Rabbis

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Rabbi Haim Mordecai Labaton

Rabbi Haim Mordecai Labaton (1780-1869 Aleppo), the son of Luna and Helfon Labaton , became Chief Rabbi of Aleppo and head of the Beit Din. During his lifetime he was revered and respected by both Jews and Muslims of the region.

Haim Mordecai was placed in school at a young age. Rabbi Helfon , his father, asked the teacher to teach his son the Hebrew alphabet. The teacher did not feel a child of that age could learn the alphabet and simply allowed him to play with the other children. So Rabbi Helfon took a few hours each night to work with his son and teach him the alphabet. Later, in front of the teacher, Rabbi Helfon asked Haim Mordecai to show what he learned at home. Haim Mordecai read each letter without a mistake. The teacher then took special care to teach him more and soon he was reading from the Siddur (Hebrew prayer book).

Throughout his schooling, Haim Mordecai was engrossed in learning and could often be found in the Beit Hamidrash (library) studying. As he grew older, people recognized the greatness of Haim Mordecai, who quickly became a respected rabbi. He wrote two learned treatises, Nochach Hashulchan and Ben Yayir. He gave one-third of his income to charity and maintained Talmud scholars, even though he was not a rich man.

It is said that Rabbi Haim Mordecai had the power to punish those who refused to follow his rulings, along with individuals who did not follow Torah properly. There are numerous stories about people who conspired to harm him, his miraculous survival, and the people's reverence for him.

One such story involves an Ottoman official who came to the Rabbi one day to pick up the taxes from the community, which was Rabbi Haim Mordecai's responsibility to collect. It happened that Rabbi Haim Mordecai was ill and he yelled at the official that it was inconsiderate to come for taxes when he was ill. The official went to his boss who said, "I'm willing to do anything except go against Rabbi Labaton, since I fear him." He commanded the Ottoman official to erase from the record debts of the Jewish community for that year.

Another story had to do with a Christian boy named Musan, who disappeared from Aleppo on the day before Passover. There was a rumor that the Jews had kidnapped the boy and used his blood to make matzo. The Pasha called Rabbi Haim Mordecai Labaton and told him if the boy was not found the Jews would be expelled from the city. The Rabbi called on the Jews to assemble and pray to avoid the evil decree. He went to the place where Musan had been kidnapped and overheard two boys whispering that Musan had been taken to the church. Rabbi Mordecai then went to the Pasha's home and asked the governor to go with him to the church without notifying church officials first. The governor agreed. When they arrived and were greeted, the governor saw the boy walking in the church courtyard and ordered the priests jailed.

Rabbi Haim Mordecai married Morhava and had three sons, Helphon, Eliezer and Joseph Labaton, all of whom became rabbis. In addition, Rabbi Haim Mordecai raised his niece, who was orphaned, as one of his own until she married. His son Rabbi Helphon died before his father. He had three sons and a daughter who became orphaned and Rabbi Haim Mordecai raised them.

At age 70, Rabbi Haim Mordecai was disturbed that he did not have a daughter, because he felt that he had not fulfilled the mitzvot of procreation, which requires at least one son and one daughter. After much discussion, he decided to marry a younger woman, who could bear him daughters. The woman worried about whether he could raise daughters because of his age, but he promised he would be there to marry them off. Sure enough, his wife bore him a daughter, Luna, who was wed to Rabbi Ezra Suede. Rabbi Haim Mordecai died on the 20^th of Sivan 5629, just after the end of the Sabbath.

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Rabbi Yitzhak Attia

Rabbi Yitzhak Attia (b: 1755 Aleppo) was the father of Rachel Attia, who married Ezra Hedaya. It is said that the Attia family is related to Saadya Gaon and that the Attias are descendants of David HaMelech and were students of Rev Yosef Ari.

Rabbi Yitzhak Attia had a difficult life, but his legacy lives on in the six books he wrote over the course of his life. In the introduction to one of his books, Rabbi Yitzhak describes the difficulties he had during his lifetime.

His first marriage was to Leah, with whom he had two daughters. Leah was a righteous woman who fell ill after the birth of their second daughter. She wanted to stay alive at least until the young daughter reached her first birthday. But Leah could not care for the children and they had to be sent to an orphanage. Leah clung to life for five years, but died soon after. The youngest daughter also died. While Rabbi Yitzhak was healthy himself, he was heartbroken over the deaths.

He remarried a woman named Sevatia Setton, but she too fell ill and was fighting death. Her name was changed to Simcha in the hope that she could live, and she survived. At the time, there was also a plague in Aram Soba (Aleppo), where over 300 children fell ill. Rabbi Yitzhak's son with Leah fell ill from the epidemic.

Over the years, Simcha and Rabbi Yitzhak had many sons and a daughter, from whom Rabbi Yitzhak derived much pleasure. Thirty years later, an earthquake shook Aram Soba and many people died and homes were destroyed. Only 10 people from the Attia family survived, including Rabbi Yitzhak Attia's youngest son and his brother's son.

Rabbi Yitzhak wrote six books over the course of his life. Many of the books Rabbi Yitzhak wrote were important works, so important that he traveled to Livorno, Italy to have them published. Livorno was a place where many Jewish books could be printed in Hebrew. He traveled by land and by ship to Livorno, stopping in Damascus, Beirut and Egypt. The roads to Livorno were difficult and dangerous and it was distant from Aram Soba, but Rabbi Yitzhak thought his work was so important that it was worth the risk to his life.

In his works he detailed the people he met along the way and how they helped him both physically and financially. Rabbi Yitzhak's first book is titled Zara Yitzhak Attia and is an explanation of the first two sections of the Chumash. The second book, Vatican Yitzhak, is a continuation and covers the next three Chumash. Shut Avot is an explanation of the Gemarra. Rov Tagan, his fourth book, is an explanation of the six books of the Mishna. His fifth book Mesharet Moshe, speaks of the strong hand of the Rambam; Echet Chael, is a literal translation of the Woman of Valor poem. His last book was titled Tana Veshiar. Rabbi Yitzhak Attia was away from home for seven years. He died in Livorno.

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Rabbi Shabatai Beda

Rabbi Shabatai Beda (b: 1892) was one of two sons of Rabbi Moise Beda and Mazal Gindi. Sarah Faham and Rabbi Shabatai married in Aleppo in 1908 through an arranged marriage. Economic conditions in Aleppo declined and business was poor. The couple moved to Manchester, England, where there was an established Syrian Jewish community.

In approximately 1914, Shabatai Beda visited Buenos Aires to do business as a textile merchant, but could not get back to Manchester due to the outbreak of World War I. He was separated from his family. Following the war, Rabbi Shabatai returned to his family in Manchester. He began to ship merchandise to the Fahams (his wife's family), who lived in Buenos Aires. There is a record of Shabatai Beda entering the United States in New York in 1919 when he was 27 years old.

In England, the Bedas had a one-family home on Clyde Road in Didsbury , where the children attended public school and Talmud Torah. They were members of Sha'are Zedek Synagogue on Lansdowne Road, West Didsbury, Manchester. The synagogue merged with Sha'are Rahamim and became Sha'is Hayim, a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue.

The Beda children - Moise, Eli and Latife were born in Aleppo, while Clement, Gladys and Jack were born in Manchester. Rabbi Shabatai went to Cuba for a brief period in 1926. World War II was a time of separation for the family as many were in different parts of the world. In 1947, the family passed through New York enroute to Colombia, South America, where they waited for two years before receiving permission to enter the United States.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Shabatai taught many students from Aleppo. As a displaced non-citizen, he always traveled on an affidavit. Rabbi Jacob Kassin sponsored Rabbi Shabatai Beda in 1949 to emigrate from Colombia to America, where he ultimately became an American citizen. For many years, the Bedas lived at 901 Avenue R in Brooklyn.

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Rabbi Shalom Hedaya

Ezra Hedaya > Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Hedaya > Rabbi Shalom Hedaya

Shalom Hedaya, the son of Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Hedaya and Ovadya Shamah, was orphaned at an early age and was very poor. He was so poor he had no one to take care of him and he considered leaving the path of Torah in order to earn a living. He was taught by Rabbi Shaul Sitton, who later became Head of the Rabbinical Court in Buenos Aires.

Rabbi Shalom Hedaya visited Jerusalem in 1890. He developed an illness in his eyes and soon became blind. He traveled to Alexandria, Egypt for surgery and completely recovered. In 1899, he settled in Jerusalem, where he was respected by all the rabbis. In 1904, he became Judge of the Beit Din for Sephardic Jews and in 1930 he became head of the court. After a time, he became very ill and had to travel to Amman, where he was treated and cured. When Rabbi Shalom returned to Jerusalem, he became Rabbi of Yeshiva Bet El and was given the title Harav Hachasid .

At a young age, Rabbi Shalom Hedaya married Sarah Labaton and they had four sons: Rabbi Isaac, Rabbi Ovadya , Moshe and Ezra, and two daughters, Mazal and Rena. Rena married Rabbi Moshe Ezra Mizrahi and she died at a young age. Mazal married Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin , who became Chief Rabbi of Brooklyn's Syrian Jewish community in 1933.

During his lifetime, Rabbi Shalom wrote four books — Shalom Le-Am (Aleppo, 1896); Degel Ephraim, where he thanks God for the miracles and wonders done for him; Kisay Shlomo (Jerusalem, 1924); and Shalom VaTzedek , published in 1948 (the last two chapters were written by his son Rabbi Ovadya Hedaya ).

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