At the peak of the days of conflict and the rift in Israel surrounding the legal reforms – the Admor Rabbi Yoshayahu Pinto came to Israel for a moving campaign of unity and visited dozens of branches of the “Shuva Israel” yeshiva dispersed throughout Israel – where he gave Torah classes.
His students state that Rabbi Pinto’s current trip to Israel – was one of the most exciting and unique ones that they have experienced during the last few years as it was spread over three days in which Rabbi Pinto delivered more than thirty lectures on the Torah in different cities from the south to the north.
During his stay in Israel, Rabbi Pinto received thousands for guidance, advice and blessing and met with Admors, rabbis, politicians, businessmen and public figures who flocked to see him. Rabbi Pinto also inaugurated a new “Shuva Israel” Beit Midrash (Torah study hall) in the city of Or Yehuda which has recently developed into a community numbering hundreds of prayer congregants and people learning.
An emotional moment was recorded during the course of the campaign of support in Israel – when Rabbi Pinto went to pray at the grave of his grandfather, the Baba Sali, Rabbi Israel Abuchatzeira of blessed memory, who is buried in the city of Netivot.
Immediately after the end of the moving prayers, Rabbi Pinto went to the “Vered L’David” Synagogue, Netivot’s main synagogue, where he was welcomed by approximately 1,500 people in an impressive bout of singing lasting several minutes. After this, Rabbi Pinto gave a Torah class integrating words of Torah of his grandfather, of blessed righteous memory.
The highlight of Rabbi Pinto’s visit to Israel was his visit to the “Moreshet HaRif’s” compound of benevolence (‘Chesed’) in Ashdod, where more than 15,000 crates loaded with goods were piled up in endless rows ready to adorn the homes of the needy and those with limited means during the Passover holiday.
The person behind this giant initiative of benevolence (‘chesed’) which involved hundreds of secular, religious and ultra-Orthodox volunteers and organising thousands of crates, is Rabbi Yoel Pinto, who is following in Rabbi Pinto’s footsteps and has doubled the scope of their charitable activities ahead of the festival of Passover as a result of the cost of living increase that has affected many families.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel