''Baba Leon', the Kabbalist Rabbi Eliyahu Leon Levi zt"l • His Life Story

July 20, 2015   

Baruch Dayan, the true judge: At the 'Ma'eni Hayeshua' hospital in Bnei Brak, the Kabbalist Rabbi Eliyahu Leon Levi zt"l, known as 'Baba Leon', who is considered one of the best-known Kabbalists in Bnei Brak, passed away this morning (Monday), at the age of 75. The Kabbalist was hospitalized in the hospital last month, after suffering from a serious illness for the past year. ''Baba Leon' was born in Turkey in 1939 in the city of Marash on the border with Syria, to his father, Rabbi Yeshua Levi, who served as the city's rabbi. At the age of eight, he immigrated to Israel with his family, and they lived in the Ness Ziona refugee camp for several years. Due to the spiritual desolation in the city, and fear for the children's education, the family moved to the Ezra neighborhood in Tel Aviv - where his father, Rabbi Yeshua, established his community in the Ezra and Toshiya synagogue and served as a spiritual father and shepherd to all Turkish immigrants to the Land of Israel. At the age of 12, he was sent to study at the Ohel Moed yeshiva in Tel Aviv, where he studied until the age of 18 - and from there he moved to study for about two years at the Chabad yeshiva in Lod. At the age of 21, he was drafted into the army, and as the son of a bereaved family that lost its son Yehuda Aslan, the son of the late Rabbi Yehuda, in the War of Independence - whose burial place is still unknown - he was discharged after about a year. From the age of 21, he was the chief cantor at the Ohel Moed synagogue in Tel Aviv, and from there he was taken to serve as a public emissary at a synagogue for immigrants from Halab in the Lavanda neighborhood of Tel Aviv. He married Rebbetzin Shoshana, and studied at the Kollel Beit Hillel for about 4 years. When his children were born, he followed the path taught by his father, learned the secrets of Kabbalah, and for six consecutive years conducted the Tikkun of the Tanna Rabbi Nachoniya ben Hakana. As a member of a family of world-famous cantors, his name became known throughout the world as a cantor with a rare and powerful voice, who mastered all the secrets of the maqams. For about 45 years, he devoted all his time and energy to establishing many Tikkuns, especially the Tikkun Brit, for which he composed a special Tikkun in his book 'Yeshuat Eliyahu'. It was a frequent sight to see him every Shabbat evening - in cold and heat - for 45 years, as he would finish the entire Book of Psalms with his students near the remains of our Temple, and in the same position conduct the Tikkun for the Protection of the People of Israel for that week, accompanied by shofars. He always said that a person must give his life for the honor of the Holy One, and he would often weep for the Divine Presence in exile. When he heard of a sick Jew, he would weep and lament, as if his son were suffering. On Sabbath nights, he would not give his soul any rest and would sit and meditate on Torah and Hasidism until morning. It is a wonder that in his sermons he never opened a book and the quotations and sayings of the sages were memorized. Over the years, every Thursday, when he was fasting, he received a large audience in need of salvation and mercy. People would often see how he took everything personally and wept and mourned for that person. He would hold consecutive fasts from time to time, and in recent years, due to many fasts and writing amulets, he had lost a lot of weight. When he fell ill, despite the pleas of his family, he refused to receive medical treatment - saying: "I am going to atone for the people of Israel." For decades he established and maintained the yeshiva 'Tikkonei Eliyahu' and 'Ma'ayeni Yeshua', and these are the names by which the books he authored are also known. He is survived by his wife, Rebbetzin Shoshana, and a blessed generation of yeshivah scholars: his eldest son, Rabbi Yehoshua Levi, Rosh Yeshiva Ateret Levi, Petach Tikva, Rabbi Chaim Levi, Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shmuel Levi, cantor of the Safra Synagogue in Manhattan, Rabbi Avraham, Rabbi Yitzhak, Yosef, Rabbi Yishai Ginati, Rosh Yeshiva Birkat HaTorah Jerusalem, Rabbi Yechezkel Solomon, rabbi of the community in the Hasidic community of Viznitz. His brother, Rabbi Rafael Levi, head of the Yeshua Institutes for Yehuda, and his sisters: Rebbetzin S. Allof, wife of Rabbi Zevulun, who is establishing a seminary for the children of Or Chaim, Rebbetzin M. Biton, wife of the Gaon Rabbi Shimon Biton, rabbi of the city of Hadera and president of the Or Yosef Torah Institutes.  His funeral will leave at 4:00 PM from the 'Tikkonei Eliyahu' yeshiva at 11 Rove Hashomer in Bnei Brak to the Beit HaChaim Ponivez in the city. Upon his passing this morning, his disciples issued the following statement: "The crown of our head has fallen. Woe to us, for we have sinned." We were orphans and without a father, shocked and shaken, broken and shattered, mourning and fainting, at the passing of our father, we have been nourished by the crown of our head, the righteous and righteous one who brought the hearts of thousands of Israel closer to their Father in Heaven and who spread Torah and the fear of God to thousands and tens of thousands with devotion, the pillar of the Tzlotha, the Hasidic Kadisha and the Parisha of the righteous Rabbi Eliyahu Leon Levi, ztuk"l, the head of the Eliyahu Tikkunei Yeshiva and the Mayanei Hayeshua and the founder of Tikkun Hayesod in the Land of Israel. He ascended in a storm to heaven. Monday morning, Wednesday, in the month of Menachem Av, 5775. Broken upon broken, we were broken, "Oh, who will teach us a lesson, oh, who will understand a rumor.".