Composer and Painter: Rabbi Shaguim from all over the world came to receive his blessing. His thrilling story

May 13, 2022   

A group of African Christians listen attentively to the sounds of the harp. The player, a Jewish rabbi with a white beard, recites verses from the Psalms to them. The final chord is played, after which silence falls over the hall. They line up in a long line to receive his blessing, each taking turns kneeling and kissing his hand. Some even bow to the floor, stretching their limbs. This is the story of Rabbi David Moshe Lewis, the late, a musical genius, a phenomenal painter, and a Jerusalemite Kabbalist. Gentiles from all over the world flocked to his door to wonder about the essence of Judaism and receive his blessing. Rabbi Lewis grew up in Peoria, Illinois, to an assimilated Jewish family that had immigrated to the United States from Europe in the period before World War II. His talent for drawing was evident from an early age, but his parents directed him to study music and playing the trumpet. At the age of 15, David was accepted into the Philharmonic in his city and began playing in various concerts. A local newspaper, which was exposed to the unusual phenomenon, reported on his acceptance into the orchestra. He continued this trend in his academic studies, where he began to study theoretical music at a high level.

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David's turbulent soul led him to ponder the meaning of life, and he began to delve into the realms of mysticism and spirituality, despite being raised as an atheist. During that period of the 1960s, a wave of rebellion and search began among the younger generation in the United States, leading to the "hippie" phenomenon, which David happily joined. He found himself with long hair and slovenly clothing, with a few belongings packed in his suitcase, along with his musical instruments, hitchhiking from state to state in the United States, working as a musician at odd jobs. At this stage in his life, he became acquainted with the Indian Zen sect and slowly began to think and wonder about the existence of prophecy and various spiritual powers. At one of the stops, he was reincarnated into a Dominican Christian monastery, where his musical talent was recognized and he was appointed as a music lecturer for the church members. His life began to change. The return to Judaism The heads of the monastery, whom David liked, began to try to convince him to convert to Christianity and become a priest, but he refused. For the first time in his life, he remembered his Jewish origin. A Christian nun, who tried to continue the work of persuasion, gave him an ancient book of Kabbalah written by a forced Jewish woman from the time of the Inquisition. Inside the book, he came across a painting depicting Ezekiel's chariot, and his insides turned over. He felt that he had finally encountered something truly and absolutely spiritual. In an instant, he was overwhelmed by a strong feeling of disgust for the Christian monastery, and without telling anyone, he gathered his belongings and left. He continued his search for her in Los Angeles. While wandering the streets, he came across a Jew wearing a long black garment. He saw the tassels dangling from his clothes and immediately the memories of the descriptions he had heard about "the Jews of old" flooded back to him. He strikes up a conversation with that Jew, a local Chabad emissary, and slowly begins to approach Judaism. Eventually, he joins a group of Jewish artists who are repentant, who traveled to study at a Chabad yeshiva in New York. There, he meets the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who puts the final stamp on his Judaism.

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Top directors and artists in the US requested his compositions and musical services, but he refused them. Only studying Torah was his primary concern at that time. Later, in 1938, he chose to immigrate to the Holy Land, and here he established his home with his wife, Pnina. From time to time, he would fly to various countries in Africa and Europe, searching for communities and weak Jews, whom he would strengthen and encourage. His love for the secrets behind the letters of the Holy Language led him to study stele writing, in which he saw the embodiment of painting and Kabbalah, which were already an integral part of his life. Light to the Gentiles One day, they asked the Foreign Ministry to bring a group of Christians who loved Israel to him, so that he could speak to them. The group left him with great excitement and shivers, and since then this has become a regular procedure. Groups of Gentiles would gather around him, and he would play the harp or blow the trumpet and recite verses of the Psalms. "The Da Vinci of the Jews," they called him, after encountering his wonderful works in the fields of music and painting. In 2006, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, came to Israel for the first time. Rabbi Lewis was asked to play for him at the welcoming ceremony. He was very moved by this because in his youth he had learned a lot from the wisdom. Hearing his playing, the Dalai Lama was very moved. When Rabbi Lewis approached him to ask for his blessing, the Dalai Lama replied: "No, you will bless me" - and bowed his head to him. After blessing him, the Dalai Lama removed his scarf and placed it around the rabbi's neck, and he in turn placed his small tallit on it.

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For years, Rabbi Lewis pondered the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism, and in his paintings he incorporated various Kabbalistic elements, in the form of letters and numbers. He held a regular Kabbalah class at his home, which was attended by professors and prominent figures. For long hours, he could dive into the wondrous worlds of numbers, letters, and angels, captivating the audience with his presence. One moving story of many occurred when he was giving a speech to an important delegation from Germany. After he finished his speech, a priest present in the audience stood up and said: "In my name and on behalf of the audience here, I would like to ask you to forgive us for the crimes of the German people in the Holocaust." Rabbi Lewis became serious and replied: "Who am I to forgive you? Your duty is to acknowledge your crime and copy its memory from generation to generation so that, God forbid, it will be forgotten." Upon hearing these words, the entire group began to cry. After several months, he received an email from the group leader, asking him to come to Israel and visit him urgently. He boarded a plane and arrived with his wife and son at the rabbi's house, saying that he had an affinity for the Jewish people: "My grandmother's grandmother was Jewish," he said. If so, the rabbi told him, "You're Jewish too!" That Jew returned home, left his studies in the priesthood, and converted his family. He wanted to come to Israel so that the rabbi could see him after returning to his Judaism, but then the coronavirus pandemic broke out. When he was again able to come to Israel, Rabbi David Lewis had already passed away on the 3rd of Av, 5771, at the age of 72, after contracting a serious illness. [Gallery]