Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan 1865-1937

Dedication to Torah

The tzaddik and mekubal Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan, the son of the well-known tzaddik Rabbi Hadan, was born in 1865 (5625), in the city of Mogador. Already at a young age, he dedicated himself to learning Torah and Avodat Hashem, which was his sole aspiration and joy. He became known as an outstanding gaon, well versed in all the Rishonim and Acharonim. He was likened to “a cemented cistern that loses not a drop.”

Rabbi Chaim labored diligently to draw from the Torah of the Rishonim and clarify the Torah of the Acharonim, in order to understand the halachah to the utmost. He rejected all worldly vanities and sat in the halls of Torah. With great effort and diligence he learned Shas and Poskim and was fluent in all areas of the Torah. In addition, he devoted a substantial amount of time, despite his tight learning schedule, to doing acts of charity and kindness, as will be described below.

Foreword

The following are the words of the tzaddik Rabbi Moshe Aharon Pinto, zy”a, written as an introduction to the sefer Mekor Chaim:

Blessed is Hashem, our G-d, Who created us for His glory, separated us from those who stray, and gave us His Torah of truth. All those who engage in the study of Torah that was hidden for 974 generations until it was given to Am Yisrael, the Chosen nation, will merit much abundance. The holy Torah is comprised of Hashem’s Names with which He created the world.

Especially blessed are the prominent scholars of the generation, who merit reveling in the light of Torah, thereby bringing the eternal world closer to our lowly world. In the merit of their holy Torah, the words of Chazal are fulfilled, “The tzaddik decrees, and Hashem fulfills their wish.”

Blessed is Hashem for giving Morocco the privilege of boasting many great and holy tzaddikim, some of whom wrote sefarim which were printed, while others composed sefarim which have been lost. The common denominator among them is that they were all tzaddikim.

Therefore, I, the lowly, am printing stories about the Admor, the highest authority, the tzaddik Rabbi Chaim, zy”a, to transmit to future generations the wondrous ways of Hashem. Included are stories that were already printed in Arabic, and some that I heard from reliable sources, which they either experienced, or heard from their ancestors who lived in Mogador.

I must admit that I used a lot of the stories taken from the manuscripts of the gaon and chassid, the humble scholar researching the past, Rabbi Avraham Attar, the son of the Admor and tzaddik, Rabbi Yosef Ben Attar, z”l, a descendant of the Admor and highest authority, the famous leader and mekubal, Rabbi Avraham Ben Attar, z”l. May Hashem repay him kindly for his work. “Do good, Hashem, to good people, and to the upright in their hearts.”

In the merit of my holy forefathers, and in the merit of the tzaddik Rabbi Chaim, I trust that there will be no faults found in anything written. My sole intention in writing this book is to increase Hashem’s honor, especially among my fellow Sefardim. They should know that Am Yisrael has not been abandoned. We had great Rabbanim even in recent times.

The Servant of Hashem, Moshe Pinto, The son of the holy tzaddik, Moreinu v’Rabbeinu Chaim Pinto, zy”a

His Name Shall Be Known in the Gates

An extensive line of scholars and great Torah Sages stemmed from the glorious Pinto dynasty. They contributed to Am Yisrael spiritual leaders and miracle workers, generation after generation, son after son, until ultimately the words of the Navi were fulfilled that the Torah “will not be withdrawn from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring, said Hashem, from this moment and forever.”

The gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan was the grandson of Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hagadol. In order to differentiate between them, people called the grandfather “Rabbi Chaim Hagadol” and the grandson “Rabbi Chaim Hakatan.” He was a link in the glorious chain of the Pinto dynasty, well-known for excelling in Torah and in true fear of Heaven. He merited achieving lofty levels in the Written and Oral Torah and in its hidden realms, ultimately attaining the level of learning together with Eliyahu Hanavi, of blessed memory.

The following story illustrates this fact:

Early one morning, when most people had not yet awakened from their sleep, a small group of congregants made their way to the Beit Hakeneset, wrapped in their tallit and tefillin.

R’ Yonah Ibn Chaim, zt”l, who was one of the early risers, discovered upon reaching the entrance to the Beit Hakeneset, that he was not the first one there. Through the wall, he heard two voices engaged in the study of Torah inside.

The sweet voice of one of the people learning Torah was familiar to him. It was none other than the voice of Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan.

Rabbi Yonah lingered a bit outside the Beit H a k e n e s e t , in order not to disturb the two from their study. When the sounds of the voices subsided, he entered the Beit Hakeneset, but was met with a surprise. Inside, Rabbi Chaim was sitting alone.

Since R’ Yonah had clearly heard two voices studying, he approached Rabbi Chaim and asked him, “Where is your chavruta with whom you were learning?”

“Did you see him?” Rabbi Chaim inquired. “Yes!” answered R’ Yonah. “Fortunate are you that you merited seeing the face of Eliyahu Hanavi, of blessed memory,” Rabbi Chaim told him. “Eliyahu Hanavi is the one who was learning with me in the Beit Hakeneset.”

During their discussion, Rabbi Chaim made R’ Yonah promise that he would not reveal to anyone what he had seen as long as Rabbi Chaim lived. R’ Yonah kept his word, and only after Rabbi Chaim passed away, did he reveal the secret.

You Are Still Young

An interesting testimony was given by R’ Ishua, the attendant of Rabbi Chaim Hakatan, about the daily schedule of the tzaddik. This is what he said:

I would go to his house early in the morning and already find him praying in the Beit Hakeneset, on the top floor. After praying, Rabbi Chaim went downstairs to his wife and asked her what she planned to cook that day. He would give her a sum of money to purchase the necessary provisions and then, immediately went on his way, going from house to house to collect money to distribute to the poor people of the city.

His feet literally led him to the houses of the sick, poor, and needy. He shopped for them himself. In every home that he visited, he would be offered some food, and he would make sure to always taste a bit. He told me to eat in every place.

I asked him, “Harav, how much can I eat?” He answered me, “You are still young; you can eat. If they offer you food, you may not humiliate them by refusing to eat in their home.”

In this manner, the tzaddik would walk for hours, going from one end of the city to the other, in order to practice kindness and charity. This was his custom in his young years, and he continued doing so until old age.

At night, the tzaddik would engage in tikkunim and in the study of the holy Torah. “Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in the place of His sanctity? One with clean hands and a pure heart.”

Rabbi Chaim’s extraordinary efforts to assist the poor and needy made him popular among the people. They sensed that all his actions were entirely for the sake of Heaven. Whoever searched for the tzaddik knew that he would be found among the poor and wretched people. He would spend time talking to them, offering words of encouragement so that they would not become depressed, but continue serving Hashem joyously.

In Prayer

It is fitting to devote a chapter describing the productive life of Rabbi Chaim Hakatan to his heartfelt prayers.

Every detail of how he prayed is worthy of thorough review, since all his prayers and blessings were said with intense concentration, as one who counts precious jewels, with pleasure and precision. This exemplified the statement, “All my limbs will say, Hashem, who is like You?”

It was not surprising that Rabbi Chaim merited that his pure prayers penetrated the Heavens and bore fruit, and his blessings came true, one by one. The many stories of miracles effected by his prayers, recounted by the subjects of the incidents, attest to this.

The words of Chazal were fulfilled through him: “A tzaddik decrees, and Hashem fulfills his wish.”

Through all his prayers and supplications, for the general public as well as for the individual, he would beg for mercy in the merit of the saintly Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, zy”a.

Rabbi Chaim would often refer to himself as “the lowly servant of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.” He would utter this frequently, and it was often heard by many of his close relatives, whether he was in the middle of learning the secrets of the Zohar Hakadosh, or supplicating Hashem.

He Guards the Steps of His Devout Ones

Rabbi Chaim Hakatan customarily fasted from Motza’ei Shabbat Kodesh until the following Erev Shabbat. He neither ate bread nor drank water.

Every Erev Shabbat, his wife, the Rabbanit, a”h, would prepare for him some hot soup with meatballs for the Friday night meal, in order to revive his soul and strengthen his weakened body for the service of Hashem.

Take the Soup Away

On this matter, we recall the amazing account of Rabbi Moshe Benisti, the principal of a school in Nice, France, that he had heard from his mother, Mrs. Chanina, tichyeh, which he told Moreinu v’Rabbeinu.

Once, the Rabbanit went to the butcher to buy meat, as usual, in order to prepare the meal for the night of Shabbat Kodesh. That day, the butcher deviated from his regular habit and gave her meat which was kosher but not chalak (glatt), as she generally bought each week.

The Rabbanit, who was not aware of the change, brought the meat home and prepared the soup and meatballs for the Rav as usual in honor of Shabbat, to revive the tzaddik’s spirit after fasting the whole week. When the Rabbanit placed the plate of soup on the table, Rabbi Chaim suddenly called to her, “Take the soup away! It is prohibited to eat it; it contains worms…”

The Rabbanit glanced at the soup and saw that it was clear, with no worms. She innocently assumed that the Rav did not like her soup and just mentioned the worms as a joke. The Rabbanit went to the kitchen and brought her husband the second course, the meatballs.

The Rav again called out to her, declaring that there were worms crawling in his plate. “Do you want to feed me food that is prohibited? The Torah states that whoever eats worms transgresses five prohibitions. Why then did you serve me meatballs with live worms crawling in them?”

Rabbi Chaim took the whole pot of soup with the meatballs and threw it in the garbage. Consequently, after a week of fasting, he ate only bread and water for his meal, without tasting the meat at all.

Immediately upon the conclusion of Shabbat, the Rabbanit hurried to the butcher and inquired about the meat that she had bought from him. Where did it come from, and who was the shochet?

The butcher explained that the shochet was a G-d fearing Jew; however the meat that she had bought that week had not been chalak, as she usually bought. It was considered just kosher, since there was a question of sircha concerning the animal’s lungs, which rendered it kosher, but not chalak.

Then, the Rabbanit understood that Hashem had prevented her husband form eating meat whose kashrut was questionable. This story illustrates the importance of Sefardim adhering to the ruling of Maran Beit Yosef, zy”a, to only eat meat which is chalak. Furthermore, we see that when a person guards himself from eating prohibited foods, Hashem protects him from stumbling unintentionally, as it says, “He guards the steps of his devout ones.”

Serving the Tzaddik

There was a constant turnover of the gabbaim who served the tzaddik Rabbi Chaim Pinto Hakatan. So many people wanted to serve the tzaddik that they had to take turns. One shift left, and the next one entered.

There were two main reasons that Rabbi Chaim preferred this method: The first was that the tzaddik refused to have a Jew attend him for an extended period of time without paying him for his service in any way. Even when a wealthy person would attend him, Rabbi Chaim would make sure to give him something that he would appreciate in return.

The second reason was that the tzaddik feared that if he would become accustomed to a specific person assisting him, he might begin to slight his honor by viewing him as his servant. Therefore, he preferred to constantly change his attendants and gabbaim.

As expected, many people sought the honor of serving the tzaddik and personally observe his praiseworthy conduct. They enjoyed basking in his impressive presence. There was a waiting list of months to gain the privilege of serving Rabbi Chaim.

We are told that anyone who served the tzaddik was blessed with great wealth. Moreinu v’Rabbeinu testifies to this and says, “I know many Jews who became rich in this merit, and even their children became very wealthy.”

You Will Yet Be Wealthy

It is told that once someone by the name of Ochana attended Rabbi Chaim for an extended time. One day, Rabbi Chaim called him and said, “That’s it! The time has come for you to quit.”

Rabbi Chaim gave him a modest sum of money at the conclusion of his services, emphatically blessing him, “Do not worry about your future. From this small amount, you will yet become wealthy…”

Moreinu v’Rabbeinu commented, “I heard from a trustworthy source that Mr. Ochana became very rich and also merited long life.”

The Power Struggle

Once, R’ Ishua Deri’s turn came to serve the tzaddik. Rabbi Deri merited long life, and he personally told Moreinu v’Rabbeinu the following story:

After Rabbi Chaim notified him about his turn to serve him during the next few days, a wealthy man suddenly approached R’ Deri and informed him, “I want to serve the Rav now. You stay at home, and I will attend him.”

R’ Deri was surprised and argued, “I waited a long time for my turn to attend the Rav. How can you take this privilege away from me at a moment’s notice?”

The rich man threatened, “If you do not allow me to serve the Rav, you will regret it.” R’ Deri was scared of the wealthy man’s threats and reluctantly agreed to his demands.

The next day, the rich man returned to R’ Ishua and begged forgiveness. “I cannot continue serving the Rav. It is much too difficult,” he said.

“Why?” asked R’ Deri. The rich man admitted the true reason for his change of heart. “When I showed up to serve the Rav, he asked me, ‘Why do you want to serve me? Is it in order to meet a lot of people, or in order to eat a lot of food. (As we mentioned, Rabbi Chaim would visit many houses in order to collect money for the poor and in each place his hosts would serve him food. Rabbi Chaim would taste a bit and then he would order his attendant to eat the rest). I told him that I did not want to eat at all.”

He continued to relate that the entire day, he rich encountered many difficulties, and he became extremely fatigued. It was an unnatural lethargy that Hashem had brought upon him because he had forcefully taken the place of another man. In the evening, Rabbi Chaim turned to him and said, “Hashem has granted you strength in order to serve Him, not in order to push others around. Return to your home and do not dare serve me again by taking the place of someone else.”

In Casablanca

The Jewish population in Casablanca increased extensively after Rabbi Chaim Hakatan moved there from Mogador in the last years of his life. He lived in Casablanca for over three years, and there he accomplished his main achievements, becoming famous worldwide for his righteousness, benevolence, and holiness. He was eventually buried in Casablanca, and his grave is in the Jewish cemetery there.

The thriving Jewish community of Casablanca boasted a population of over 200,000 Jews. They received Rabbi Chaim Hakatan with great ceremony and honor. The Jewish congregation, who recognized his worthiness and wished to have him come live among them, provided him with an apartment, so that he should be able to engage in Torah without worrying about the cost of rent.

From a spiritual aspect, these were tremendously successful years for Rabbi Chaim. During this period, he influenced thousands of Jews and fortified their adherence to religion in a time when the Enlightenment was penetrating the modern city.

You Should Bless Me

It was common that when Rabbi Chaim Hakatan would pass through the streets, everyone would crowd around him to kiss the hand of the tzaddik and request his blessings, since people knew that they would be fulfilled, as his prayers were accepted by Hashem.

Moreinu v’Rabbeinu’s brother-in-law, R’ Pinchas Amos, relates an amazing story in connection to this:

It was the first time that his grandmother from Casablanca was going to request a blessing from Rabbi Chaim. She came to his house and asked him to give her a blessing. She also offered him a sum of money as a pidyon nefesh.

To her surprise, Rabbi Chaim refused to accept the money for the pidyon. “From you, I will not accept money,” he told her.

“Why not?” she dared to ask.

“Because you fast from Motza’ei Shabbat until Erev Shabbat, and you are held in high esteem in Heaven. Therefore, I do not want to take money from you. On the contrary, I want you to bless me.”

The words of the tzaddik, said in utmost modesty, greatly impressed the grandmother. She ventured to question the tzaddik, “From where does your honor know that I fast all week?”

“It was revealed to me by Heaven,” Rabbi Chaim answered her, “and therefore I will bless you, but I request that you bless me as well.”

Taking Pity on the Poor

Chazal warn, “Be careful with the children of the poor, because from them Torah will emerge.” Rabbi Chaim would constantly repeat these words, not only uttering them, but truly living by them. He would always be found in the company of the poor and needy. He preferred sitting among them rather than sitting amidst the rich and prominent. He constantly offered his assistance to the poor people in every matter.

Every day, he would go visit poor families, who ate only vegetables or bread accompanied by a cup of beer. He would dine with them, partaking of their simple meals, in order to demonstrate that he preferred their meager portions to the delicacies and choice meat of the wealthy.

At the end of his visit, Rabbi Chaim would customarily bless the family members, especially the head of the household, and offer words of encouragement, declaring that he enjoyed his meals with them more than the banquets of the more affluent people. He would also add that fear of Heaven is acquired specifically through suffering, poverty, and pain. Moreover, it is known that precisely from poor people, great Torah scholars emerge, as is told about the Tanna, Rabbi Yehuda bar Ila’i, that six of his students would share one tallit.

Rabbeinu adds, “Many people have told me that this was his custom; to always eat among the poor people, sitting on the floor as they did.”