Grave

Yosef Schwartz

"Saba mi-Netanya"

Rabbi Yosef Schwartz, known as the "Saba from Netanya" (Grandfather from Netanya) Yahrzeit - 7 Adar Resting place - Netanya, Israel He was born in Romania. During the Holocaust he was saved from death several times, but he lost almost his entire family - except for his mother and younger brother Reuven. Afterward he traveled through Europe, including Hungary, Austria, and Germany. He made his way to Israel with his mother and brother Reuven aboard the ship "Maapilim." As a child he studied at the "Beit Yosef" Yeshiva under the Steipler Gaon - Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky. He first lived at the Shvut Am junction and in the immigrant camp in Pardes Hana, and later settled in Netanya. In the IDF he served as a paratrooper in the Nahal Brigade. At the age of 40, he married Michal, who had a 100% disability. Later they had a son. The "Saba from Netanya" became renowned not only for having thousands of students and followers from all over the world, but also for his scholarship, kindness, and patience toward people, and his readiness to help them no matter what difficulty they found themselves in.

Throughout his life, the "Saba from Netanya" preserved a pure, unblemished faith in G-d, sincere in its simplicity and strength of conviction. He fondly recalled the moment he truly knew that Ha-Shem was with him. Once the Nazis unleashed dogs, setting them upon the Jews. But one of the vicious German shepherds looked at the young rabbi who had cried out to G-d - and bit its own Nazi handler! From that moment he was certain that G-d was with him, his students recounted.

He was one of the most influential figures of the last generation& Thousands of Jews knocked on his door, begging to be saved, and were saved thanks to his blessings. His students say that teenage boys and girls would come to him for advice, and he treated all of them as his own children. He devoted time and effort to rescuing girls who had become involved with Arabs, and afterward arranged their marriages.

The "Saba from Netanya" - a man of G-d, as many called him - was also a visionary: two weeks before his passing he told those close to him, "I must leave this world, and I want to say goodbye to everyone," after which he embraced and kissed everyone farewell.

A Story from a Trip to the Graves of the Tzadikim in Turkey A remarkable story happened with our Silatehilim group on a trip to the graves of the tzadikim in Turkey, in the city of Izmir, at the grave of Rabbi Chaim Palaggi, on his yahrzeit. A lavish seuda with grills, expensive tableware (usually on such occasions people make do with simple disposable dishes), and beautifully arranged gifts for the women in honor of the tzadik was set up by Avraham (I omit his surname for obvious reasons). The Israeli girls in our group struck up a conversation with him and discovered that he was from Hadera, from Rav Yaniv Asuri. Everyone was thrilled to realize at the same moment: we also have girls from the Gaon Yaniv Asuri! A conversation began. We ate on the go, since other stops were waiting for us according to the itinerary, but the grandeur of the seuda stayed with us. Later, back in Hadera, when I mentioned a man named Avraham who knew our Rav, I heard a heart-wrenching story. A dollar multimillionaire, having gotten into a very ugly situation and having tried every way to get out of it, turned to Rabbi Yosef Schwartzman for help. Rav Yosef set certain conditions, and after a while the multimillionaire was left without a shekel in his pocket, having distributed all his funds as the Rav instructed, and moved to live in another city. After Rav Yosef's passing, at the urging of his new Rav, he settled in Meron, near the grave of Rashbi, in a small, unassuming room. Since then he has been collecting enormous sums from friends from his past life and traveling the world, arranging lavish meals in honor of the tzadikim. On that trip, many of our women learned from him, from a man, the art of beautifying the mitzvot. Avraham's most recent photo is from a trip with the "Yodei Bina" Yeshiva to the Golan, to an IDF combat unit - a lavish meal for the soldiers. Thus, at the prompting of Rav Yosef Schwartz, he undergoes his tikkun in exile... May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael! (From the "Yodei Bina" Yeshiva)