Comfort in Cabbala and Zion - the Case of Rabbi Abraham Azoulay and his Contemporaries.

Marc Eliany © All Rights Reserved

Azoulay, Abraham, Rabbi (1570-1643). Born in Fez, lived in Hebron and Gaza.

Rabbi Abraham Azoulay was named after his grandfather, who was a rabbi in Seville, Spain. The extended Azoulay family left Spain in the course of the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 and settled in Fez. Political conditions seemed favorable in Morocco then. Yet, many of the learned who survived the trauma of the expulsion sought comfort in mysticism. They studied the Book of Splendor because true devotion (avodat emet) required understanding divine intentions (kavana) hidden in Torah.

Having been trained as a rabbi, Azoulay was certainly versed in traditional Biblical and Talmudic studies. But upon his settlement in Hebron, his main work 'Kiriat Arba' focused on a synthesis of four leading cabbalists Moshe Codovero, HaAri, Haim Vital and Avraham Galanti.

He also wrote a biographical account 'Hessed LeAbraham' in which he described his voyage from Fez, via Melilia and Athens, to Hebron (about 1595), as well as the circumstances leading to the departure of his elders from Spain, namely increasing persecution in Spain, expulsion from Spain (1492), temporary refuge in Portugal and escape to Morocco (around 1497).

Azoulay's biography is an important source of information of life in Fez at the end of the 16th century. He described himself as a talented student, a rabbinical teacher with a significant following, who lived a humble life style and yearned to live and die in the Holy Land. He reported that some of his early rabbinical manuscripts were lost when the ship he sailed on sunk at Athens' shores (about 1595).

Azoulay left Morocco at the end of the reign of Al Mansur (King Abas Ahmed), who is remembered as a benevolent king, although opposition to his raid on Timbuktu (a neighboring Moslem Nation) combined with a three years drought to crystallize a rebellion that dethroned him, installing his son in his place. The following years, marked by instability and Jewish suffering, motivated Azoulay to leave Morocco for Zion.

Azoulay settled in Hebron but left it due to a plague that spread in the region, forcing him to seek refuge in Gaza City where he wrote his biography as well as 'In Pact with Abraham' (Baale Brith Abraham), an interpretation of the Bible using both overt and cabbalistic methods. The latter book gained him recognition among Cabbalistic circles in Safed. He also wrote 'Love with Pleasure' (Ahava betaanugim), an interpretarion of the Mishnah.

Azoulay died in Hebron in most glorifying circumstances. One day, the Turkish Emperor dropped his sword in the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Macpela). As efforts to recover the sword out of the cave resulted in the death of several of the Emperor's assistants, Jews were called upon to do the impossible. Azoulay went in and out of the cave safely but claimed that the patriarchs 'told' him he was to die the following day and the prediction came true!

Rabbi Haim Yossef David Azoulay, known as Hida
Jerusalem, 1724 - Livorno, Italy, 1807.

Azoulay had two daughters as well as a son named Isaac, also a rabbi, who fathered rabbi Haim Yossef David Azoulay, known as Hida (1724-1807), born in Jerusalem. Hida grew to become a great rabbi, Talmudist and Cabbalist. He founded a rabbinical academy in Livorno, Italy, where a long-standing North African Jewish community lived.

Hida was a prolific writer. He started writing at a very young age, beginning with 'Joseph's Gate' (Shaare Yossef) at the age of 12. He wrote 83 books. One of his great accomplishments was a biographical and bibliographical dictionary 'Great Names Add to Wisdom' (Chém haguédolim va'ad lahakhamim).

Hida studied at 'Beth Yaacov' Rabbinical Academy with rabbi Hizkia di Silva as well as with rabbi Israel Mizrahi. Some also attribute Hida's early inspiration to rabbi Yona Navone.

Survival and Creativity in Adverse Circumstances

In spite of the expulsion from Spain (1492), political instability in Morocco (1595), a plague in Hebron and Jerusalem and economic hardship in Zion, which forced successive generations of the Azoulay family to move from one end of the Mediterranean Sea to another, members of the family managed to maintain not only great survival skills but also an amazing level of creativity in adverse circumstances. The family produced rabbis, generation after generation, as well as two prolific rabbinical writers. The Azoulays sought comfort in mysticism. Their Cabbalistic tendencies, although strong, echoed an inter-generation need for devotion and understanding of divine intentions, in all likelihood to comfort their aching souls in light of persisting difficulties.