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WAR AND LORE
The fabled Rebbe Hai Tayeb lo-met of Tunisia bests a Jerusalem Talmudist
By Isaac Yetiv, Ph.D
LA JOLLA, California—The Jewish presence in my native country of Tunisia preceded the Arab
conquest by more than a thousand years. After the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE Jewish refugees who could escape the Babylonian captivity landed in the island of Djerba in Southern Tunisia; most of them were Cohanim. Some historians even tell of Jews, members of the tribe of Zevulon, famous seafarers and navigators, who crossed
the Mediterranean with the Phoenicians in 813 BCE and founded Carthage, today a suburb of the capital Tunis, where I myself saw in its famous ruins some archaeological artifacts with Hebrew inscriptions.
Despite the difficulties inherent to the status of tolerated minority, Jewish culture has flourished
under the successive conquerors (Vandals, Byzantines, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, French) but reached its apogee in the 18th and 19th centuries. The establishment of yeshivas and academies, the level of scholarship of rabbis and sages whose publications and responsa (guidelines and solutions to difficult problems of Halacha, and even to social and political questions in their relations with the powers-that-be) radiated in all of North-Africa and beyond, and became
legendary.
Many of these rabbis have been venerated as saints and miracle-makers by Jews and Muslims to this day.
As a child, I used to hear the stories of their divinely-guided prowess in those long winter nights
when my father, a prolific and fascinating raconteur, extolled their virtues and their holiness extemporaneously or sometimes read from a book in Judeo-Arabic (Hebrew letters and Arabic language) to an ecstatic and dumbfounded audience of friends and neighbors.
One of these saintly scholars was the favorite of all because of his extraordinary personality and the circumstances of his life, and also because of the plethora of legendary stories attributed to him. This was Rebbi Hai Tayeb lo-met, and woe to those who forget to add the last two Hebrew words "lo met" which mean "not dead." And this is the story:
After his death, his marble tombstone was professionally engraved with his name, Rebbi Hai
Tayeb, but at night the engraver had a nightmare: the rabbi came to him and strangled him. Trembling, he asked the rabbi what was his sin. And the rabbi said: "How dare you just write my name? Don't you know that Tzaddakim never die, and their soul is eternally alive? Go tomorrow and add the words 'lo met.'" The poor man did it first thing in the morning. To this day, the inscription on the tombstone, in Hebrew, is "Rebbi Hai Tayeb lo met" and no Jew dares to omit
this addition. Today, in the quarter of Belleville in Paris, the Tunisian synagogue is aptly named "Rebbi Hai Tayeb Lo Met."
Born in 1743, the rebbi showed a precocious intelligence and a superb aptitude in the study of
the Scriptures, the Talmud, and later the Zohar and the Kabbalah. He lived in extreme poverty with his mother in one small room, which he constantly filled with his notes that would become books. His papers were piled up and spread all over, thus reducing the living space for him and his mother. One day in his absence, his mother, unable to bear any more, set fire to his manuscripts. One of them was miraculously saved and became a famous book, Helev Hittim. When he saw the disaster, he tore his garments and prostrated himself on the floor. He couldn't violate the commandment of "Honor thy father and thy mother..." So he gave himself to hatipa hamara (the bitter drop), to alcohol, the famous Jewish Tunisian bukha made of fermented figs. He neglected his appearance, his dress, but remained as sharp a talmudist as before. Alcohol did not impair his ability to learn and retain, to think and reason and argue, as the following anecdote, a true story, will reveal:
One day, Mrs. Silvera, the wife of a rich merchant, appeared before him and complained that her husband was threatening to take a second wife because she had not produced an heir and more than 10 years of sterility had elapsed since they had been married, thus making it legal in the eyes of rabbinic law - the Ashkenazi "herem derabbi Gershon" was inoperative. Without raising his eyes, the rabbi told her, in biblical language, to go back home and that, a year
from that day, she would be embracing a son. And so it happened. Mr. Silvera threw a lavish feast on the eve of the circumcision and invited the Chief Rabbi, all the rabbis of the city, and of course, Rebbe Hai Tayeb.
A guest rabbi from Jerusalem, in Tunisia to collect funds for the yeshivot in Jerusalem, was also in attendance. Everybody was present, except Rebbi Hai. Impatient, the rabbi from Jerusalem demanded to start the "reading" of the Talmud, but at the insistence of the baby's mother, the Chief Rabbi decided to wait. One hour later, a man dressed in rags, his shoes full of mud, and walking unsteadily, made his appearance, sat in his reserved space on a couch and fell asleep. The Chief Rabbi ordered not to disturb the gaon mekubal Rebbe Hai, and postponed the reading once more. The Jerusalem rabbi was fuming. When he woke up, Rebbe Hai told the Chief Rabbi to begin the reading, and a long talmudic discussion ensued. As in a tournament, the participants fell one after another; only Rebbe Hai and the rabbi from Jerusalem remained in the ring
with qushiot (questions) and terutsim (answers) flying to and fro. The rabbi from Jerusalem, feeling his defeat approaching, excused himself to answer the call of nature, left the room for the courtyard, where he raised his eyes and hands to the heavens and prayed to the Almighty: "Ribbono shel olam," he begged, "give me enough intelligence to beat this drunk rabbi, or take
my soul!"
When he returned to the "reading" room, the drunk rabbi told him: "God has answered your prayer; you may now pursue the argument." As if struck by lightning, the rabbi from Jerusalem prostrated himself and kissed the mud of Rebbe Hai's shoes, after which he begged mehila (forgiveness) from him, and exclaimed: "It is written that 'the Torah will come out of Zion and the word of God from Jerusalem,' but it should be changed into "the Torah will come out of Tunis..."
Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson are
role models for this baseball story
The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles, (Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc., 2007), 242 pages, $16
SAN DIEGO—When Jewish families speak reverently about the great Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, typically the story told is about the time that he declined to pitch one particular World Series game because it fell on Yom Kippur. The story reinforced to us as children the point that there are some things more important than the routines in our day-to-day lives, and even more important than our Little League teams.
 In this book for young readers, Koufax again serves as an example, but his observance of Jewish ritual has nothing to do with it. Twelve-year-old House Jackson broke his elbow in an unfortunate collision with would-be ballerina Frances Schotz, a major misfortune for the Aurora County All Stars, which perennially lack sufficient players to sustain a full season. Benched, House reads and re-reads a story about a time in Koufax’s career when the Dodger great pitched an important game notwithstanding the fact that he was in terrible pain.
Koufax is only one of the baseball role models in this book; another, similarly important to the resolution of the plot, is Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in the majors. In Aurora County, Mississippi, local folks pointed to Robinson and regretfully told the story of the great-grandfather of Frances Schotz—the still living, still athletic, Parting ‘Pip’ Schotz.
Pip too might have been a great baseball player, but his career was squelched by the bigotry and discrimination that once characterized Aurora County, Mississippi. Because he was African-American, nobody in the county’s white power structure wanted him to play on the Aurora County All-Stars, nobody, that is, except the star white player, Norwood Rhinehart Beauregard Boyd, who resigned the team in protest of Pip’s exclusion.
The book begins with Boyd’s death as an 88-year-old recluse and before it is over, readers learn not only about baseball’s greats but also about the life and works of the great American poet, Walt Whitman, whose works Boyd treasured.
A stanza from Leaves of Grass is quoted and reflected upon, providing an overall theme for the novel:
After the dazzle of day is gone,
Only the dark, dark night shows to my eyes the stars.
After the clangor of organ majestic, or chorus, or perfect band,
Silent, athwart my soul, moves the symphony true.
Poetry, baseball, dance, and, like any good novel, conflict keep The Aurora County All-Stars moving toward its conclusion. The next game the understaffed boys-only All Stars team is to play against arch rivals from the next county falls on July 4th, the same date officials have picked for a pageant celebrating the county’s 200th anniversary.
House’s arch-nemesis, Frances, has talked parents into pledging their children—including those who play on the baseball team—to participate in the pageant, which is scheduled at exactly the same time. Neither event can be rescheduled, so it appears that if the pageant is held, the All Stars will have to forfeit, and House will miss the big game a second season in a row.
And there’s another problem that needs to be worked out: Notwithstanding the fact that she is a girl, Ruby Lavender wants to play on the All-Star team.
Especially with author Wiles doing the conducting, we can hear “the symphony true” being played out on the ball field of Aurora County. However, the dissonance that once characterized the segregation and exclusion on this field, through good will and positive example, is transformed into harmony.
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HONORABLE MENSCHEN IN SPORTS
Short Track Racecars in Ramona and its owners weather the Witch Creek Fire
By Joe Naiman
RAMONA, California—During the recent Witch Creek Fire, this town east of San Diego suffered heavy losses, raising concerns among auto racing fans about the fate of Short Track Racecars, owned by Barbara and Steve Teets. I'm delighted to report that the Teets, whose residence also is in Ramona, as well as their business came through the fire without major losses.
I became well acquainted with Barbara over the years. Barbara and I share the same birthday along with a mutual acquaintance, car owner Linda Costello. Barbara's actually a few years younger than I am; in fact, back when she was known as Barbara Raskin, she attended Hebrew school at Beth Tefilah with my brother Martin.
The Teets family evacuated their property on October 22 and returned on October 28. The most recent automotive arrival, a Grand American Modified with which Jason Patison took the original green flag during the October 20 race in Blythe, was brought to STR on October 21.
Since the Teets family has a horse arena, before the family evacuated Steve put the hauler with Patison's car in the middle of the arena to create a fire break. Jason can be assured that the only fire actually touching his car will be from a welding torch, and despite not being able to work on cars for a week Steve believes that Jason's car will be ready for Jason's next planned race in Las Vegas the night of November 9.
There were some other cars at STR, but none of those drivers had planned to drive them before 2008. The points season at Irwindale Speedway has ended, Orange Show has only one points race left in 2007, and while the final Perris Auto Speedway points races will take place November 10 STR doesn't work on dirt cars.
One of STR's functions is providing car parts, and during the final years of the Cajon Speedway, Barbara could often be found in the STR trailer in case some car's crew needed parts on the spot to get a driver ready to race later that night. Barbara also spent time in the spotters' tower providing information to drivers in the classes where radios were allowed. Barbara usually spent racenights in the pit area of the Cajon Speedway, which was a frequent destination for Fletcher Hills Towing vehicles with cars on the other end of the tow truck's winch.
Since another STR component is fixing cars, there are some damaged cars at STR's Ramona property, but those were damaged on the racing oval rather than in the fire. Pieces of ash reached their home and business, so there's some cleanup that will be a little more extensive than getting residue off the Cajon Speedway track after a blown engine.
SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
• TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
Garry Fabian in Melbourne, Australia: "Communal lethargy dogs Jewish roof body" ... "Go-ahead for Jewish same-sex unions" ... "Jewish journalist nominated for Walkley Award" ... "Aussie educators link with Israel"
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "Ad hoc task force lays traps for scammers in wake of fires"
Ira Sharkansky in Jerusalem: "Swift Swiftian response to Gaza rockets"
• MONDAY, OCTOBER 29
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "Rabbis prepare for theological questions about the fires."
Morton A. Klein in New York: "Palestinian agenda dooms Annapolis conference to failure"
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson in Jerusalem: "Scandals, corruption weaken Israel"
David Strom in San Diego: "The danger of substituting political faith for logic"
• SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "And after it all, still there is music"
Natasha Josefowitz in La Jolla, California: 'Old age: A privilege denied to lots of people"
Joe Naiman in Lakeside, California: "Jewish trainer wins Arab-sponsored Breeders' Cup race"
Sheila Orysiek in San Diego: "Waiting for FEMA, DEMA, SCHEMA and EMA"
• SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "Prayers amid the rubble and the ash."
Sandy Levin, Ph.D in La Jolla, California: "Women, listen to your hearts"
F. Jay Winheld in San Diego: "A century of Jewish cooking—an anthology of the good and the bad"
Larry Zeiger in San Diego: "Jersey Boys: Flashback to an era when anything seemed possible."
• FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26
Shoshana Bryen in Washington D.C.: "After withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza, should Israel risk West Bank departure?"
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "As evacuation center, Qualcomm Stadium hosted all-around team."
Rabbi Baruch Lederman and Ron Cruger in San Diego: "Slipping the key out of the lock—for what may be the final time"
Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal in San Diego: "God was not in the fires, but in the 'still small voices' of responders"
• THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25
Donald H. Harrison in San Diego: "100+ Jewish homes lost in San Diego County fires; donations mounting"
Joe Naiman in Lakeside, California: "Youkilis, 2-5, three runs, two doubles in World Series debut"
Ira Sharkansky in Jerusalem: "Myths and the making of policy."
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