The Southern Bnei Brak: A Visit to Netivot in Honor of the Baba Sali Hilula

At the entrance of the Baba Sali institutions, we meet with the CEO of the institutions, R. Goel Vaknin, who assumed his role about a month ago. Immediately upon arrival, we begin our visit by entering the holy sanctum, where the Rebbe Rabbi Baruch Abuchatzeira shlit"a, son and successor of his holy father, resides. The Rebbe elaborates on the difficult times facing the Jewish people and clearly states that these days reinforce the understanding that we have no one to rely on but our Father in Heaven. The Rebbe also notes that now is the time for the Jewish people to strengthen in Torah study and add holiness to the mundane.

From the Rebbe's room, we proceed to the Talmud Torah building, where about 300 students from grades 1-8 study. We stand amazed before children of all ages, studying the 'Zechor' method, memorizing their studies by heart, from Chumash with Rashi to Gemara with Rashi, Tosafot, and commentators, all recited fluently with clarity and understanding.

In a conversation with the Talmud Torah's principal, Rabbi Reuven Pilo shlit"a, he points out the classroom overcrowding due to high demand. Despite the tight spaces, he clarifies that the students put their utmost into their studies, with results evident even at the beginning of the year.

"'Baba Sali Institutions' provide solutions from the child's birth until he enters the kollel," says Goel Vaknin while we move from building to building within the vast complex. He explains that this was the vision at the time of establishing the institutions: to develop the child's personality and shape his education from an early age, ensuring that upon completing his studies, he is capable of sustaining himself, filled with a strong spiritual foundation and advanced learning abilities.

From the Talmud Torah, we head to the Beit Yaakov campus for girls, 'Be'er Miriam,' named after the righteous wife of Sidna Baba Sali, Rebbetzin Miriam Abuchatzeira z"l. Just by seeing the school's walls, we understand the immense investment and dedication of the educational and administrative staff, ensuring the girls have the best opportunities to learn and progress both in education and manners.

Another eye-catching area is the preschool complex with no less than 12 kindergartens where hundreds of students are educated in the spirit of the Jewish sages, the spirit of Baba Sali zt"l.

(His son Baba Baruch; Photo: Flash 90)

The highlight is the network of kollels in Netivot, where more than 130 Torah scholars study under various frameworks. Be it traditional yeshiva study, halacha, rabbinic ordination, or in the daily daf yomi program, which is set to conclude soon after a seven-year cycle.

"The first kollel of these institutions was established by Baba Sali zt"l himself and was named after his elder brother, the Rebbe Rabbi David Abuchatzeira – our crowned head, zt"l, and thus it all began," says Goel Vaknin.

'The Southern Bnei Brak,' as Netivot is known, becomes vividly apparent after touring the 'Baba Sali Institutions' complex.

Hundreds of thousands of shekels are raised monthly, and patrons and benefactors worldwide see it as a privilege to support the institutions, with the flagship event among global benefactors being 'The Day of Torah Study Support,' where they take on the day's cost to ensure success in all matters. The office of the institutions holds many stories of deliverances experienced by people thanks to the charity given to the Baba Sali zt"l institutions, which continues to work miracles after his passing as it did during his life.

The Rabbi of All Israel

It is told that during one of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's attendings in Meron, an emissary of Rebbe Israel of Ruzhin zt"l participated. Upon his return, the Rebbe asked him if he could describe the hilula and the atmosphere in Meron. The emissary responded briefly: "Inside the cave, there's the atmosphere of Yom Kippur, but in the outer courtyard, it feels like Simchat Torah." "You captured the state correctly," said the Rebbe of Ruzhin. So too is the feeling in Meron; within the cave, the praying feel the sublime atmosphere of Yom Kippur, and outside, with the sounds of klezmer bands, there's a feeling of an inner joy, joy of Torah. This is how thousands feel coming on the day of the hilula to the holy site of Sidna Baba Sali zt"l in Netivot. Inside the tent, arm to arm are representatives of the House of Israel, religious and secular, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, Lithuanians and Hasidim, Israelis and Jews from the diaspora, all praying for salvation and mercy. Meanwhile, outside, in the large courtyard, countless people celebrate the tzadik's hilula—some in song, some with a festive meal, and others with acts of kindness. On Wednesday, the fourth night of the month of Shevat marks the thirty-second hilula of our teacher and guide, our crown, the pride of the House of Israel, Rabbi Israel ben Rabbi Masoud Abuchatzeira, popularly known as "Sidna Baba Sali" zt"l. Just like during his lifetime, so too after his passing, Baba Sali's zt"l holy site became a pilgrimage destination for prayers and requests for all the House of Israel. His miracles and wonders are well-known and celebrated. His legacy and holy practices have become renown, and his home was a gathering place for the wise and righteous of his generation who saw in him a symbol of holiness and purity.

(Photo: Flash 90)

His simplicity and attention to each individual, from the least to the greatest, became legendary, but above all, Baba Sali zt"l united all camps and factions, bringing together all of the House of Israel under his guidance.

Even those familiar with Sidna Baba Sali or who heard about his miracles and saw his wonders did not know the extent of his dedication to the holy Torah, nor the fact that he devoted all his days to studying the Talmud, Halacha, and Shulchan Aruch with simplicity, allegory, and secrets through abstention and piety. His outstanding character traits complemented his lofty persona, turning our Rebbe zt"l at a young age into a beacon to whom everyone turned for help.

The Growth Encased in Calcium

A few months ago, the head of an important yeshiva from central Israel visited the grave of Baba Sali zt"l in Netivot with a small group of his students to pray for his medical condition, after receiving the grim diagnosis from his doctors that he suffered from the terrible disease, having a malignant tumor in his spine.

It was on one of the Monday and Thursday receptions held by Rabbi Baruch shlit"a in the room adjacent to his holy father Baba Sali's zt"l grave. One of the students pointed out to the yeshiva head that the Rebbe is receiving people at that place, and within minutes he entered the holy chamber. Upon entering, he presented the Rebbe with his medical test results and the opinions of doctors from a prominent medical center in central Israel. After reviewing the results, the Rebbe asked for his name and his mother's name, to which the yeshiva head responded, "Aharon ben Golda." Immediately, the Rebbe said to him, "Your name starts with the letter aleph and your mother's with gimmel, which are initials for the words: There is no tumor (ein gidul)."

(Photo: Flash 90)

The Rebbe continued, saying, "In the merit of my holy father, the tumor will disappear from you." Before leaving, the Rebbe blessed him again with a complete recovery and even requested he repeat the tests. Shocked and surprised by the words, the head of the yeshiva returned to his yeshiva and booked another round of tests, this time choosing a different medical center also in central Israel. After analyzing the new results, a doctor from the new center told him: "There is something very strange here. The tests show that your body is excreting a large amount of calcium, and this amount is encasing the tumor on your spine from all sides, leaving no chance for the tumor to spread, and it is even shrinking. Go home and return in a year for a follow-up."

Delighted, the yeshiva head returned to deliver Torah in his yeshiva, and a few days later, he came back, accompanied by his students, to the holy grave of Sidna Baba Sali zt"l in Netivot to give thanks for his personal salvation and to thank his son and successor, Rabbi Baruch shlit"a for his blessing.

Healing Against All Predictions

A resident of Yad Binyamin had a daughter suffering from asthma, which led to a severe attack. As a result, her trachea narrowed to the thickness of a drinking straw (according to her father's testimony), leading her to be hospitalized at Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot. According to doctors, her condition was very severe, and after undergoing a series of additional tests, they stated that the situation was irreversible and the child was in a life-threatening state. A friend of the father told him about a tried and true segula to visit the grave of Baba Sali zt"l and read the entire Book of Tehillim standing.

(Photo: Flash 90)

The father, busy at the hospital with his daughter, arranged for a minyan (ten men) to go to the holy grave in Netivot and recite Tehillim. During the recitation of the Book of Tehillim, a stranger arrived at Kaplan Hospital with a cloak belonging to Sidna Baba Sali zt"l for another patient hospitalized there. The rumor reached the family of the asthmatic girl, who requested the stranger to place the cloak on their daughter's bed. Minutes after the cloak was placed on the asthmatic girl's body, the medical monitors connected to her "came to life" and began showing signs to the doctors that the affected body systems were beginning to function. Although she was still under strong sedation, she had not yet awakened. The doctors immediately stopped sedating her and advised, for caution, to wait until she awoke from sedation. Indeed, when the girl awoke, a significant improvement in her condition was evident, and by the end of that week, she returned home healthy and whole. Recently, the family visited the holy grave of Baba Sali zt"l and held a feast of thanksgiving to Hashem for the great miracle that occurred to their daughter thanks to the righteous zt"l.

The Power of Prayer at the Holy Grave

A few years ago, a tearful woman arrived at the holy grave of the Rebbe Baba Sali zt"l in Netivot. The worshippers at the site noticed her emotional turmoil, and when the manager of the site inquired about her distress, it was discovered that her small grandson, unfortunately, had a brain tumor. She requested prayers and blessings for him. The child's name and his mother's name were passed on to the Rebbe shlit"a and the scholars studying in the kollel there, who wished the child a complete recovery and encouraged her, saying that surely her great effort to reach the holy site and plead at the tzadik's grave would greatly benefit her grandson. Days later, the grandmother contacted the site manager, moved, announcing that a recent CT scan of the child showed no tumor concerns and that it was a treatable inflammation with antibiotics. Doctors informed the family that the child would soon be released from the hospital.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

A Torah scholar from the city of Netivot shared with us that he once spent time in the company of the Rebbe Sidna Baba Sali zt"l during a celebratory meal, with them was also the Rebbe's son-in-law, Rabbi David Yehudiyev zt"l. As known, our Rebbe had significant intentions and matters related to drinking arak, and that evening the Rebbe poured arak for the three of them. The heart of that Torah scholar skipped a beat, as he was unaccustomed to drinking arak. When the Rebbe and his son-in-law began drinking, raising their glasses and looking upwards, the scholar seized the opportunity when the Rebbe was not looking and quickly swapped his arak glass with a water glass standing before him and immediately drank it, looking upwards as if he was drinking along with them. As soon as they finished, the Rebbe struck the table with his right hand and said loudly: "Someone here deceived me, someone here deceived me." The Torah scholar was utterly shocked, amazed at how the Rebbe knew what had happened without having seen it. Sidna Baba Sali answered him, "Do you think I drink arak for pleasure? When I drink arak, I meditate on the four letters of Hashem's name, and during the drinking, when you swapped the glass, I saw that one of the four letters did not shine properly, and immediately felt something had happened."

The Wall Wept Water

We heard this testimony from one of the Rebbe's close aides who accompanied him on a trip to Jerusalem. During one of the Rebbe's journeys to Jerusalem, the time for the Mincha prayer approached, and the Rebbe zt"l was concerned that it might get dark before he had the chance to perform his prayer. The Rebbe instructed his driver to stop by the roadside, and according to his holy custom, asked the driver to fetch water for the customary hand-washing before prayer. The driver returned after a few minutes, stating there was no water in the vicinity. Hearing this, the Rebbe got out of the vehicle, approached the side of the road, bent towards the wall, and suddenly, the driver saw water begin to flow. The Rebbe washed his hands and stood to pray Mincha.

The eyewitness recounts that at that location, there was no sign or chance of any water faucet. On one of his subsequent trips to Jerusalem, the driver stopped at the same spot to check if there was a water source there, but there was no sign of any water source.

This is but a fraction of the numerous stories about the holy tzadik, the Rabbi of all Israel Sidna Baba Sali zt"l – Rabbi Israel Abuchatzeira zt"l.