Rabbi Rachamim Attia, one of Jerusalem's most revered hidden tzadikim and a senior scholar of the Nahar Shalom Kabbalist yeshiva, passed away Tuesday at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He was 95.
Rabbi Attia was born in Av 5691 to his father Rabbi Yitzchak Attia, from a distinguished family of the Syrian Jewish community of Aram Tzova (Aleppo). He spent his life in Jerusalem largely removed from public view, devoted entirely to Torah study and the meditations of the Rashash day and night.
In his youth, Rabbi Attia was a beloved student of the great Kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi, who personally chose him to serve as Torah reader and chazan in his beit midrash, a role Rabbi Sharabi reserved exclusively for those who were extraordinarily scrupulous in avoiding anger.
Rabbi Attia was the father-in-law of Rishon LeZion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, and the mechutan of Rabbi Yitzchak's father, the late Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. He is survived by 13 children and hundreds of descendants.
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri paid tribute, saying Rabbi Attia "was for decades beloved and esteemed by the great sages of Israel, one of the refined scholars of Jerusalem, humble as Hillel, an outstanding Torah scholar and a true servant of God. We merited to receive his blessing and to bask in the light of his countenance, and we witnessed how Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef praised him with great love."
Funeral details will be announced.
Baruch Dayan HaEmes.
