The Enigma of Mr. Shushani: A Genius Cloaked in Mystery

A Sage Without a Name

In the early 1950s, a curious and captivating figure appeared in the young State of Israel: a rabbi, philosopher, mystic, and scholar who went by the name “Mr. Shushani.” His presence was magnetic. He combined asceticism and genius, Kabbalah and logic, and Torah and philosophy. A man of contradictions, he lived with almost nothing yet carried the totality of Jewish wisdom in his prodigious memory.

Among his students were towering figures in both religious and intellectual circles: Rabbi Yehuda Ashkenazi (known as Manitou), Rabbi Yisrael Bondheim of Yeshivat Kol Torah, and philosophers like Emmanuel Levinas, Professor Shalom Rosenberg, Elie Wiesel, and André Neher. Wherever he wandered, he left behind a trail of disciples. 

But who was he? Where did he come from? Mr. Shushani refused to say. The name itself was symbolic, adopted during a stay in Morocco. In a local document, he appeared as “Mordechai ben Shoshan,” perhaps an allusion to Mordechai the Jew. Beyond that, nothing was confirmed, only whispered theories and unresolved questions.

From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth

In recent years, new light has been shed on this elusive figure. The 2023 documentary The Wanderer Who Knew It All—The Shoshani Riddle presents compelling evidence that he was born Hillel Perlman in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Meah Shearim. He studied at Yeshivat Meah Shearim and later at Yeshivat Otzar HaChaim under Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook in Jaffa. When he immigrated to the United States, he carried a letter of recommendation from Rav Kook addressed to Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan, praising him as “a beloved friend, sharp scholar, and master of wisdom.” Yet despite this acclaim, he never married.

In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of Paris, Mr. Shushani was captured. The Gestapo, unsure of what to make of this unusual prisoner, summoned the city’s mufti to determine his identity. After five hours of conversation, the mufti declared him a holy man—and Mr. Shushani was set free. After the war, he continued to teach Torah, giving all-night shiurim on Nefesh HaChaim by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.

He traveled restlessly through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and eventually South America. He taught in whispers and riddles, never staying long, always moving on. His brilliance inspired awe. His lifestyle defied logic. His identity remained concealed.

A Death as Mysterious as His Life

On the 26th of Tevet 5728 (January 26, 1968), Mr. Shushani died of a heart attack in Durazno, Uruguay, during a seminar for Bnei Akiva youth and religious educators. At his side was his devoted student, Professor Shalom Rosenberg. In his pocket was a small note bearing the phone number of an acquaintance in Switzerland. When contacted, it was discovered that this person had passed away just 24 hours earlier, adding yet another layer of mystery to the final chapter of his life.

He was buried in Montevideo. His gravestone, inscribed by author Elie Wiesel, reads: “Rabbi and sage Shushani, of blessed memory. His birth and life are shrouded in mystery. He passed away on the holy Sabbath, 26 Tevet 5728."