Are the Legends Necessary?
Recently someone while insisting that Rav Kaduri wasn’t the Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El(in fact he was, aside from testimony of numerous Talmidim I offer you this bit of documentary evidence which was initially put out as a newsletter by the Jewish Studies staff at Hebrew U. Because Yeshivot need to register with the govt in Israel to receive various benefits, who runs them and curriculum also needs to be registered, and so is public record).
Moving on, so the story was that the Shemen Sasson looked like an angel as he walked the earth and even grew several inches every Friday. This story was of course reported to someone from someone else who heard it from one of the Talmidim of Rav Kaduri, who witnessed this with his own eyes. So that is the legend. Now there are a lot of angles to come at this one from. We can go with what was written about the Shemen Sasson both by his contemporaries(such as Rav Dweck ZTzUK”L) or his successors, who typically remarked upon his modesty, and that seeing him on the street(or finding him shopping in the shuk shlepping groceries, as Rav Dweck reports it, one would not by appearances guess the magnitude of the man). You could come at it from that angle.
However I would like to look at it from another angle. That second angle being a simple historical account. Rav Kaduri ZTzUK”L first arrived in Eretz Yisrael in 1923/5683. 
The Shemen Sasson ZTzUK”L was niftar from this world in 1903/5663(see photo of obituary). That means that the first time Rav Kaduri was able to come to Eretz Yisrael, the Shemen Sasson had already been gone from this world for 20yrs. Historically you simply can’t say that Rav Kaduri witnessed something. The best that you would be able to say that he heard it from those who witnessed it(i.e. the Hakhamei Beit El, amongst whom he would eventually take up residence).
Now here is the thing that I don’t quite understand. Why the need for the fantastic legends? Is the legacy of Torah that he left behind not enough? Is it not enough that the Chazon Ish was impressed by the amkut of his successors(no mean feat that)? The Roshei Yeshivot of Beit El have never sought fame or publicity, in fact if one of them were to be elevated to the position of Zaken HaMekubalim, they were required to step down as Rosh Yeshiva(they lost 2 Roshei Yeshivot that way, first Rav Massoud Alhadad, the successor of the Shemen Sasson, and later Rav Kaduri). Especially do we have to copy a legend that has already been used for the GR”A and the Chafetz Haim.
I’m going to finish this up with something that I heard from Rav Tzion Brakha in the name of Rav M. Sharabi, when discussing “Tzadik stories.” Specifically I was speaking of the one that GR”A never really slept. He said, “You know all of these wonderful stories, that is all the they are, they are just stories. They are the mashal, what is the nimshal. No man can go without sleep, and if you try to learn the secrets of Torah without adequate sleep, you will destroy your mind. So you know the mashal(the parable/fable) what is the nimshal(the moral of the story).”
I could speak at length about the damage done by exaggerating the “miraculous” in our relating of actual nissim(miracles). It does do damage, because when one actually searches out the truth, and finds that it is not the story that is being told today(and I have seen radical changes in the course of just months) it sows the seeds of doubt about a number of things. However, let’s tackle the actual fable here, that the Shemen Sasson grew so much on every Yom Shishi that his pants were suddenly much too short. Let’s see he grew just a single inch(3cm), though I would have to say that I doubt that would qualify for pants suddenly being too short, but think of it, that means within the course of a single year, he would grow a full 1.5meters(4feet). Even if he only grew a single cm every week, he would have been the Jolly Rabbinic Giant in fairly short order. So much for the modest and non-descript man that all of his contemporaries and successors describe. Rav Dweck shouldn’t have had any problems finding him shopping in the shuk, he needed only look for the person who was double the height of a normal human being.
So let’s say there is some truth that was being conveyed in the story. No I don’t believe that the Shemen Sasson actually grew an inch or so every week. But I would be willing to believe that, the depth of his learning was such, that his stature in Torah significantly grew each week. Considering that his successors would go on to impress the Chazon Ish with their depth of learning, certainly the Shemen Sasson must have been an amuk of great measure.
I understand that stories such as these, and those of miracles are spread to induce faith. However, I have a novel idea, let’s either call a fable what it is, or in the case of miracles strive to understate as opposed to overstating them. It would be much better if someone were to investigate the miracle and find that it was indeed more impressive than we say, then the opposite. At least that’s my opinion.
This kind of thing has been happening in the Chasidic world for centuries.
For the elite, tales of a Gadol’s Torah knowledge and piety are enough. For the “unwashed masses” (at least as the elite see them) they aren’t. How can “simple” people appreciate the greatness of a Torah scholar? Doesn’t the gemara say that until a person talks to a talmid chacham the scholar is like a golden decanter, but when he speaks to him he becomes like silver and when he derives benefit from him he becomes like an earthenware vessel, cracked beyond repair?
To use an analogy, I introduce you to the biggest neurosurgeon in Israel. Can you really appreciate the in-depth complexities of what he does without a proper background in neuroanatomy and surgery?
So these stories appear. If you can’t appreciate “the rebbe” for his Torah, then let’s throw some miracles in so you will appreciate him.
Interesting. I had actually learned it inside one of Rav Dweck’s books. Though I can’t remember which one, and where exactly. Though I am pretty sure that Rav Yaakov Hillel includes it, along the specific source in the beginning of Peat HaSadeh. Though to be honest, I would believe the story of a great many mekubalim.
I know a Kabbalistic Rosh Yeshiva, that until very recently worked as a sandlar, I will bet you good money that the majority of those bringing their shoes to be repaired never knew who it was that was fixing their shoes.
But that’s the real miracle, isn’t it? That a man great in Torah and piety still has time to interact with the common folk and treat them decently because his heart is so humble?
When I heard the story, the unassuming man shlepping groceries in the shuk was Rav Eliyahu Mani.
just to play devils advocate, your last point about him growing on shabbat, that he wouldve been mighty tall after a year…well the idea is he got some inches on shabbat (i,e he seemed taller) and after shabbat he shrank. basically he was taller on shabbat not that he always gained inches without losing them.
Yeah I thought of that. But still having Rabbi Kaduri witness it, when the Shemen Sasson was already niftar for 20yrs is a problem.
oh and once we are on the topic.. what do you think of the “legacy of leaders” series which talks about the miraculous things sfardi hachamim supposedly did. in one story, a rav (i think it was one of the abuchatzeira, havent read it in a while) takes a spike and hammers it into the ground, while he is doing this, the muslim sheihk that is his opponent starts sinking into the ground until he is totally swallowed up, this being in front of the whole town mind you…and of course the goyim didnt start up with the jews ever again…or atleast for another 5 years. the end. or how bout the story of the flying carpet? im not doubting the stories per say but if you believe these stories (which people do) then to say that a rav was a bit taller on shabbat do to shabbats holiness, well thats nothing.
Actually it wasn’t that the Shemen Sasson was growing from Shabbat’s holiness, he was growing from his Torah Study… That aside.
With most miracle stories, I will say there are three elements. There is what actually happened(because something of import probably did) there is the mashal that it evolved into, and then there is the nimshal. The first is usually lost to the sands of time(usually). That Rav Shmuel Elbaz somehow managed to travel to Turkey in order to raise money for the Jewish community of Jerusalem is without question. Now whether it was on a carpet/mat that floated/flew behind a ship, or something else, I can’t say, I wasn’t there. That it was miraculous, I don’t doubt however, hence the story grew.
As far as people sinking into the sand that was supposedly a group of Jewish thieves that attempted to waylay Rabbi Yakov Abuchatzeira on his way home. My understanding was that they were bandits from his own city, and that he simply kept walking when they threatened his life, and thus they sank into the sand and turned to stone. It wasn’t until their wives begged for their return(apparently they also were the people of his own village) that Abir Yaakov said they would be able to go free if they promised never to steal again… Once more, whether the story happened exactly that way… I don’t know, I wasn’t there. That something happened, seems more certain.
However, with both stories there are messages that are conveyed through them. The are fables, the question isn’t so much whether those things happened, but what is the moral of the story that you want your children to have? What message is the story teller trying to communicate to his audience?
oh and stories about hachamim acting like considerate human beings isnt amazing, its expected. to say that a great hacham helps his wife for shabbat shouldnt be looked at as amazing. it should be taken as a given. the torah has to make you a super mench and when people find out that hachamim are menches they are like, what did you hear, so and so rabbi took out the garbage this morning! seriously… what would you have him do, take out a stick and beat his wife till she does it?!
Very nice statement … and welcome.
I, too, wonder why legends are generated when the work and/or influence is more, much more, than sufficient to see this person as a model to emulate or a sample of a righteous person.
Some folk require fanciful tales about the wise and the holy to “get it.” Perhaps its for their purposes, manufactured by the yeshivot version of a popular celebrity’s marketing cadre whose purpose is to keep their client’s name in the public eye and generate some “street cred.” Oy
BS”D: Dear Fellow Jew and “aspiring mekubal” RE: Rav Kaduri being Rosh Yeshivah, I don’t understand why you didn’t just contact us directly and ask for clarification, perhaps giving the kaf zechut instead of posting openly on your blog like this? You’re invited Jews to step into lashon hara! Now I have to take time to straighten this out, because, as we learn from tefillat Chana – we have a duty to correct other’s wrong impressions of us.
If you open (as my husband Rav Yehudah Alfasi did) sefer Simchat Cohen,Sheilot v’teshuvot al Derech haKabbalah, you’ll see on the first page the hamlatzah from Rav Kaduri AND on the second page you’ll find the Hamlatzah from Yeshivat haMekubalim Chassidim Beit El, and on the 5th page you’ll find what would presumably be a definitive list of Roshei Yeshivot: from Rabeinu Gedalia Chayon, Rav Shalom Sharabi, thru Ravs Shalom and Ovadia. You won’t find Rav Kaduri listed there. That is the source rav Yehudah used, without giving much thought because he spurns internet usage and was speaking “off-the-cuff” to me as I translated as best I could.
Second, having received directly information from one of Rav Kaduri’s foremost talmidim, Rav Yosef Bar El, is in itself generally enough to merit it being accepted as truth, not necessarily as witness by the dead, which is rediculous and therefore, as per the laws of lashon hara you are required to assume better than us loosely tossing about silly tales. However, rav Yehudah will recheck with Rav Bar El, after which he has advised me to stay away from the lashon hara here on your site as it is obvlously mixed with some sort of tumah. Did we say “witnessed by Rav Kaduri”? I translate for rav Yehudah and my Hebrew is far from authoritative and again – benefit of the doubt. You should have asked us and assumed we’d have no reason to purposefully mislead, but just to inspired you to be careful not to write negatively about tzadikim or ravs, giving names as if they were written when they aren’t and we quoted the dangers. Perhaps I, his wife, made an innocent mistake in translation? Perhaps, perhaps…?
What lashon hara?
Saying that one got their historical facts wrong is not lashon hara.
As far as Rav Kaduri not being listed in the beginning of Simhat Kohen, it only listed the niftarim. As I stated in the post, when a Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El became the Zaken HaMekubalim they were expected to relinquish their position as Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El. This is precisely what happened with the Simhat Kohen himself, as can be found in numerous sources, including Shalom L’Am from Rav Shalom Hedayya, the successor of Simhat Kohen.
As far as Rav Kaduri having been the Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El, I also have my sources. Rav Benayahu Shmueli says it, Rav Shalom M. Hedayya ZTz”L, Rav Raphael Hedayya , and Rav Holland(sorry can’t remember the first name) who was Talmid of Rav Kaduri’s for 40+yrs(until the Rav was niftar) including while he was Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El, say it. I trust these Rabbanim to know the history of the Rav whom they personally learned under and where they learned it. In addition to the historical evidence presented in the post itself from an article that appeared at the time.
Now regarding the list of Roshei Yeshivot that was published in the beginning of Simhat Kohen, it ends with Rav Ovadiah Hedayya and has his tenure ending in 1948/5708(i.e. the destruction of the original Yeshiva building in the Old City). Whereas he would go on to rebuild the Yeshiva in (what was then) unoccupied Jerusalem, continuing the Yeshiva in the meantime, in what was then the newly acquired upper Beit Midrash of Nahar Shalom. He actually continued as Rosh Yeshiva of Beit El until 1969/5729, so already the list is somewhat in error regarding the latter Roshei Yeshivot there.
Furthermore it list one continuation from there. Quite interesting as the Sefer was published in 1998/5758.
In 5749/1989 Rav Kaduri was elevated to Zaken HaMekubalim, and left the Yeshiva and founded another(across the street) with Rav Darzi which was called Dor Yesharim. As the Rav was already extremely advanced in age, he soon left that Yeshiva as well, and with his son founded Nahalat Yitzhak in 5753/1993. So when Rav Kaduri wrote his haskama to the Sefer Simhat Kohen he was already the Rosh Yeshiva of Nahalat Yitzhak for 5yrs, of course he would use that letterhead.
I’m sorry if you think there is some sort of Lashon Hara in pointing out mistakes in factual details. Quite the contrary the Hafetz Haim in Shemirat HaLashon says that one is permitted to discuss the factual details of a publicly delivered message, so long as one does not mock or deride the person who brought it(which I did not do). Further more Rav Yaakov Hillel has stated in numerous places says that if one removes any and all names and identifying signs, one may even discuss a person and their follies in a manner that would otherwise be embarrassing. To wit there were no names or identifying information related to where I received any of this information.
On the other hand, the Hafetz Haim also says in Shemirat HaLashon(2:9 I believe as well as other places) that if one is going to give over a story, one must be careful not to add a single letter to it, otherwise one transgresses Lashon Hara. So the original conveyor of the story should look to their own soul. If the story is not completely true, if it has been enhanced in any way, then the teller and reteller have transgressed the halakhot of Lashon HaRa.
Now if you could help me clarify another difficulty. Primarily I run this blog as a form of Kiruv, one that is a bit more effective then I had ever imagined. However, this is I believe the 7th or 8th post that you have decided to take issue with. One of which was actually my own biography, in which you blasted me for teaching Kabbalah online(which I don’t). So I am a bit confused. If you are who you say you are, and your husband is who you say he is, do you have nothing better to do, then make makhloket with another Jew?