"A great prince of Israel fell today." With these words, Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Rabbi David Yosef, parted from the renowned Kabbalist and Dean of the head of Jerusalem’s HaShalom Yeshiva, Rabbi David Shalom Batzri, who passed away at the age of 85, as he was laid to rest.
Alongside him, in their eulogies for the rabbi, the Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Ades and Rabbi Benyahu Shmueli painted the image of a scholar and Kabbalist who dedicated his life to Torah and the worship of G-d, and above all, a man who left a deep mark on those who learned alongside him and from him.
Rabbi David Yosef also shared a personal testimony to the esteem that his father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, had for Rabbi Batzri. He said that the time came when his father believed that he should begin studying Kabbalah; he asked him who he should learn it from. He received an unequivocal answer. "Many years ago, my father of blessed memory told me to go and study Kabbalah," Rabbi Yosef recounted. "I asked him who I should learn from. He told me that special one, in his opinion, was the Kabbalist, the tzaddik Rabbi David Batzri."
According to Rabbi David Yosef, the suggestion did not come out of nowhere. Rabbi Ovadia knew Rabbi Batzri well, and the two had a years-long relationship. "Father appreciated him a lot, knew him well. There was a friendship between them for many years," the rabbi stated. He said that his father saw Rabbi Batzri as an
"example of true Kabalah study."
Due to the funeral’s proximity to Shabbat and the holiday, the Chief Rabbi clarified that his remarks were only an initial farewell and that a more comprehensive eulogy would follow.
“There is so very much to say and so much to eulogize, and we are obligated to eulogize him properly," he said, noting that time was limited. “With G-d’s help, after the holiday, we will eulogize him properly, in accordance with his honor and stature."
Even in the few words he chose to deliver at the funeral, his description was unequivocal: “A prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel. Woe to us, the crown of our head has fallen. He was one of the greatest Kabbalists, righteous men and servants of G-d."
Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Ades focused on another aspect of Rabbi Batzri’s character: the demanding and intensive service of G-d that he had witnessed firsthand. He described a life devoted to Torah, accompanied by little sleep and food, and above all, prayer and study repeatedly marked by tears.
“Prayers with terrible weeping and tears," Rabbi Ades said. He explained that this was not limited to public moments in the synagogue or communal prayer. Even when the two studied alone, he would hear Rabbi Batzri weeping and see his tears.
According to Rabbi Ades, those tears were part of an entire world of Kabbalistic study and service of G-d. He noted Rabbi Batzri’s mastery of the writings of the Arizal and the prayer books of the Rashash, as well as the extensive Torah knowledge he accumulated over the years.
Alongside the breadth of his knowledge, Rabbi Ades emphasized another quality that made Rabbi Batzri a sought-after teacher: his ability to take complex material and explain it to others simply and clearly.
Rabbi Ades said that he directed many people who approached him for advice on where to study to Rabbi Batzri.
“I am dust and ashes. Who am I? But I merited reaching the same conclusion as he did," he said, adding that he would tell many of those who consulted him: “Go to him."
The reason, he explained, was Rabbi Batzri’s method of teaching. “How easily he explains it," Rabbi Ades said. “How do you become knowledgeable? You become knowledgeable." He later added: “We have never seen anything like it."
Rabbi Benayahu Shmueli spoke about their close relationship and the years during which he was able to observe Rabbi Batzri’s conduct firsthand. Based on that familiarity, he repeatedly returned to one point: the sense that Rabbi Batzri’s entire world was devoted to serving G-d.
“All his actions were for the sake of Heaven," Rabbi Shmueli said. “I do not know whether there was anyone in his time who was as close to him as I was. I was constantly with him and saw him firsthand. I have never seen anything like it."
In his farewell remarks, Rabbi Shmueli also recalled a period in his life when Rabbi Batzri became a source of support for him. When he moved to the Nahar Shalom Yeshiva, he said, it was Rabbi David’s example that helped sustain him. “The figure of Rabbi David kept me going," he said.
Rabbi Shmueli struggled to reduce his memories to a single quality. “What prayer, what High Holy Days, what joy, what humility," he said, before pausing and returning to his sense of loss: “What a loss, what a loss, what a loss. I do not know what to tell you."