Ben Zion Abba Shaul
| Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Position | Rosh Yeshiva |
| Yeshiva | Porat Yosef Yeshiva |
| Began | 1983 |
| Ended | 1998 |
| Predecessor | Rabbi Yehuda Tzadka |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 July 1924 Jerusalem |
| Died | 13 July 1998 (aged 73) Jerusalem |
| Parents | Eliyahu and Benaya Abba Shaul |
| Spouse | Hadassah Shaharbani |
| Children | Eliyahu |
| Alma mater | Porat Yosef Yeshiva |
Ben Zion Abba Shaul (Hebrew: בן-ציון אבא-שאול) (31 July 1924 – 13 July 1998; on the Hebrew calendar: 29 Tammuz 5684 – 19 Tammuz 5758) (first name also spelled Ben Sion) was one of the leading Sephardic rabbis, Torah scholars and halakhic arbiters of his day, and the rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the last 15 years of his life. He was responsible for a religious revival among Sephardic Jews with his founding of Ma'ayan HaChinuch HaTorani, a network of Torah schools for Sephardic children in Israel, and was widely known for his ability to give blessings that were fulfilled.
He was born in Jerusalem to Eliyahu and Benaya Abba Shaul, immigrants from Iran. A shoemaker by trade, Eliyahu was also a Torah scholar and kabbalist; he was Ben Zion's first teacher. Eliyahu served as gabbai (caretaker and fundraiser) for the Ohel Rachel synagogue in the Bukharim Quarter of Jerusalem for 50 years. In his old age, his son Ben Zion became the rabbi of the synagogue and another son, Yaakov, became the hazzan.
Abba Shaul was the eldest boy in a family of sixteen children. Despite their poverty, his parents were committed to raising a family of Torah scholars, even as many other families from Oriental and Sephardi backgrounds were lured into sending their children to Zionist schools. The family kept many halakhic stringencies, including grinding and baking their own matzot before Passover and avoiding all processed foods — even sugar — during the holiday itself. Abba Shaul continued to keep these stringencies even after he established his own family.
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