Community Magazine August 2012

D uring his 45 years as head of one of the world’s most influential yeshivas, the revered sage, Hacham Ezra Attieh z.s.l. , developed and trained the greatest Sephardic leaders in the modern era, including Hacham Baruch Ben-Haim z.s.l. , Hacham Mordechai Eliyahu z.s.l. , Hacham Ben Zion Abba Shaul z.s.l. , Hacham Yizhak Kaduri z.s.l., and sheyibadelu lehaim tovim Hacham Ovadia Yosef shelita, HachamYosef Harari-Raful shelita, and HachamAvraham Harari- Raful shelita among many other roshei yeshivot and prominent rabbis throughout the world. Both Hacham Yizhak and Rabbanit Leah, the parents of Hacham Ezra, descended from illustrious families of Torah sages. Rabbanit Leah was the daughter of Hacham Michael Shammah Halevi, one of the great scholars of Aleppo in his time and a scion of a long line of great scholars. Hacham Yizhak’s family traced its lineage back to David Hamelech, and even possessed a written family tree with all the names of their ancestors. Hacham Yizhak brought this manuscript with him when he moved to Israel, and it was eventually stored in the Ossar Hasefarim (library) in Yeshivat Porat Yosef in the Old City of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, this precious piece of history, together with the rest of the library, was destroyed when the Arab Legion attacked the yeshiva after Israel’s founding in 1948. AMother’s Solemn Pledge A month prior to Ezra’s birth, in Tevet, while Rabbanit Leah was still pregnant , she and her husband made the three-day journey by donkey fromAleppo to the city of Tedef and visited the ancient kinees (synagogue) known as Sidna Ezra. According to tradition, Ezra Hasofer wrote a Sefer Torah by candle light, in holiness and purity, in that synagogue in the early Second Temple Era. Rabbi Yizhak and Rabbanit Leah had experienced a number miscarriages and the death of young children, so they wanted to pray for extra divine assistance to merit a healthy child who would become a great talmid hacham (Torah scholar) and sadik. As they prayed in the ancient synagogue, the Rabbanit made the following promise to her Creator: Ribono Shel Olam (Creator Of The World), in the merit of Ezra Hasofer, I pray that if I merit a son born whole and healthy I will name him Ezra in memory of Ezra Hasofer , and I vow that I will do everything in my power to help ensure that this son will dedicate his entire life to the study of Torah. (Leader of the Generation pg.2) RABBI ELIYAHU C. ABOUD  16 Shevat 5645 (January 31, 1885) – 19 Iyar 5730 (May 25, 1970) Leader of the Generation Hacham Ezra Attieh 26 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE