Rabbi Yisrael Abu-S Hatzeira, spiritual leader of Moroccan Jews around the world and revered in all Orthodox circles, died today at the age of 94. He was buried in Netivot in the northern Negev, his hometown. Many thousands attended the funeral.
Called “the Baba Salli,” he was a scion of the famous Moroccan rabbinical family of Abu-Hatzeira, a grandson of Rabbi Yaacov Abu-Hatzeira whose grave in Egypt is still a holy site revered by Jews and Moslems alike.
Rabbi Yisrael Abu-Hatzeira was widely held to be a mystic figure and a “miracle worker.” Orthodox Jews in Israel and abroad, Sephardim and Ashkenazim alike, would consult him on medical problems and personal matters. Often waiting outside his modest home In Netivot, people would bang on his every word believing him to be a true “tzadik” (holy man). His son, Rabbi Meir Abu-Hatzeira, also renowned and revered in Orthodox circles, died last week. Among his nephews is Aharon Abu-Hatzeira, the Tarn leader and former Minister of Religion.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
