Tzadikim

Rabbi Moshe Idan of Jerba

Kabbalist

Born: 1842 Isle of Jerba
Died: Tunesia, 1894
 

Kabbalist


Rabbi Moshe Idan  and his father Rabbi Kelifa Idan, were known as the saintly sages of Gabas, Tunesia. His biography is typical of the sages of those generations. He had to work to make ends meet, but his work engaged only his hands, while his mind was free to study Torah. He was a weaver; while his hands and feet worked the loom, he sat with a book open in front of him, totally engrossed in the world of Torah. He was thus able to grow in Torah until the townspeople appointed him as a dayan (judge). This position, however, was totally not for profit; he did not make a penny off of it. In fact, the position's only consequence was the fact that it forced him to quit his weaving job, since Halacha dictates that a public leader cannot engage in labor in public. Instead, he took a position as a schoolteacher. The job lasted all day, since the children, in accordance with Halacha, studies from dawn to dusk. He lovingly and patiently guided them to climb the ladder of Torah rung by rung. At nightfall, when the children would go home, he was able to turn to the halachic queries of the townspeople. 

Rabbi Idan also aquired vast knowledge of Kabbalah. When he once led the congregation in prayers, he skipped the Counting of the Omer. When people pressed him, his secret was revealed: His Counting of the Omer took some two hours, since he recited it with all the appropriate Kabbalistic kavanot (meditations). His prayers would often last for hours, using Kabbalistic kavanot. He was appointed to blow the Shofar at the main synagouge in Jerba because no one knew the kavanot of the blowing as well as he did. He departed this world, leaving behind sons who were Torah giants in their own right. 

May the merit of the tzaddik  Rabbi Moshe Idan of Jerba protect us all, Amen.

Light a virtual Candle
  • Soul Elevations

    • Shoshana bat Eliahu Michael
    • ציון בן חביבה
    • Yvonne bat Sultana
    • William ben Ricardo
  • Healing

    • Marcos ben Dionisio
    • Lori Fisher bat Phyllis
    • Adelaide bat Elena
    • Michael ben Ihor
    • Jacklyne bat Magda
    • צבי בן תמר
    • juan ben Magda
    • Gerson ben Laudete
    • Ashlynn bat Joy
    • Meirav bat Elisheba
    • juanito ben Angelica
    • Ayala bat Sarah Chaya.
  • Success in life

    • Harrison Patrick ben Patricia
    • Leo ben Josephine
    • Chanah Dinah bat Joseph
    • Sarah bat Myriam
    • Ihor Moshe ben Valentina
    • Carol Cari Chanah Dinah bat Joseph
    • Natalia Nechama Feyga bat Janna
    • Yitzak Benjamin ben Mordehai.
    • Patricia bat (john) Avraham
Light a virtual Candle


Hillulot | Biographies | Prayers | Virtual Candle