Israeli Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira Buried Following Stabbing

Jul 31, 2011
Jan Lee

Rabbi Abuhatzeira was buried at the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetary overlooking Jerusalem - Ian and Wendy Sewell

The contributions of the Abuhatzeira family were remembered in Israel this Shabbat as the Jewish community laid Baba Elazar to rest at the Mount of Olives.

Thousands of mourners turned out in to honor Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira in Jerusalem on Friday, July 29, 2011, following his fatal stabbing in Be’er Sheva Thursday night. Rabbi Abuhatzeira, who was known affectionately in his community as the Baba Elazar, was rushed to the Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva and pronounced dead on arrival early Friday morning.

Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, Grandson of Baba Sali

R. Abuhatzeira was well known in the Sephardic community in Israel and abroad. The grandson of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira (Baba Sali), he came from a long line of distinguished Moroccan Torah scholars who were respected as “baalei mofetim” (miracle workers) in their communities.

“(The) Baba Sali was very humble, his house was open to all Jews, he did not rule or try to gain honor, quite the opposite,” said former MK David Azulai in 2009. “All he cared about was the Jewish people and the Torah.

“His children also went to off-the beaten-track places,” said Azulai. “Rabbi Elazar went to Beer Sheva, not Jerusalem, all of them just want to serve the Jewish people without fanfare in the merit of their forebears.”

Like his grandfather, R. Abuhatzeira frequently maintained the ancient Orthodox tradition of providing counsel for community members in the evening hours. He was stabbed by a visitor who had reportedly sought the rabbi’s assistance on several prior occasions and was dissatisfied with the rabbi’s inability to help in the man’s marital problems. The accused is believed to have been suffering from mental illness that was under treatment at the time of the murder.

Arrest in Be’er Sheva, Israel

Asher Dahan, 42, was arrested by police on Friday after other guests observed the man pull out a knife. According to witnesses, he approached the rabbi and proceeded to stab him multiple times in the chest. The accused was remanded to custody and is undergoing psychological assessment. Dahan is said to have become further distraught after learning what had happened.

The news of Baba Elazar’s death swept through Israel quickly, prompting disbelief in the Sephardic community and abroad. Hundreds of followers congregated outside his home within hours of the attack.

Baba Elazar, “One of the Greatest Rabbis”

The funeral procession, which was attended by tens of thousands of people from throughout Israel, began in Be’er Sheva and wound through parts of Jerusalem, stopping at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in the Mea Shearim neighborhood before continuing on to the cemetery at the Mount of Olives. He was buried near his grandfather Baba Sali.

R. Abuhatzeira was eulogized by several leading members of the community including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the Shas party. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Baba Elazar had himself been a spiritual leader to many Israelis.

“He helped them with advice and charity, and many times he did this in secret,” said Netanyahu.

Be’er Sheva council member Ya’acov Ohayon called R. Abuhatzeira “one of the greatest rabbis in the world.”

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger called Abuhatzeira’s murder “a horrific crime … (that) has never happened before. We have to ask ourselves how we reached this point.”

Hours before the funeral, an Orthodox couple in Moscow, Russia named their newborn son after the deceased rabbi at the encouragement of a Chabad rabbi who told them that it would be an honor for the child. Jews traditionally name their children after deceased ancestors as a way of honoring them and bringing the child “luck.” It is considered against tradition and bad luck to name a child after a living person.

While Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira was highly respected within his Be’er Sheva community and within international kabbalist circles, he led a more complicated relationship with some Jewish communities in the United States and other parts of Israel. He will however, leave a noticeable void in Israel's rabbinate and be missed deeply by his Sephardic community.