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Hello. My name is Nitsana Bellehsen.
Today is... the 27th of July, 2011. -Hold on...
Go ahead, please.
Hello. My name is Nitsana Bellehsen.
Today is the 27th of July, 2011.
We're in the Old City interviewing
Rabbi Shimon Elituv. -Avitbol. -Of the Avitbol family.
Today's interviewer is Rabbi Gellis.
Is that right? -Yes.
Rabbi Gellis. The soundman is Eli Taragan.
The cameraman is Yaron Weinstein and the producer is
Anat Adler. -Yes.
Rabbi Gellis. -Yes, please. -Wait a second.
Okay, they can go down.
You can go down.
Slowly, Rabbi Shimon, watch the steps.
I used to run down these stairs.
I used to run down these stairs.
Now I have to go down slowly.
Yes.
How lovely.
How lovely.
How lovely.
I was born in this neighborhood.
We left here...
I was 11years old when we left in '48.
Where did you move to? -We moved to Katamon.
From here to Katamon. We were born in this neighborhood.
My father came from Morocco 100 years ago.
How does it feel to see the building now?
I'm glad it's in good hands,
in holy and pure hands,
that makes me happy. Continue.
Rabbi, before you leave,
what kind of homework did you get as a child?
Homework?
All I can say is
that in those days we learned a lot by heart.
We studied Talmud by heart, Mishna by heart,
we memorized everything
and we had to recite it to our father by heart.
Sephardic studies excelled
in studying by heart. We knew how to write,
but not at this stage, at a much later stage.
As for Jewish law, etc...
our parents were well-versed in the material
and they gave us prizes.
I remember studying with...
Hakham Shaul Saka, Perek "HaMafkid"
and "Elu Metziot Shelo" (Finds that belong to the finder)
and "Ve'elu Hayav Le'hachriz." (Finds that must be announced).
"Finds that belong to the finder: Scattered fruit,
"scattered coins, small sheaves in a public area,
"round cakes of pressed figs, baker's loaves,
"strings of fish, fleeces of wool
"that have been brought from the country, bundles of fax
We learned a lot...
"What one learns in his youth is not forgotten."
We learned a lot, by heart,
by heart.
Were there things you had to help your mother with at home? -Yes.
As a child? -Yes, yes.... -What things?
For example, the main thing was
watching the younger children because she went to work.
And to help her draw water,
hanging laundry, taking the laundry down,
going to the store.
But when I went to the store
I had to give the storekeeper a sign...
so I wouldn't buy things
that Mother didn't tell me to,
so we'd tell him...
Mother told us to give him a sign, that I met him
in such and such a place. so I wouldn't buy more
than I was told to.
That's how it was. We went shopping,
we helped carry things, bring things,
but we always did it in pairs.
We went with a brother, I went with my sister,
may she live a long life, our lovely and kind Ruhama.
We were always together, together, together.
Conversation shortens the distance.
When you're together you feel...
Besides being the Baal Koreh at the synagogue,
what else did your father do? -He was a carpenter.
He did...
Could you give me a full answer, my father was...
My father, Rabbi Yosef Rahamim Avitbol,
worked in Batei Feingold,
and on 19 Ben Yehuda Street, for David Ben Shalom,
he made him chairs and brushes
and all sorts of raffia work
and weaving and embroidery crafts, and things like that.
He made a living from it.
Thank God, Jews lived. We survived.
Mother also worked.
But they wouldn't let us go to work.
They just wanted us to study.
Mother wouldn't let us go to work under any circumstances.
What did Mother do? What kind of work?
Mother cleaned the Health Clinic
on Habad Street.
She was an energetic and resourceful woman
and kept the place clean and orderly.
She knew when to buy things.
She'd buy them right before...
on Friday, there was no icehouse back then,
so she'd buy meat on Friday,
or else the owner would throw it out, it would spoil.
She bought vegetables right before the store closed.
If the storekeeper left it, it would spoil...
Mother was resourceful,
but so were many other women
whose life-reality dictated the secret of survival
which is thriftiness. I wish we knew that secret today.
Did Father and Mother also study Torah?
Themselves, not with you, did they study themselves?
Mother couldn't read or write to the day she died.
She came here when she was 15.
Her first son was born here, in Jerusalem.
Where did she come from? -What?
Where did she come from? -Who?
From Morocco.
My father came here 100 years ago
and stayed for several years,
he returned to Morocco to get his brother's daughter,
Mother Shoshana called my father
Hali and Zoji.
in other words, "my husband" and "my uncle", yes?
Because he was her father's brother.
We lived in a community
where such stories were common.
Interfamilial marriages.
What city in Morocco did they live in?
In the city of Beni Mellal.
Beni Mellal, a beautiful city, with lots of water.
We have a cousin who lives in the city of Boujad,
Rabbi Reuven Elbaz,
who used to call my mother Auntie.
Second, third cousin.
Rabbi Reuven Elbaz from Tiberias.
His father and mother are family, Rabbi Reuven Elbaz
from the city of Boujad, which is near Kasba Tadla,
near Beni Mellal.
In those places in Morocco, everyone knew everyone
and their lifestyle was more or less the same.
Your father...
Besides helping you, did he study Torah too?
Father...
studied Torah every spare moment. -What for example?
For example, he knew Talmud,
he knew Midrashim, he knew Ein Ya'akov,
He loved Ein Ya'akov very much.
We'd read it to him and read it together
he always...
He'd ask us questions, he was a pleasant man.
He was a Darshan, he was a speaker.
People used to kid him, "Hakham Yosef,
"when you speak, it's like endless water,
you know where to start but forget to finish sometimes."
But he was pleasant, it was a pleasure to listen to him.
And people listened. That's how it was.
The ability to tell a story was important in those days
because there were no newspapers, no radio.
No technology, visual or audial.
Everything was...
We had to fill the void ourselves.
Did he go to study Torah?
Yes, of course. -Where?
Here, in the synagogue.
In a complete sentence, please. -Yes.
He studied in this synagogue.
There was a Kollel in this synagogue.
The term Kollel is a place where regular folks sat and studied.
There was a Maggid who gave the lesson.
His name was Hakham Meir Cohen.
My father also studied with Hakham David Vaknin
who was also a great Torah scholar
and in other places where they sat and studied Torah.
There was nothing else to do besides sitting and studying.
"And all your sons shall be students of God."
How did your father dress?
Father wore...
They told me that he wore a tunic,
a long robe, like a dress.
A kumbaz -Kumbaz.
But later he went back to wearing
a regular coat and suit like we all wear today.
But in the days of the British
many still wore the Kumbaz. Yes.
Did he have sidelocks and...
He had a beard he didn't have sidelocks, no,
but he had a beard, yes.
Did you have sidelocks when you were a child? -Yes.
But they weren't long.
Long sidelocks originated in Ashkenazi yeshivas.
Later, when I went to the Lubavitch Rebbe
I saw that his sidelocks weren't long
and what's important is the beard...
We often went to the Lubavitch Rebbe.
This street is called Habad Street.
The Habad synagogue was across the street,
it's still a Habad synagogue.
We went to the Habad synagogue, we loved the singing and joy
of the kind and pleasant Habad Hassidim.
It was lovely.
Did you want to ask something? -No.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe,
by Whose word all things came to be. -Amen. -Amen.
Let's go to the "Heder". -Yes.
We'll go to our brother.
Menachem Tzion is there. -Let's go down first.
The house came up to this arch?
Up to the arch, yes.
I'll never forget it, this was the courtyard.
The courtyard was here.
And the neighbors, yes, all the neighbors
did their laundry in the courtyard...
The house was between these two arches?
Our house was...
The first arch was one room
and the second arch was here, the room was called
the Liwan. Liwan.
It was... -A living room.
Yes, a living room. -A foyer. -Yes, a foyer.
Were there more rooms further in?
There was another room, Father and Mother's room.
Yes. -All the children slept here.
They all slept here and in the inner room.
We lived... What can I say?
We lived our lives. -How many children were you?
Seven. Father and Mother and seven children.
Six sons and one sweet and lovely daughter
our Ruhama,
who to this day endows warmth, love and friendship
to all of us, to all of us... Our Ruhama.
What we saw at home,
we applied in our life. Welcoming guests...
Oh, I forgot.
Father and Mother
always liked having guests, they invited guests here.
There were guests, I'll never forget the guests.
My brother Meir's Bar Mitzva lasted for seven days.
They said it's the custom in Morocco
because the Zohar says that a Bar Mitzva is like a wedding.
Therefore like a wedding is celebrated for seven days...
I'll never forget, they sang for seven days.
They brought... -Musicians.
Musical instruments...
Musicians came to sing and rejoice.
My father was very friendly and he had lots of friends
The celebration for our brother Meir lasted seven days.
I'll never forget it.
Welcoming guests was very important factor at home.
The whole neighborhood was hospitable,
all the Jerusalemites were.
It was natural, "Come in, eat something,
"sit down at the table."
Without all the protocol and hesitation.
No. It was, "Come in...
"you're here, we're all together."
That's how it was.
I forgot the main thing.
How could I forget hospitality?
What did you do during the seven Bar Mitzva days?
The Bar Mitzva? First of all, we were happy.
Secondly, we didn't say the Tahanun prayer.
It was a joyous occasion. -Some joy.
"Some joy." And the neighbors brought things.
One neighbor would bring the ma'amul.
Another brought baklava, the third brought...
What are those? -Types of cakes.
Ma'amul is the best and most delicious cake.
Ask Turkish Jews, they'll tell you what ma'amul is.
And kanafeh? -There you go... -Kanafeh.
And tishpishti. -Describe it to us...
I'm from America, and I don't know anything.
Explain what each cake is so we know.
The cakes...
They filled the ma'amul in a wooden mold,
which was concave on the inside,
and lined it with delicious dough
filled with almonds, nuts, raisins and dates,
covered it
and put it in the oven.
I'll never forget the oven.
Father would bring things to the oven. We didn't buy bread.
Mother baked early in the morning.
Father would take the sania, the tray,
with the (unbaked) bread
he'd go down to the oven and left it there.
By the time we came back from the synagogue it was ready
and we'd sit down...
we sat down to eat the bread.
It was the...
That's the ma'amul. What else was there?
Baklava.
Baklava.
It's a kind of...
It's like a spring... -Hold on.
I'm splicing.
Go ahead.
Yes, we had all sorts of cakes...
We talked about...? -About the baklava.
Baklava is a big cake
that doesn't have a rich filling
but it fills the plate,
it fills the table, yes.
Ma'amul is something
you have work hard to finish.
While baklava,
by the time you put it in your mouth it...
But it filled an important role...
And kanafeh? -kanafeh.
Oh, kanafeh is...
we remember it well, but as far as we were concerned
I can only say...
I just remembered my brother Meir's Bar Mitzva,
which was in this courtyard, the singing and joy.
What I do remember is that Jews always came with a tray,
with a plate, bringing something. With a sania.
Bringing, giving. People came to give.
They brought clothing as a Bar Mitzva present...
It was always something practical.
For a wedding they brought pots and dishes, etc...
That was a wedding present. What I can tell you
is that we were told that in Morocco
a Bar Mitzva lasts seven days
based on the Zohar, that a Bar Mitzva is like a wedding.
Brothers we'd like to continue.
This is the Habad Synagogue.
We prayed here a lot.
There was a ritual bath here.
Yes, this was the Habad Synagogue.
This place was built 150 years ago. Yes.
So you studied with the Ashkenazim
and the Sephardim? -Yes.
But mostly with the Sephardim, because my father was
What is your last name, madam?
Mine? -Yes. -Bellehsen.
Bellehsen.
It's an Algerian name too.
Yes, but not my family. -Let's go.
We don't have much time.
We'll go in for a second to where Mishali was,
so you can tell us where it was. -With pleasure.
And where you studied? -Everything was there.
It was a very big place.
Bless you. (in Yiddish)
Yes.
Go ahead.
Brothers, this was the place. This was the place.
Let's go in. This should be the entrance.
It's beautiful.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
This was the place. How lovely.
Thank you for bringing us here.
It's like browsing through decades.
The place is half the size.
There was more to it.
Here and here.
It was bigger. Look, this is new.
It used to be wide and big.
This was the Mishali Synagogue where we went on Sabbath and holidays,
nights. We came here every night.
What was the style of prayer here?
The style of prayer...
The style of prayer was Sephardic.
The gabbai was Mordechai Mishali,
a generous man. A dear man, a nice man.
A man of integrity.
He recruited Rabbi David Schlesinger
who helped unify the youth here.
We lived in this place.
It was a big place. We studied, sang, danced here.
Everything was here. It saved us.
Describe it to me, when did you come here?
We used to come at night, after the evening prayer.
At night.
After the evening prayer.
Describe what you did here. -It was like this...
He made sure we prayed the afternoon and evening prayers.
Especially the evening prayer, because it was the hardest.
After the evening prayer, it was time for refreshments
and singing with us. That's how he kept us
from going to bad places. Yes.
Therefore, Mishali and Rabbi David Schlesinger,
in the synagogue across the street, the Hurva Synagogue...
The gabbai here was named Freiman...
Mother and I used to clean the synagogue.
Yes, we were paid. Yes.
The same Freiman, of blessed memory,
was a very dear man.
He was the man who...
He also worked at Rachel Imeinu
Also at Rachel Imeinu.
The place was under the care of that same cheerful man
named Freiman. I forgot his first name.
Shlomo. -Shlomo. Shlomo Eliyahu Freiman.
At the time there was a gabbai, during the British rule,
and important gabbai who said to him: "Today I'll cry out, Kohanim."
Kohanim...
Kohanim!
Usually the beadle cries out, "Kohanim"
But that gabbai said that he'd say, "Kohanim"
because he was expecting important guests.
He infringed on Freiman's domain.
So Freiman sat at the door on Sabbath morning
and said to whoever walked in,
"I'm hoarse today. You cry out, Kohanim,
"do it loudly, instead of me, okay?"
80 people walked in
and he told each of them to cry out, Kohanim.
The gabbai also cried out Kohanim, but who could hear him?
Suddenly the entire synagogue, 80 people cried out, Kohanim.
To this day people remember Freiman's hoax.
Okay. The place was...
The place was...
I'm here to ask God Almighty
for the success of this project, because the message is important.
Let us remember that Jews who study Torah and do mitzvot
enjoy a Ruach Tova (good spirit) from heaven.
We're disturbing them, let's go inside.
I have a small question about the "Heder".
How many children were you? -Usually about 40,
between 30 and 40.
What ages? -Ages...
Seven to twelve years old.
Who brought you here?
Rabbi David Schlesinger would go from one institution to another
to gather us and brought us here with his kindness
and love.
You couldn't help but be captured by his kindheartedness and warmth.
That's how we came here. I'm an old man,
I'm over 75 years old,
I've been everywhere, I've been a rabbi in congregations overseas.
Wherever there's Torah and prayer
and a community,
the community's unity maintains us with that same humor,
same joy, same patience,
because you can't live community life without patience.
It's impossible.
We used to say the verse:
"The Torah that Moses commanded us
"is the heritage
"of the congregation of Jacob."
By being a congregation,
being together, the unity is what gave us
a measure of patience and kindness,
sensing the other person, responding before he even asks.
"Before he cries out, I shall answer." Things like that.
In the Old City of Jerusalem I hereby thank, Ms...
Nitsana. -Nitsana. -Nitsana.
Bellehsen. -Bellehsen.
From the city of...
Rabat, originally. -Originally, Rabat.
Rabatya.
A city that is...
settled, orderly and organized.
There's another city, Meknes
and a city called, Sefrou.
Cities with people of intellect,
Torah scholars. -Prayers. -Yes.
My good friend, yes?
Israel, we meet a lot, yes.
Rabbi Israel Gellis with his smile, He was born with a smile.
He's full of smiles, full of life...
He's flowing with kindness and cheerfulness.
I thank God that we met in this place
and brought up memories, truths,
what we told you is only in a nutshell
because there were many incidents of enormous dedication,
how they saved people... -We'll make a sequel.
We'll make a sequel, Rabbi. -A sequel, why not?
A sequel... wonderful.
I'd like to take a shot of the Hurva from the inside,
Just a minute. -With him?
Okay.
You can come down.
How lovely.
How lovely.
Yes, please.
Excuse me, I don't want to... -Yes.
Yes. So we're...
Yes.
We studied in Porat Yosef from early childhood, yes.
People used to say:
"They went in children and came out old men."
Because they studied in Porat Yosef until they got married.
You went in with a prayer shawl and came out with a prayer shawl.
You went in (as a baby) with a prayer shawl and came out with a prayer shawl.
After the wedding,
they'd sit and study in the kollel.
In Porat Yosef.
There studied Talmud there, there were Poskim
and many rabbis who raised Porat Yosef scholars.
And Kabala studies.
Hakham Efraim Cohen and other Torah scholars, great Kabalists
who combined the study of Torah with the esoteric Kabala.
This place was...
This was a wonderful place.
Porat Yosef was built beautifully, it was organized, decorated,
by Jews from India
who could afford to build such a beautiful building.
Too bad the Arabs destroyed it.
Porat Yosef, as we said,
was shared by young students,
adolescents,
and adults who sat and studied
and received rabbinical diplomas.
Rabbis were sent overseas from there.
I remember that the rabbi of Egypt, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,
he came from Porat Yosef.
The rabbi of Panama, Rabbi Zion Levy,
also came from Porat Yosef.
The rabbi of Columbia,
the rabbi of Columbia, Rabbi Sharabani,
The rabbi of Bogota,
Rabbi Sharabani also went to Porat Yosef.
And other rabbis who went to distant corners
of the Sephardic Diaspora, studied in Porat Yosef
which made an effort to prepare Torah scholars
and send them to head Jewish congregations...
our brothers, Beit Yisrael, who were in the Diaspora
and needed those rabbis.
The people of Porat Yosef did that.
Later...
We had...
Local rabbis, who also came from Porat Yosef.
The rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi HaLevy, yes.
And others.
The rabbi of Bat Yam, Rabbi HaLevy and others.
Now...
we're...
As we approach... -Just a minute.
Go ahead.
There's Porat Yosef. -Yes, Porat Yosef is here.
Careful.
The wife observes mitzvot, yes? -Yes, of course.
Certainly.
How are you, Rabbi Shapiro? -Thank God, Rabbi...
Good luck.
There's a sign out here.
"Porat Yosef Yeshiva." -Yes.
So, we're standing here...
This is the yeshiva.
Yes.
In the sun...
Yes, dear brothers...
Here you go...
Thank you.
See... -There's a sign here.
"Porat Yosef Yeshiva." -That's what I wanted you to see.
I didn't know if you have a better angle,
you decide...
Yes... -Stand here.
We're all here...
in the cradle of our childhood, Porat Yosef,
which still arouses warm feelings in the Sephardic Diaspora
all over the world.
Here, yours truly received free of charge,
Torah studies, good meals
and lots of friendship and love.
And most importantly, they gave us the best teachers
who taught with devotion and loyalty.
And let us not forget, all the teachers lived in the New City
and going from the New City to the Old City
wasn't always easy.
They had rocks and trash thrown at them
all sorts of dangerous incidents...
These things happened... It's okay.
The teachers we mentioned,
were...
Hakham Ezra Atia, Hakham Yehuda Tzadka.
Dear and good-natured scholars
who brought a lot of inspiration,
knowledge and genius
along with the love of Torah and loving kindness.
I must tell you,
Porat Yosef was built by the gaon and tzadik,
Rabbi Yosef Chaim, the Ben-Ish Chai,
who lived in...
Baghdad
and insisted that this place be built
next to the Kotel, as a continuation
of the Sanhedrin that sat in the Temple,
the hall where 71 judges sat
and who spread light unto the world.
He wanted the place to be as close as possible to the Temple.
To this day, if we measure it,
Porat Yosef Yeshiva is closest to the Kotel.
When the Temple is rebuilt,
the Sanhedrin will be reinstated.
There was the Lesser Sanhedrin of 23 judges
and the Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges.
Here we see the fruits of the yeshiva,
by the multitude of yeshivas all over the world.
We must remember that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,
who is dedicated heart and soul to spreading Torah and awe of God
among our Sephardic brothers,
does it with a great momentum.
His good spirit, his foundations
came from here. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
was Rabbi Ezra Atias' favorite student.
Rabbi, can you give us a brief description
of the classes? How the school was run?
How it was back then. -Okay,
We studied, as I said, around a table.
Everyone was seated based on the extent of his knowledge
and success on his tests.
The rabbi delivered the lesson
and we had to learn it by heart.
They wouldn't give in, we had to learn it by heart.
That's how it was in our class.
When we moved up to a higher grade...
in Hakham Shaul Saka's class,
the lessons were deeper, there was more logical reasoning...
By that time we had to leave the Old City
because the war broke out.
But those who studied with Hakham Yehuda Tzadka,
and later Hakham Ezra Atia,
about whom the Chazon Ish, when he came to Porat Yosef said,
"He has the wisdom of the Rishonim."
He didn't give this title to everyone.
That's what the great Chazon Ish said
about Rabbi Ezra Atia.
The word "atia" in Arabic... "Ateta" means to give.
He was great at giving charity.
He had students all over the world
and they had lots of charity boxes
and they sent him a great deal of money.
People thought his house was...
He lived very modestly.
He gave away all the money.
All the grocers knew that scholars
who were overextended and couldn't buy any more,
he would pay for them.
He received a great deal of money. Later they found out
that he gave everything away.
The words "atia, ateta, atteto" mean to give.
That was the Hakham Ezra, who grew up a poor orphan himself,
but his spirit and the study of Torah lifted his spirit
to do great things.
As a young child, Rabbi,
what do you remember impressed you most...
or did anything impress you in school?
How did you feel as a child? Not now, when you look back,
but at the time, how did you feel about school?
This is what I remember.
On the evenings of Rosh Hodesh we'd gather here for tests
and they'd give us prizes.
I'll never forget how much they prepared us for these tests,
it was the pride of the community
to come here once a month to be tested. We knew the material.
I'll never forget it, what we learned, we knew.
One time I was asked a complex question,
it was difficult for me to answer,
but for some reason I realized that it was a She'elat Hakham,
a wise man's question that contains half of the answer.
And I picked up on it.
To this day it makes me happy
to think of that wise man who asked me a question,
not to embarrass me, but to make me delve further
and find the link to the answer.
The yeshiva's ambition was to raise,
to raise students to love the Torah and grow in the study of the Torah.
I thank you, dear brothers.
Do you have another question, Rabbi Gellis? -No.
I have one last question. -Go ahead.
From what age did you study here
and what did you study at each age,
how did it develop?
All I can say is that we studied here from the age of eight
to eleven.
Those were the years that gave us our foundations.
We studied a lot of Talmud, a lot of Rashi,
pages and pages, to this day my students ask me,
"How do you know?" From Porat Yosef.
I remember it.
We learned, repeated, memorized endlessly...
What age did you start learning Talmud? -From the age of nine.
That's the way it was.
The "Heder" started from the age of three.
Today by the time a child starts public school
he's six or seven years old.
At the age of seven we already knew Rashi
and lots of Midrashim and Talmud.
Oh, no, thank God,
they didn't waste our time.
Despite the difficult circumstances,
they knew to put the emphasis on Torah studies.
I thank you all for all your work. -Thank you very much.
It's wonderful work to put things in their right place.
Rabbi, at the end of every interview I ask two questions.
Tell me the first thing that enters your mind.
What smell do you remember of the Old City?
What smell do you remember? -Smell.
Smell? Sabbath Stew. -Ma'amul.
The cooking, the closeness of the houses,
they were next to each other
and you could smell the cooking.
I knew the holidays by the smell of the food.
I knew the food for Rosh HaShana, the food for Shavuot,
the food for Succot.
Each holiday had its specific food.
What is your favorite place in the Old City?
My favorite place?
From your childhood, what was your favorite place?
The Kotel.
There is no substitute for the Kotel.
Thank you very much, Rabbi.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you very much. -What are you talking about?...
You have a beautiful voice. -Are you sure you can't?
Are you sure? -Of course not.