Hacham Abraham Hazzan


Hacham Abraham Hazzan

Date of Birth: 5680 (1920)
Date of Death: 23rd of Nissan, 5763 (2003)
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A Short Tribute

Hacham Abraham Hazzan, son of Hacham Machluf Hazzan, was born in 1920 in the village of Tiaret, Algeria. He began his studies with his father, who was the rabbi of Tiaret, and continued at the Etz Haim yeshiva in Oran and Algiers. In 1939, at the age of 19, Hacham Abrahm Hazzan was ordained to the rabbinate by Hacham David Ashkenazi and Hacham Yitzhak Rosh, and went to serve in the town of Jrivil and the city of Saïda. Hacham Abraham Hazzan was drafted to the French military during the Second World War. After the war ended, he served as Chief Rabbi of the French army in Morocco until 1958.

In 1945, at the end of WWII, his teacher Hacham Yitzhak Rosh founded the Ecole Normale Hebraique (the Alliance Israelite Universelle teacher training college) in Casablanca. Hacham Abraham Hazzan joined the educational venture and became one of the institution's pillars of strength.

Hacham Abraham Hazzan was also an activist in the Zionist movement, which was outlawed in Morocco; this brought about his expulsion from Morocco in 1958. He was granted the National Warrior Award for his activities in 1987 by Israel's Ministry of Defense.

In 1961 Hacham Abraham Hazzan moved to Strasbourg, France, where he officiated as Rabbi of the Alsace region military and established the Sephardi community in Strasbourg. When the French military forces left Algeria, he joined Professor André Neher and his wife, Professor Rina Neher, in organizing the Rescue Train mission that helped evacuate 700 children and their families from Algeria to Strasbourg.

On Sukkot of 5728 (1968), Hacham Abraham Hazzan immigrated to Israel with his family. He was appointed Rabbi of Israel's police force, border police and penitentiary services in 1970 and served in this position for 22 years. Part of his work included the consolidation of educational settings within prisons. In 1972, he founded the Keren Teshuva NGO to support released prisoners seeking to lead a religious life, study Torah and earn a livelihood.

In 1973, Hacham Abraham Hazzan was appointed Chairman of the Union for Immigrants from France and French-speaking countries, a position he filled until 1982. He was active in promoting aliyah from France and North Africa and involved in the social and economic integration of the new immigrants in Israel; he combatted anti-Semitism and anti-Israel attitudes in French-speaking countries and in Europe.

Hacham Abraham Hazzan passed away on 23 Nissan, 5763 (2003) and was buried in Jerusalem. He is the author of Yom Kippur – A War and a Prayer, published in French.

A few quotes from the Rabbi on Redemption of Israel
in which he condemns the splitting and divisiveness that prevents the Divine Spirit from giving the breath of Life to the Ingathering of the Exiles

History calls upon us again, uniting us and atoning for its transgressions, and from the smoldering ruins of ten thousand Jewish split fragments, God commands: Make way…Israel, I never abandoned your mother, this was but a temporary divorce. I am ready for reconciliation. Come together under a single roof… Alas! The nation of God does not look to the heavens, while God, in His despair, awaits its healing by the Ingathering of the Exiles. Alas, a thousand shards remain separate, the Ingathering remains in its scattered state…narrow-minded splits and petty differences everywhere obstruct entry to the Valley of Renewal, and prevent the Divine Spirit from giving the breath of Life to a new order.

Hacham Abraham Hazzan, Translated from the French, found in Avinoam Rosenack, Between Ashkenaz and North Africa: Halakha, Meta-Halakha and Education in Rabbi Abraham Hazzans' Writings, Pe'amim Journal for Jewish Communities From 'The Daily Sage'
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"It is our custom to light a yahrzeit candle in honor of the memory of the Sages, as it is said: “the life breath of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Proverbs 20:27). And it is good to add from the light of the Torah to the light of the candle, as it is said “For the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light” (Proverbs 6:23). And it is good to increase the teaching of the Sage on the anniversary of his death, as Rabbi Yochanan based on the teachings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai said, “Each scholar whose sayings are taught in this world, his lips speak from the grave (Bechorot 31B).”

“Even if all of the skies are a blank parchment, and all human beings are clerks, and all of the forests are quills, we would never be able to write down what our Sages have taught us. But even a few righteous are also good, and thanks to the sacred Torah and the teachings that Israel will learn in the Sage’s name on the anniversary of his death, the Holy One Blessed be He, will share our part with them, and we will never be ashamed because of our faith in the Holy One Blessed be He, and on his great benevolence and truth will we lean, for He hides his abundant goodness for those who are worthy and revere Him.”

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Rabbi Chananaia son of Akashia stated, God wanted to grant merits to Israel, therefore he gave them many laws and commandments as it states, "Because God wants righteousness he increased the amount of Torah and splendor." (Isaiah 42:21).