Rabbi Yaish Giat, the 102-year-old who lit a torch at the torch-lighting ceremony at the beginning of Independence Day, is a 'teacher', the owner of a spice shop in Ashkelon, who in his shop prepares natural medicines according to the Maimonides' method and knowledge that he has accumulated and passed down to him from generation to generation. He is knowledgeable about medicinal plants and voluntarily guides people who come to him for advice.
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Since the torch was lit, dozens of people have been coming to his small shop in Ashkelon every day. "From the day he was told to light a torch, people haven't stopped coming," his daughter Yael tells Haredim 10. "My father doesn't have time to eat and drink, people haven't stopped coming from all over the country.
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""This store is for him, so he can get out of the house and see people - he loves people. But it's too much for him, he has no rest. Yesterday he worked until 4:00 PM. He doesn't have time to eat or drink, people come to his house, at all hours.".
The family members did not expect the wave of publicity. "We didn't want all this publicity," she says. "We just wanted to honor him by lighting a torch. We didn't want any publicity at all. God's ways are hidden. That's why Dad doesn't give interviews to the media, so that there won't be any more publicity.".
Tomer, Yaish's grandson, is with him during the store's operating hours, handing out books to customers who line up at the door. He tells some of those who come to come back the next day. "Many customers come from all over the country - from Kiryat Tivon, Safed, Kfar Saba, Dimona," says Tomer.
Doreen, for example, came from Kfar Saba to Ashkelon. "I said I'll come, try and see, at most what can be...""
It's an effort to get from Kfar Saba to Ashkelon, in the morning...
"I have no problem making an effort for the things I need. After all, the car is driving, not me. A billion Chinese people are not wrong, what do I have to lose?".
Yosef Haddad has owned a jewelry store next to Giat's for about 50 years. "To this day, I take herbs that help with the digestive system and headaches," he says. "Every morning I kiss his hand, he'll be a good person.".
""Bless God, he is healthy. May he be healthy, I'm afraid they will kill him under this pressure, he doesn't drink water, he doesn't eat anything, he doesn't maintain his health.".
Yosef Hadad and his family are a little worried since the big revelation.
Yosef: "Before the announcement, he would come with a cart and bags. Pigeons would come to him, 100 pigeons would wait to eat - these two weeks there are no pigeons... People don't stop coming, Katzrin Karmiel, Lod. People exaggerate, unfortunately this young generation believes in everything.".
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