MADE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE
JOYCE ZEKARIAIT IS MY PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE LEADER OF THE SYRIAN SEPHARDIC COMMUNITY, HAKHAM SHAUL RACHAMIM KASSIN, WHO DEDICATED HIS TIME, LOVE AND LIFE’S WORK TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE.
Hakham Shaul Kassin was born in 1921 and spent his early years in Israel. At the age of 12, he came to America and enrolled in public school. After just one day, he quickly ran off to his father demanding that he attend a yeshivah. The Hakham attended Yeshiva Ohel Moshe and soon went on to graduate Yeshiva University with the highest honors. There, he achieved his semicha to become a Rabbi. This was the beginning of the next chapter for our community.
After college, the Hakham became the right hand to his father Chief Rabbi Jacob Kassin, for 80 years. All decisions for the community were made by each other’s side, and Hakham Shaul documented all the declarations that were made during that time.
In 1935, Chief Rabbi Jacob Kassin established the famous edict stating that there were to be no converts allowed in our community. Rabbi Shaul Kassin then re-established and enforced the edict again in 1985. He made sure that a written version of this edict with the support and signatures of relevant rabbis was present in every shul and institution in our community.
In 1975, Hakham Shaul Kassin established the first mikvah on Avenue S, in Brooklyn. He had received criticism, and people stated publicly that they were against this new addition, however, he feared nobody. He then went ahead and established an eruv in Brooklyn for the whole community. The eruv brought such significance to our community, as it allowed Shabbat to be more enjoyable, and easier for people to visit one another. Again, he faced some opposition and criticism, but proceeded to do what he believed was right. Until today, that is one of the most commendable attributes of our former Chief Rabbi and one of his many additions that helped make our community what it is today.
The Rabbi always stood strongly by what he thought was right. When Hakham Shaul heard there were inappropriate bachelor parties going on, he prohibited rabbis from performing their weddings, in order to discourage the bad behavior. In addition, and together with the Rabbinical Council, the Rabbi emphasized the importance of modesty, and urged women to dress properly at weddings and occasions. If modesty wasn’t achieved, the rabbis wouldn’t come to the occasion or perform the wedding.
Hakham Shaul also expressed that he didn’t like the idea of Arab musicians playing for our community, due to their internal hatred of Jews. From these few examples, we see a pattern of an individual who feared nobody but Hashem, and who had a passion to do what was best for everyone in our community. He always aimed to do the correct thing, and did not let the criticism of others get in the way.
Hakham Shaul decided to share his wisdom and intelligent thoughts with our community, and wrote two books; The Light of the Law and Mitzvot Hashem. Hakham had a certain motto that had to do with fruit. If you were to ask a Jew, “How do you eat fruit?,” their answer would most probably be, “I make a blessing first and then eat the fruit.” However, Hakham Shaul would answer that this approach is somewhat incorrect. He would explain that if you have an orange or apple, you first begin to peel away the covering of the fruit. He compared the peel of a fruit to the flaws of a Jew. When dealing with a person, one should start by peeling away the flaws and seeking the good in all the Jews in every way, much like the good is revealed in the fruit once the covering is peeled away.
It is often said about the Rabbi that “he was beholden to nobody, and everybody to him was somebody.” Regardless of one’s social or financial status, he treated everyone equally.
Most importantly, Hakham Shaul was extremely sensitive to women’s feelings. In order to help the women in our community, he permitted those who needed to go to the mikveh on Friday evenings to instead go on Friday afternoons, on the condition that they would not be with their husbands until sundown. As a result, women who otherwise would not be pure by Friday night because of plans to be with guests or eat with others would be able to purify themselves for Shabbat.
Being that he comes from a long lineage of influential rabbis, he had international connections with kings, presidents, and prime ministers of foreign countries. He leveraged these relationships to communicate to the foreign leaders—including the kings of Morocco and Jordan, and the President of Syria—the importance of keeping the peace and protection for all of the Jews in their kingdoms.
After witnessing all the love and care Hakham Shaul had for this community, his father, Rabbi Jacob Kassin, appointed him the next Chief Rabbi, in his will, which took effect upon his passing. During this period, Hakham Shaul was able to help thousands of charitable organizations around the world while making our community a more religious and cohesive unit.
For 90 years, the Hakham’s routine was to get up at midnight and sit on the floor while reading tikkun chatzot, which is the midnight prayer for the destruction of the two temples. He would cry heavily, every single night, and pour his heart and soul into these prayers. Hakham Shaul really cared and felt for the Jewish people, and yearned for us to be able to live in the direct presence of Hashem’s shechina like we did thousands of years ago.
The main thing that I took away from the actions and mindset of Hakham Shaul Kassin was his fearlessness and principles. His passion and his drive to do what was best and right for our community stands as an inspiration to us all. He was determined to make a difference in this world, specifically the Syrian community. He had such a unique care and love for our community and did everything he could to make religion as easy and as beautiful as it should be. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know the most special stories about the Hakham and to be able to learn from his outstanding character traits. What I will take away most is not allowing criticism to stop me from doing the right thing.
Joyce Zekaria is a graduate of Hillel Yeshiva of New Jersey. She works with Special Children’s Center and is engaged to Sonny Jack Cayre.
