Community Magazine June 2009

Hacham Yehuda Fetaya z.s.l. BAGHDAD, IRAQ 5619 5702/1859 1942 32 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE T o be conferred semiha (rabbinic ordination) by the great sage Hacham Abdallah Somech, is a tremendous achievement – but to be bestowed with this honor at the age of seventeen is truly remarkable. Such is just one of the accomplishments of Hacham Yehuda ben Moshe Fetaya, zs”l. Born in Baghdad, Iraq on the second of Shevat, 5619/1859, Hacham Yehuda’s father, Hacham Moshe, was himself an acclaimed talmid hacham and accomplished scholar of Kabbalah. It was in this unique aura of Torah and sanctity that Hacham Yehuda’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge and kind, gentle personality were forged. Young Yehuda began his life- long career of Torah study at Midrash Talmud Torah, where he exhibited an extraordinary intellect and intense desire to learn and observe the Torah down to its last detail. He learned in the Bet Zilka study hall with his teacher Hacham Shimon Agasi. He would eventually earn the affection of another teacher, Hacham Abdallah Somech, who regarded the budding scholar so highly that he conferred semiha (rabbinic ordi- nation) upon him already at the age of seventeen, granting him the authority to teach and rule on halachic matters. Later, Hacham Yehuda emerged as one of the foremost disciples of the Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909). After mastering the Talmud and its commentaries, Hacham Yehuda proceeded to delve into the profound wisdom of Kabbalah. Already at the age of 25, he authored Bet Lehem Yehuda, his first great work on Kabbalah, which dealt with both theoretical and practical aspects of Jewish mysticism. Hacham Yehuda’s scholarship was rivaled only by his humility. He did whatever he could to conceal his academic and spiritual accomplishments, in order to avoid honor and prestige. Despite these attempts, however, his reputation spread far and wide, and countless people – both Jews and non-Jews alike – sought his spiritual guidance and berachot (blessings). The hacham felt a particularly close connection to Eress Yisrael and Jerusalem. He visited the holy city in 1905 and in 1923, and in YEHUDA AZOULAY The Exorcism of a Villain In his famous work Minhat Yehuda, Hacham Yehuda chronicles his experiences with earth-bound souls and the exorcisms that he performed. One such incident occurred on 22 Kislev 5663 (1903), when he was approached by a man named Yehezkel Ezra Bachur, who for many years had been plagued by thoughts urging him to renounce Judaism and embrace Christianity.This was not the first time Hacham Yehuda had heard Bachur’s story. Nearly twenty years earlier, Bachur consulted with the Ben Ish Hai, who immediately penned a letter to Hacham Eliyahu Mani of Hebron (1823-1903), inquiring into the reason for these thoughts. Hacham Mani responded that this young man had an impenetrable klipah (obstruction) over his heart, and that he was unable to help him. The Ben Ish Hai then approached Hacham Yehuda, who wrote a mezuzah for Bachur to wear over his heart. But the mezuzah had no effect, leading Bachur to suspect that he perhaps had a harmful spirit inside him. He returned to Hacham Yehuda to ask him to eliminate the spirit. Hacham Yehuda began to perform yihudim – the recitation of sacred passages from the Zohar – speaking directly into Yehezkel’s ear. The breath of the yihud entered his ear and then into his internal organs, disturbing the spirit. Bachur suddenly started to laugh. He explained that he heard a voice inside himself – the voice of the spirit – viciously cursing Hacham Yehuda. Rabbi Fetaya continued to recite the yihudim and then blew a shofar. Finally, the spirit could bear it no longer and bellowed, “What does Hacham Yehuda want from me?” Hacham Yehuda asked him his name and city of origin, warning him of the harsh consequences he would endure if he didn’t speak the truth. The spirit initially refused to divulge the information and derided Hacham Yehuda, but after Hacham Yehuda continued with the yihudim, the spirit had no choice but to relent. His name was Tzvi Ben Rivka from the city of Smyrna. He had been an apostate, and possessed Bachur some seven- teen years earlier. “Go to Gehinom!” Bachur angrily shouted at the spirit. “I cannot,” the spirit answered. “I am not yet worthy to enter into Gehinom , as I am guilty of too many sins to allow for my atonement through the suffering of Gehinom .”