco and studied Kabbalah under prominent Sephardic kabbalists.
In 1958 he married Simi, the orphaned daughter of the murdered rabbi Nissim Boganim. He also received a license for kosher slaughter, which he practiced alongside his Torah study in order to earn a living.
In 1961 he organized a group of Jews to immigrate to the Land of Israel, for which he was imprisoned for a time, and in 1962 he moved to Israel with his family. They lived for a while in Ashkelon, and then settled in Kiryat Gat, where part of Simi's family lived.
Until 1981, Rabbi Moyal was engaged mainly in self-study. That year he met a benefactor who donated his land and house on Elisha Street in Kiryat Gat for the purpose of establishing a yeshiva and kollel. He gathered his strength and secured a stipend to study. He himself did not play an active role in the beit midrash, but he would sit and learn there from time to time.
He did a great deal for the organization "Kerem Shlomo," which worked to bring Jews back to Torah, both married and unmarried.
In 1998, the institution won an allocation of land from the Kiryat Gat municipality to build a synagogue.
He ascended to the Heavenly Yeshiva on January 22, 2018. He was buried in the cemetery in Kiryat Gat, although many years earlier Rav Nissim had purchased a burial plot on Har HaZeitim in Jerusalem, but toward the end of his life he asked to be buried in Kiryat Gat, next to his synagogue.
For the 11th anniversary of his passing, his son, Rav Netanel, published a book in his memory called "Miracles," telling the story of his life. The event held that day in his memory was attended by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and several leading Sephardic rabbis.
On the second anniversary of his passing, the Kiryat Gat municipality decided to honor Rabbi Nissim Moyal's great work in the city and renamed the street on which the institutions he founded are located from "HaGibor" Street to "Rabbi Nissim Moyal" Street.
Rav Nissim had 8 children. His son, Rav Shimon, heads the institution "Or Shlomo."
Sipurei Tzadikim
Many great sages said that Rav Nissim Moyal was a mighty tzadik.
During the years of the Persian Gulf War, "Milchemet HaMifratz," the Iraqi army under Saddam Hussein's command launched about 43 Scud missile strikes on Israel. Most of the missiles were fired at Gush Dan, where there was a large concentration of Jewish population.
Rav Nissim wept throughout all his prayers and pleaded with Ha-Shem to help the people of Israel.
Once, during one of these prayers, he approached the mezuzah in tears, and began pleading through the mezuzah for Ha-Shem to help and send a savior to Israel. Suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
The Rav turned and saw before him a bearded tzadik. Rav Nissim asked him who he was, and he answered: "I am Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, come with me." They went outside and Rabbi Shimon said to him: "Look at the sky, what do you see? Do you see a hand over Israel? Know that this is the hand of my son Rabbi Elazar, he is protecting Israel."
The Rashbi reassured Rabbi Nissim that Ha-Shem guards His people and will not let anything bad happen to them. The war ended soon after, and Am Yisrael breathed freely again.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
