Baruch Abuhatzeira (; born 1941), also known as Baba Baruch, is a Moroccan-

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i Kabbalist rabbi and spiritual adviser who operates in

Netivot Netivot () is a city located in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, located 8 miles (13 kilometers) southeast of Sderot and 19 miles (31 kilometers) northwest of Beersheba. In , it had a population of . Currently seeing r ...

, a blue-collar town in southern Israel. He is the son of the leading Moroccan rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, also known as the

Baba Sali Yisrael Abuhatzeira (; 26 September 1889 – 8 January 1984), known as the Baba Sali (; ; ) was a leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and kabbalist who was renowned for his ability to work miracles through his prayers. His burial place in Netiv ...

,The Shaping of Israeli Identity: Myth, Memory and Trauma. Robert Wistrich, David Ohana (ed.) p. 224-226 and thus scion of the Abu Hasira/Abuhatzeira family. Baruch was born in

Arfoud Erfoud (, Latn, ber, Arfud; ) is an oasis town in the Sahara Desert, in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, eastern Morocco. It belongs to ait atta tribe, divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, and Hay ...

in the

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region in eastern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. There, he was educated by his father. During his youth Baruch spent several years in

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. In the mid-1960s, Baruch emigrated to Israel with his father, and he decided to pursue a political career. He was elected deputy mayor in

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, and served on the city council as the leader of the local

MAFDAL The National Religious Party (, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit''), commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew abbreviation Mafdal (), was an Israeli political party representing the interests of the Israeli settlers and religious Zionist movement. Formed i ...

(National-Religious Party) faction. In this position, Abuhatzeira was convicted for taking bribes and served a five year sentence in

Maasiyahu prison Maasiyahu Prison is a minimum-security prison in Ramle, Israel, run by the Israel Prison Service. History Prisoners who have proven responsible have access to various places of employment and education programs, the right to take vacations from ...

. He has denied any wrong doing and after his release, Abuhatzeira joined his father Baba Sali, and was with him during the last three months of the Rabbi's life. During the

shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

(week of mourning) on the death of the Baba Sali, Abuhatzeira donned his father's robe and announced himself as the Baba Sali's heir.

References

1941 births Living people 20th-century Israeli rabbis 21st-century Israeli rabbis Deputy mayors of Ashkelon Israeli people convicted of bribery Israeli politicians convicted of corruption Israeli prisoners and detainees Kabbalists Moroccan emigrants to Israel People from Ashkelon People from Erfoud Prisoners and detainees of Israel Sephardic Haredi rabbis in Israel Rabbis convicted of crimes {{Morocco-rabbi-stub