A True Story: Higher Approval

Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira, known as the "Abir Yaakov", would occasionally travel from his city of Tafilelt in Morocco to other cities. He made it a point to carry, along with his tefillin and tzitzit, all his handwritten works.

One time, he arrived in a town called Sakhura and stayed with a local family. Sometime later, his bag was stolen. In it were a substantial sum of money as well as his manuscripts, containing many of his Torah innovations. The homeowner was deeply distressed because the theft happened in his home, and he lamented to the rabbi:

'Rabbi, perhaps I can collect donations from the townspeople to return your stolen money, but what can be done about your manuscripts? How can I return your sacred writings?'

To his amazement, the rabbi calmly replied:

'Do not worry. Blessed is He, my prayer was heard by the Creator of the world. I asked that if my books and insights are true according to our holy Torah, they would remain in the world and be published, and if not, they would disappear. Now that they have been stolen, it is a sign they are not true, so do not be upset about their theft...'

While they were speaking, there was a knock at the door, and the homeowner went to open it. Four strangers entered, one holding the rabbi's bag. The homeowner was overjoyed, and the one holding the bag laid it at the rabbi's feet with lowered eyes. All four began to plead with the rabbi to forgive them and pardon their wrongdoing. The rabbi gestured for silence and asked:

'Answer me two questions: Why did you steal my bag in the first place, and why did you repent now?'

The leader of the thieves spoke quietly:

'Pardon us, rabbi, but all our livelihood comes from theft... When we saw your bag was full, we assumed it contained a treasure, so we couldn’t resist and stole it, fleeing the town. On the way, we came to a small stream, only about twenty centimeters high. We tried to cross, but suddenly the water rose to our necks and nearly swept us away.'

'We barely made it back to the riverbank,' he continued, 'and found the water had returned to its original low level. We left the bag on the bank and tried to cross again, and the water did not rise. We tried again with the bag, and again the waters surged fiercely. We realized the water's wrath was because of the rabbi's bag, so we came, ashamed, to ask for forgiveness...'

The rabbi conditioned his forgiveness on all four repenting completely, setting fixed times for Torah study, and supporting Torah scholars and the needy.

They wept before him, saying they were desperately poor, with not a penny left from all their thefts, and how could they support themselves and Torah scholars and the poor as well?!

The rabbi gave them a path for repentance, gave each one a dinar, and blessed them:

'If you uphold your word and the repentance you have accepted, and do not take what is not yours, this dinar will bring you blessing, and you will gain great wealth, you, your children, and their children after them!'

The four thieves thanked the rabbi and left the home. From that day on, they adhered to his words, became people of truth and kindness, and were very successful on their new path.

Despite what happened, Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeira did not print his many works. His eldest son, Rabbi Masoud (father of the Baba Sali), often urged his father to permit him to print his sacred works, but the rabbi refused, saying: 'Son, my books I will not print in my lifetime. Only when I reach the world of truth and see they are pleasing to Hashem, will I come to you in a dream and allow you to print them.'

The "Abir Yaakov" passed away in the year 1880. A year later, he appeared to his son in a dream, telling him that the books he wrote were true and pleasing before Hashem, and now he had permission to print them...

Since then, his descendants have engaged in the holy work and have printed the sacred books of the "Abir Yaakov," namely: "Pituchei Chotam," "Machsof HaLavan," "Maaglei Tzedek," "Aleph Binah," "Yoru Mishpatecha LeYaakov," "Bigdei HaSrad," "Gnezei HaMelech," "Levona Zaka," "Yagel Yaakov," "Doresh Tov," "Shaarei Arucha," and "Shaarei Teshuva."

The story is included in Oded Mizrachi's book, "Ein Ro'eh," published by "Rosh Yehudi." For a real-life faith story, contact odedm@neto.net.il