Jewish World Stunned by Murder of Israeli Mystic
July 29, 2011 11:45 AM
By Joshua Runyan
Stunned by the murder of an Israeli mystic Friday morning, Jewish communities around the world struggled to comprehend the sheer horror and apparent randomness of the crime.
According to media accounts, Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira was stabbed just after midnight in the office of his Beersheba yeshiva by a man who had frequently come to him for advice. He was buried at Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives cemetery later that morning after a funeral procession of tens of thousands of mourners accompanied his body from the city’s Mea Shearim neighborhood. Abuchatzeira was the grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira, the Moroccan Jewish leader and Kabbalist known as the “Baba Sali.”
Reached at home, Abuchatzeira’s uncle, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yashar Edrei, said between sighs that the murder had shaken many to their core.
“It is impossible to understand this,” he lamented in Hebrew. “We still find ourselves in a dark world, waiting for a redemption. It’s impossible to comprehend, to grasp a thing like this: A fellow Jew did this. Only G-d can help”: http://expertmus.livejournal.com/78773.html?thread=740277#t740277
Police have a suspect in custody, 42-year-old Elad resident Asher Dahan, whose attorney reportedly voiced the man’s apology for what transpired.
Known among his followers as the “Baba Elazar,” Abuchatzeira tried to live his life like his grandfather, according to the deep spiritual teachings of Kabbalah. Characterized by his intense modesty, he wore a hood to shield his eyes from impure sights.
Edrei recalled that after his wedding, Abuchatzeira and his father, Rabbi Meir Abuchatzeira, would travel to his grandfather every Friday. The three of them would debate the finest points of Torah and its esoteric explanations.
“This righteous man was devoted to the people of Israel all his life,” former Israeli Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said in a eulogy at the beginning of Abuchatzeira’s funeral procession. “Anyone in trouble would come over to talk to him. All day long he engaged in charity and studying Torah.”
“This can only be a decree from heaven,” said Edrei. “There’s no words.
“What can we do?” continued the rabbi, who directs Chabad-Lubavitch of Netivot in southern Israel. “We have to strive to honor our fellow man and yearn for the coming redemption.”
In Moscow, one family had already resolved to continue Abuchatzeira’s legacy. After consulting with Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, the parents of a newborn baby boy decided to name him Chanan Elazar in memory of the slain rabbi: http://rublev-museum.livejournal.com/172042.html
At the boy’s circumcision ceremony Friday morning, the congregation recited the traditional verse from the prophet Ezekiel: “In your blood you shall live.”
By Joshua Runyan
Stunned by the murder of an Israeli mystic Friday morning, Jewish communities around the world struggled to comprehend the sheer horror and apparent randomness of the crime.
According to media accounts, Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira was stabbed just after midnight in the office of his Beersheba yeshiva by a man who had frequently come to him for advice. He was buried at Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives cemetery later that morning after a funeral procession of tens of thousands of mourners accompanied his body from the city’s Mea Shearim neighborhood. Abuchatzeira was the grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeira, the Moroccan Jewish leader and Kabbalist known as the “Baba Sali.”
Reached at home, Abuchatzeira’s uncle, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Yashar Edrei, said between sighs that the murder had shaken many to their core.
“It is impossible to understand this,” he lamented in Hebrew. “We still find ourselves in a dark world, waiting for a redemption. It’s impossible to comprehend, to grasp a thing like this: A fellow Jew did this. Only G-d can help”: http://expertmus.livejournal.com/78773.html?thread=740277#t740277
Police have a suspect in custody, 42-year-old Elad resident Asher Dahan, whose attorney reportedly voiced the man’s apology for what transpired.
Known among his followers as the “Baba Elazar,” Abuchatzeira tried to live his life like his grandfather, according to the deep spiritual teachings of Kabbalah. Characterized by his intense modesty, he wore a hood to shield his eyes from impure sights.
Edrei recalled that after his wedding, Abuchatzeira and his father, Rabbi Meir Abuchatzeira, would travel to his grandfather every Friday. The three of them would debate the finest points of Torah and its esoteric explanations.
“This righteous man was devoted to the people of Israel all his life,” former Israeli Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said in a eulogy at the beginning of Abuchatzeira’s funeral procession. “Anyone in trouble would come over to talk to him. All day long he engaged in charity and studying Torah.”
“This can only be a decree from heaven,” said Edrei. “There’s no words.
“What can we do?” continued the rabbi, who directs Chabad-Lubavitch of Netivot in southern Israel. “We have to strive to honor our fellow man and yearn for the coming redemption.”
In Moscow, one family had already resolved to continue Abuchatzeira’s legacy. After consulting with Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, the parents of a newborn baby boy decided to name him Chanan Elazar in memory of the slain rabbi: http://rublev-museum.livejournal.com/172042.html
At the boy’s circumcision ceremony Friday morning, the congregation recited the traditional verse from the prophet Ezekiel: “In your blood you shall live.”