Honoring Rabbi Hanania Abisror, Recipient of the Mirrer Yeshiva’s
Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz Award
Victor Cohen
The Mirrer Yeshiva is one of the oldest and most distinguished institutions in our community. First and foremost, of course, the yeshiva is renowned for its outstanding standards of Torah learning. It is famous as well for producing towering religious leaders, such as Rabbi Dovid Choueka and Rabbi Abraham Shabot of Mexico, Rabbi Shumel Choueka of Ohel Simha (Park Avenue Synagogue), Rabbi Asher Hachuel of Ateret Torah, Rabbi Hillel Haber of Shaarei Torah, Rabbi David Ozeri and Rabbi David Sutton of Yad Yosef, Rabbi Jackie Kassin (son of Rabbi Shaul Kassin, zt”l), Rabbi Yaakov Ben Haim of Shaarei Zion, and Rabbi Eliyahu Ben Haim (both sons of Hacham Baruch Ben Haim). In addition, the Mirrer Yeshiva is known for championing, embodying and disseminating the timeless values of kindness, caring for others, and humility.
This December, the Mirrer Yeshiva will be presenting the prestigious Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz Award to Rabbi Hanania Abisror, in recognition of his immense contributions to the Jewish world.
Rabbi Abisror is a staff-member of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in Aventura, Florida, a synagogue which serves those who seasonally visit Florida from our community. The congregation’s website describes how Rabbi Abisror “has been essential in helping the community maintain its Torah values and traditions for many years.” He also runs the synagogue’s highly successful netz (sunrise) minyan.
To learn more about the history of the Mirrer Yeshiva, I spoke with Rabbi Pinchos Hecht, the yeshiva’s Executive Director. I was privileged also to speak with Rabbi Abisror in order to learn more about his story and how the Mirrer Yeshiva impacted his life.
The Rescue of Sephardic Jews From Arab Lands
The Mirrer Yeshiva has a storied history – from its glorious years in Europe, through its dramatic escape during the Holocaust to Japan and Shanghai, until finally landing and reconstituting as two branches – one in Jerusalem, and another in Brooklyn, finding a place in our community in our early days.
The yeshiva here in Brooklyn took in students from all over the world during the 1950s and 60’s, when many Jewish communities around the world faced persecution, particularly in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Egypt and Morocco. Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz, zt”l (1887-1964), Rosh Yeshiva and Dean of the Mirrer Yeshiva, partnered with Mr. Isaac Shalom to heroically rescue as many Jews from these lands as possible. He lobbied and petitioned the U.S. government to afford these Jews refugee status, and succeeded in bringing as many as 4,000 families out of places like Egypt and Morocco. The Rosh Yeshiva corresponded with members of the Senate Judiciary committee, doing everything he could to help rescue more families. In one letter, Senator Kenneth B. Keating wrote to the rabbi:
“Thank you for your recent letter… with regard to the persecution of eight Jews trying to escape from the United Arab Republic.
“I fully sympathize with your position in this manner. I have been in touch with the White House and the Department of State and have been advised that the United States is following the situation very closely. I understand that you will be hearing directly from the Department of State very shortly.”
Among the photos appearing alongside this article are letters which Rabbi Kalmanowitz and his son, Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz – who taught in the yeshiva and later succeeded his father as Rosh Yeshiva – wrote or received from members of the government. Their advocacy efforts had a profound impact, saving countless lives from persecution or death.
One of those lives saved by the Rosh Yeshiva was that of a young man named Hanania Abisror, who was brought to the Mirrer Yeshiva from Morocco in 1966 by Rabbi David Bitton, an alumnus of the yeshiva who became principal of Magen David. Rabbi Abisror recalls how, as a newcomer, he feared that his learning skills fell far short of those of the yeshiva’s Ashkenazic students. Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz encouraged him by assuring, “The best students in my yeshiva are three Moroccan boys: Shalom Revach, Baruch Harrar, and Haim Kessous!”
Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz, and by extension, the Mirrer Yeshiva, functioned as an anchor for many families who came to the United States to escape oppression in Arab countries. Many of the students it brought from these lands went on to assume important positions in education and religious leadership. It is thus no exaggeration to say that Rabbi Kalmanowitz had a transformative impact upon our community, producing some of the most influential figures that built the community’s spiritual foundations.
Appropriately, Rabbi Shraga Moshe was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz, who continues the treasured legacy of his father and grandfather, educating students to follow the path of Torah, of loving kindness, and of selfless concern for, and boundless generosity toward, other people.
The Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz Award recognizes those whose lives embody these ideals of fervent devotion to Torah and to the Jewish Nation, who exemplify through their life’s work the values and achievements of Rabbi Kalmanowitz.
“You See the Holiness”
Rabbi Abisror – this year’s worthy recipient of the award – was born in 1951 in Marrakech, Morocco. His name, Abisror, according to his father and grandparents, alludes to his family’s descending from Mordechai, the Jewish leader at the time of the Purim story.
At the age of ten, Hanania, together with his brother, enrolled in Yeshivat Or Yosef in France, where he studied under the tutelage of Rav Gershon Liebman, who had himself studied under the famed Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Avraham Jofen (1887-1970).
Rabbi Abisror’s memories of his yeshiva years are remarkably clear and detailed. One story he shared was about the time Rabbi Jofen came to Or Yosef to give a blessing to the students.
“I thought he was an angel,” Rabbi Abisror recalled.
Rabbi Jofen was a disciple and son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Yozel Horowitz, the legendary “Alter of Novardok (1847-1919), author of the classic mussar work, Madregat Ha’adam. Rabbi Horowtiz was one of the most famous students of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1809-1883), founder of the mussar movement.
Rabbi Abisror returned to Morocco for his bar-mitzvah, and spent a year learning in Yeshivat Etz Chaim in the Moroccan town of Tangiers. Reflecting on his time in Etz Chaim, Rabbi Abisror expressed his gratitude to the Reichmann family who nurtured and supported this yeshiva. In September of 1966, Rabbi David Bitton was sent to bring Moroccan boys to the Mirrer Yeshiva. He selected 20 boys, one of whom was Hanania Abisror. How meaningful it is that the award commemorating Rabbi Kalmanowitz is now being granted to someone whom he helped bring into our community.
The Mirrer Yeshiva was very kind to young Hanania, making a deep impression upon him. He related that he once broke his arm, and instead of being left to fend for himself, or forced to ask his friends to help, he was personally assisted by the Rosh Yeshiva, who washed his hands for netilat yadayim, and put his tefillin on for him.
“He could’ve had someone else do it,” Rabbi Abisror noted, “but you see the holiness… the kedushah… They were so humble.”
A Life of Giving
This personal example helped mold Rabbi Abisror’s character. Rabbi Hecht observed that “the personal touch is lacking in today’s world,” but “Rabbi Abisror has that warmth and caring, like he was from a previous generation.”
Rabbi Abisror spent eight years in the Mirrer Yeshiva, from 1966-1974.
“Yeshiva life meant a lot to me,” he said. “The education kept us going.”
He spoke fondly and appreciatively of the many rabbis under whom he studied in the yeshiva: Rabbi Dovid Kviat, Rabbi Elya Jurkansky, Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz, Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum, and Rabbi Shmuel Brudny.
“I envision them all the time,” he said. “They handled themselves in just a humble way.”
Understandably, Rabbi Abisror spoke with overflowing joy and pride about his grandson and great-nephew who currently study in the Mirrer Yeshiva, following his footsteps. He continues to maintain a close relationship with the current Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Osher Kalmanowitz, as well as with Rabbi Eli Brudny and Rabbi Asher Berenbaum, two other luminaries who teach in the yeshiva.
Rabbi Abisror pointed to humility as the key value which the Mirrer Yeshiva strove to inculcate within its students. Additionally, the education that he received placed great emphasis on the importance of feeling genuine love and concern for other people. He described how the Mirrer Yeshiva loved and cared for him, and danced with him at his wedding. In fact, he added, the Rosh Yeshiva’s own children were the ones who, in his words, “made it such a special event.”
The values that Rabbi Abisror imbibed from the Mirrer Yeshiva became part of the very fabric of his being, and have remained so throughout his life.
“Rabbi Abisror serves as a role model to others on how to lead a life of giving,” Rabbi Hecht explained. He said that in his many classes, Rabbi Abisror inspires his students to strive towards those same ideals he was taught many years ago, both during his time in the yeshiva, and through his experiences earlier in life.
Rabbi Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz spent his life giving, enriching people’s lives with Torah, and providing them with light when the world around them was dark. Rabbi Hanania Abisror is but one of the countless beneficiaries of this light, and he has, in turn, devoted his life to doing the same for others.
Alongside his deep feelings of gratitude to Hashem and to the Mirrer Yeshiva for all he has received, Rabbi Abisror also expressed his hope that our community will generously assist the yeshiva to continue its vital work. Today, the Mirrer Yeshiva continues to host Sephardic students from France, who represent the future of our community’s religious leadership. With Hashem’s help, and with the help of our community’s donors, the yeshiva will continue to flourish and succeed in its mission in strengthen the foundations of Torah both here in Brooklyn and throughout the Jewish world.