The Day a Miracle Happened: Shabbat and the Lost Girl

On the 10th of Shvat, 5719, Rabbi Rachamim Hai Chovita HaCohen, a prominent rabbi of the Djerba community in Tunisia, passed away at the age of just 58. He had made aliyah to Israel and served as the chief rabbi of Moshav Brakha, near Ashkelon. Rabbi Chovita HaCohen was also known to be a descendant of Ezra the Scribe.

Rabbi Rachamim was renowned for possessing a divine intuition. It is said that when a young girl disappeared from a nearby village, despite exhaustive searches by the police, the family, and local residents, her parents sought the advice of Rabbi Chovita HaCohen.

(Photo Illustration: Shutterstock)

The girl's family visited the rabbi at his home, explaining their ordeal. The rabbi resolutely instructed them, "Hurry to the nearby orchard – you will find her there. But rush, rush quickly, before it's too late."

Indeed, the police and the girl's family rushed to the orchard and found her tied to a tree. Security forces untied the crying and shouting girl, who revealed that Arab militants had kidnapped her and tied her there, threatening to execute her in minutes. She lamented, "If you had arrived just a minute later, it would have been too late."

All witnesses of the event, including the police and the family, vividly experienced the divine insight of Rabbi Chovita HaCohen.