Yisroel Meir Gabbai is a

Breslover Breslov (also Bratslav, also spelled Breslev) is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous rel ...

Hasid Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...

who travels the world to locate, repair and maintain

Jewish cemeteries A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

, ''kevarim'' (gravesites) and ohels of Torah notables and

tzaddik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

s. He is the founder of Agudas Ohalei Tzadikim.

Biography

Gabbai's father was a native of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and his mother a descendant of

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

; they married in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, where Gabbai was born, on December 11, 1959. He along with his family later moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In his youth, Gabbai attended Yeshivas Lucerne under Rav Yitzchok Dov Koppelman and went on to study in the

Ponevezh Yeshiva Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced as Ponevitch Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת פוניבז׳), is a yeshiva founded in 1908, and located in Bnei Brak, Israel since 1944. The yeshiva has over three thousand students, including those of affiliated insti ...

in Bnei Brak and the Breslov Yeshiva in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Grave restoration

In 1980, Gabbai traveled to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

for the first time to visit the grave of Rebbe

Nachman of Breslov Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Upon touring other cities, he was shocked by the degradation and ruin of Jewish holy sites in Russia. During the Soviet era, Jewish gravestones were often uprooted by vandals or by poor people who used the stones for heating and building. In large cities, the Soviets destroyed and paved over entire cemeteries to build sports complexes and other buildings. In 1989, after the fall of Communism, Gabbai began his work of identifying and restoring Jewish holy sites in the Former Soviet Union. In

Medzhybizh Medzhybizh, previously known as Mezhybozhe, population 1,731, (Census 2001) ( uk, Меджибіж, russian: Меджибож, Translit: ''Medzhibozh'', pl, Międzybóż, german: Medschybisch, yi, מעזשביזש, translit. ''Mezhbizh'') is ...

, Ukraine, burial place of the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...

, Gabbai was instrumental in refurbishing the Baal Shem Tov's grave and '' ohel'', which also covers the graves of the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, the Apter Rav, and Rabbi

Boruch of Medzhybizh Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh (1753–1811), was a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. Reb Boruch (known in his childhood as Reb Boruch'l, a Yiddish diminutive, and subsequently as ''Reb Boruch'l HaKadosh'') was the first major "rebbe" of the Hasidic m ...

. Gabbai also built a large synagogue near the Baal Shem Tov's burial place, a guest house named Holiness and a mikveh. In 2010 he completed the reconstruction of the synagogue of the Apter Rav in Medzhybizh, which was destroyed by fire. According to his website, Gabbai is active in nearly every Jewish cemetery in Ukraine, renovating, fencing and marking cemeteries which have been paved over for buildings. He also established a permanent '' ner tamid'' at the graves of the Baal Shem Tov and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. In recent years, Gabbai expanded his activities to include grave restoration work in Syria,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and

. Gabbai calls on many resources in his work. For example, in the restorations in Mezhibuz, he consulted with an elderly Jew living in Ashdod, Israel, who had hid in Mezhibuz as an 18-year-old refugee during World War II, and with a rabbi whose father, the former Rav of the town, had sketched a detailed map that identified important graves and Jewish landmarks. In his quest to identify the unmarked grave of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

, he consulted with a French-Jewish philosopher who was able to access academic archives to unearth an ancient map.

Accomplishments

His accomplishments include: * The identification of the grave of Rabbi

Shalom Shabazi Rabbi Shalom ben Yosef ben Avigad Shabazi of the family of Mashtā (1619 – c. 1720), also Abba Sholem Shabazi or Saalem al-Shabazi ( he, שלום שבזי; ar, سالم الشبزي), was a Jewish poet who lived in 17th century Yemen. He i ...

in Yemen * The identification of the grave of Rabbi Refael Katzin, nineteenth-century chief rabbi of Aleppo, in Aleppo, Syria * Renovation of the grave of Rabbi Naphtali Katz in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

* The purchase of part of the ancient cemetery in

Shepetivka Shepetivka ( uk, Шепеті́вка; pl, Szepetówka) is a city located on the Huska River in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Shepetivka is the administrative center of Shepetivka Raion (district). It hosts the administrati ...

, Ukraine, and the identification and restoration of the grave and ''ohel'' of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, plus the construction of a nearby guest house * Identification and restoration of the graves of Abba Hilkiah and Hanan ha-Nehba, both grandchildren of Honi HaM'agel, in northern Israel * Placement of a plaque at the burial site of

and other

Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; he, ; sing. he, , ''Rishon'', "the first ones") were the leading rabbis and '' poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, , "Set Table", a ...

, alerting visitors that an unmarked square in the city of Troyes,

is in fact part of an ancient Jewish cemetery

Traveling abroad

While Gabbai is a resident of Israel, he also has a French passport which allows him to enter countries hostile to Israel, such as Syria. When he travels, however, he makes no secret of his mission and dresses in full Hasidic regalia, including flat-topped, wide-brim hat, hand-knitted yarmulke, short pants and Hasidic

rekel Rekel( yi, רעקל) or lang rekel (plural ''rekelech'') is a type of frock coat worn mainly by Hasidic Jewish men during the Jewish work-week (Sunday-Friday). Though the rekel was intended for weekday use, some Hasidim wear one on Shabbat. A mo ...

(long coat), in addition to his full beard and

payot ''Pe'ot'', anglicized as payot ( he, פֵּאוֹת, pēʾōt, "corners") or payes (), is the Hebrew term for sidelocks or sideburns. Payot are worn by some men and boys in the Orthodox Jewish community based on an interpretation of the Tanakh's ...

.Growise, Avraham. ''Our Man in Damascus: Rabbi Yisrael Meir Gabbai is the first non-Syria chareidi to visit in half a century, according to the leader of Syria's dwindling Jewish community''.

Hamodia ''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israe ...

, Israel News, 7 May 2008, pp. A26–27.

References

External links

Agudas Ohalei Tzaddikim website (English)

Holiness, the guest house built by Gabbai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabbai, Yisroel Meir Living people 1959 births Jewish cemeteries French Orthodox Jews French emigrants to Israel Israeli Orthodox Jews Ponevezh Yeshiva alumni Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli people of German-Jewish descent Breslov Hasidim