Our Great Sephardic Rabbis by: Ike Sultan
Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul (1924 -1998) was one of the leading Sephardic Torah scholars, a halakhic authority of his day, and the rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the last 15 years of his life. Rabbi Ben Zion was born in Jerusalem and was the eldest boy in a family of sixteen children. Despite their poverty, his parents were committed to raising a family of Torah scholars. At the age of 11, Ben Zion entered Porat Yosef, the and his classmates included the future Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Rabbi Ben Zion was responsible for a religious revival among Sephardic Jews with his founding of "Maayan Hachinuch HaTorani", a network of Torah schools for Sephardic children in Israel, and was widely known for his ability to give blessings that were fulfilled.
Story 1: Rabbi Ben Zion gave advice on family matters and his approach was innovative and invigorating. A father whose son had left yeshiva told Rabbi Ben Zion, "My son's a good-for-nothing. He not only roams the streets, but he has even asked me to buy him a motorcycle." "Then buy him one!" replied Rabbi Ben Zion. Though surprised by Rabbi Ben Zion's advice, the father decided to follow through and bought his son a motorcycle. When the young man saw that his father was reaching out to him, he reacted in kind and eventually returned to yeshiva.
Story 2: A newcomer to Torah once feared that the mitzvos would be too
burdensome for him. Rabbi Ben Zion encouraged him, saying: "There's no reason to feel pressured. Every morning, volunteer to serve Hashem. Don't obligate yourself, but volunteer. Volunteer to put on tefillin. It's not so hard. Here, let me show you how. Volunteer to pray, adding on more and more prayers each day. It's a privilege to serve as a volunteer in Hashem's corps."
No comments:
Post a Comment