Behind the Greatness: Hacham Matloub Abadi - Full Feature Documentary

[music] My grandfather's suka there was only one picture and that's it. [music] My grandfather Lub Shalom was always always studying in real time. If I went inside to the kitchen to get a kayak from my [music] grandmother and I came back, the Gamarra would still be there, but this time it'd be laying on his [music] chest as he fell asleep because it was always always with him. as a 15, 16 year old in the community and we started to notice we started to see [music] the great rabbi and watch him and observe him and it got me and my friends a little high school boys thinking [music] where do we come from? What's our link? How do we connect to something much bigger? And we wondered what's mishanu what's ours? Where do we come from? who is the hakam that we could look at and hopefully have a uh certain person that we're striving to become. And we very much after talking to some of the old-timers and observing and watching, we came to a Lubi [music] and the link that brought us back and established Torah in America is Lubatti. >> There's no question he had a greatness. There was no question he had a greatness. [music] He was a true. They were the ones that kept Torah alive in our community. When I hear stories about how Hakamat Lou was able to teach and study with adults on the highest levels with such depth, clarity and concentration and then at the very same time go into the classroom and teach young school children the basics and fundamentals of Torah, of philosophy and do both with such mastery and proficiency and cl and clarity. He's the gold standard for what I would want to do in my own in my own personal career. In Magen David in the old school in Avenue P [music] on the fourth floor there was a big picture the picture like this >> he was a Torah he was somebody who spread Torah to everybody [music] >> he wore many hats and he needed to do so when there's nobody else around and you're the one who God puts in that spot and gave you all of the resources and the tools [music] and the gifts to be able to do it. So uh you're capable of superhuman things which is what I think he was able to do. >> [music] [music] >> How does one become a legend? Is it brilliance alone or is it the humility forged in life's earliest chapters? The story of Kakamati teaches us that true greatness is shaped long before the spotlight ever appears. born as the grandson of the brilliant cabalist Abadi who authored many and pis including the classic Motam which he wrote for [music] his son's wedding and now 150 years later it's a standard at every one of our happy occasions [music] raised In Aleppo, a city steeped in Torah scholarship and later refined in Jerusalem, the eternal center of Jewish learning. Kakamatloo absorbed not only knowledge but responsibility. These humble yet powerful beginnings molded a leader whose Torah was lived, not merely taught. When he later came to America, he carried with him the depth of Aleppo, the holiness of Jerusalem, and a vision to uplift an entire generation. He was born around in Aleppo, Syria. He was a very good student. Many times they would opened the synagogue and there he was in a book. He fell asleep during the night and they didn't realize it. By the time he was 17, he was a teacher. He was teaching. And even some of the men that were here remember that he taught them and he was much younger than them but he was like a tutor every Shabbat would walk into the synagogue and he would test them on the para he would ask them questions and eventually I found the recordings of Tawil and I found out that was his teacher. >> He was rabbi in Syria. So I mean the man was a was they studied in a place inab that is not just about it's about uh real real places of Torah and study. >> He [music] left Syria because he wanted to study in Israel in the purse. >> Mr. Nah um he was looking for someone for um [music] his daughter and [snorts] he found they [music] got married in 1923. The trustees of the newly formed paratya safe offered my grandfather the position of Roshu Shiva. However, he humbly refused. >> He said, "You know, I [music] I want to try I America. I heard a lot. I there's a lot of opportunities." >> So, he came to America and when he came to America, he was pedaling. He was trying to make [music] a living. He was working in the Tamu Tora at the same time. Loved America. was a he became a cit citizen as soon as he can and so did my mother. >> He he loved the freedom of religion. He loved the opportunity which you know he didn't have before. >> You were able to do whatever you wanted to do as a Jew and not be discriminated against. [music] Before one can lead a community, one must first lead a home. True leadership is first tested not in the public but around the family table in patience, in presence, and in example. Kakamat Lubatti embodied this truth. Beyond his stature as a Torah scholar and communal leader, he was first and foremost a devoted father and grandfather, [music] guiding his family with quiet strength, warmth, and unwavering values. His greatest [music] lessons are not only delivered from a podium or a classroom, but lived each day through kindness and consistency. [music] >> We used to meet every Friday afternoon and talk about what's going on, tell jokes, and we'd laugh and have a good time. >> The most fun I ever had with him was on Purim [music] because every purim we used to play cards, we used to play casino. And that was the one day a year where I remember we had fun. >> When the topic got to real gossipy and everything, [music] he took off his hearing aid. He would say with it, you know, with his hand, not interested. If you go back to something interesting, let me know. I'll put it back on. He was able to differentiate between the the important and and what's not important. >> He bought me a Cedor when I was uh went into first grade. I still have it, of course. He advised my father to send me to Flappish Shashiva as opposed to Mag and David because he said at that time Flappish was a better school. He had a son Seymour a bal who at the time when he was a young boy in the community could have been on the Dodgers. No question. He was the best athlete in our community and the Dodgers gave him a try out. They were interested in him, but he was shamesh. And he told him, "I will not work on Friday night or Saturday or Jewish holidays." And they didn't take him. >> When World War II broke out, my father went to enlist. So my father volunteered for the Air Force and they sent him to officers candidate school and to [music] become a pilot. He became a pilot and then a bombader in the Air Force. My father flew [music] 50 missions in World War II. When he came back, they had a little parade in Bay Parkway and he was the second highest community member uh in terms of rank. My grandfather supported him. He was proud of him. >> When I first took the job in my bet Kesset and I got a chance to meet [music] uh Chuck and his family and I saw how important it was to him to preserve [music] this family legacy, not only of his grandfather, Hakamu, but of his father, Mr. Ababatti, and his involvement in the US military and so on. You see that this is the lifeblood that preserves our community is people who care about where their parents and grandparents came from and the legacies that they have and making sure that when you have somebody like that the future generations know the type of person that they come from. [music] In a time when the structured yeshivot we know today did not yet exist, Kakamat Lubi stood [music] at the very beginning. He was among the first to teach Torah to the children of the community, laying foundations [music] where none had yet been built. As the principal of the small Talmud Torah, he nurtured young souls with [music] dedication and vision, creating an institution that would become the frontr runner of the full-time [music] Yeshivot we are blessed with today. Through his teaching, he preserved the sacred [music] link to the old country, transmitting not only knowledge but misrah, ensuring that the Torah of Halb and Jerusalem [music] would continue to live and breathe in a new land. Hakamlub was the Torah teacher. When we say the uniquely, he was the one who taught the men on Shabbat and he [music] taught all the youngsters. He taught in the elementary school, the Talmud Torrah in the weekdays, >> focused on Talmud to Torrah. focused on just uh teaching as much Torah as he possibly could. >> In his time, people wanted to say, "We're going to have the public school. We'll have the kitab. They'll come for an hour. They'll learn a little bit in the synagogue and then they'll go to public school and be with the rest of the world." With his vision said, "We cannot survive with that. We need Torah [music] learning that's going to be amongst our peers, and we need half a day of Torah learning." and he would teach when the kids come out came out of school which happened [music] to be across the street from the synagogue that they bu were building. They came at 3 and they left at 7. And my father's for the upper grade and the other half a day he's going to business. He was a good teacher and he was interesting. >> My husband used to [music] pray with the boys upstairs and every he used to make [music] them speech. They used to love his students. >> The older students would always come and tell me how much they admired him. >> He wanted to he wanted to start uh doing business full-time, try to keep him and he said no. Many times they called [music] him just to check on how the kids were learning. Hakamatloo was not only an educator [music] and builder but a true pose whose wisdom was sought by families [music] and individuals from across the community and the entire Jewish world. With clarity, logic and deep [music] understanding, he addressed halaka questions with the proper judgment rooted firmly in Torah values and [music] our misor. His rulings reflected his deep scholarship, balancing [music] precision with sensitivity to real life. Today his voice continues to guide us through his [music] ma a lasting testament written in his own words. Through this work [music] we are able to see what he left behind. A masterful Torah work rooted in the depths of the [music] an unwavering commitment to Torah that continues to illuminate our path until this very day. He had a very well-known Shabbat which yul continued after the hakam passed away [music] a shama there was a couple of old times used to learn ram together and he would learn ram with them it was given for for many years my grandfather attended it uncle Leo esses attended those class uncle Joe they were you know the people who are the main leaders of the community they saw in ra matub you know a traditional oldstyle halabi rabbi [music] and you could trust him. He's not he's responsible. He's not just saying things off the cuff. He wasn't seeking popularity. That's for sure. The last thing he wanted to be was popular with the people, you know, he's tough and he said it like it is. And he didn't show favoritism and you couldn't couldn't bribe him. >> The hakamak used to shun the spotlight. Everybody used to push him to go up and sit on the pulpit. He [music] refused. He used to sit in the back row over there amongst the people. He used to say, "My father and others try to get him. Go sit up there with Rabbi Kassen and Rabbi Hec." He said, "No, there's a saying in the in the Bible somewhere. I'm not sure where. I sit amongst my people. That's where I want to be. I shun the Kab. I don't want to sit up there. >> Is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's the way I have a relationship with >> my grandfather was sitting the chair with Moshe. He was writing the book. He kept on writing and his tiny little handwriting was plumbing the depths of the Talmud understanding the intricacies and the that goes all the way back to you look at what he's quoting. He's quoting from the from quoting from the rashbah and yon and the and haram and at the same time he has a tishua quoting the rugg [music] and he's looking at all different angles to he was a person with an open mind for all aspects of Torah. Uh Maxi was very very fond of the rabbi and he gets credit for really going the extra step to print madi originally was done with by Moshe Fam the great all his students mastery that he had over the most esoteric area of study of Torah and the way that he was connected to text uh I don't think there's anything else like it anymore was known for his pak if there was any thorny hak or some type of a you It was known you go toam malub for p because he really he had a tremendous name as a as a a very [music] big name. When a bar came in later and his reputation started to grow as he got older people start to turn to him. >> The rabbi had tremendous accessibility. [music] They say he used to keep a notepad in his front pocket with a pen and anybody who would come up to the rabbi with a halaka question. He would never answer you on the spot. He would write [music] down your question and he would go back and he would do hours and hours of research to come back with the right answer [music] with with exactly the sources and exactly how it had to be done. >> Advised the idea of selling lifetime seats. We never sold lifetime seats in [music] Kenji ever. had a general meeting and finally I went to I told him the trouble we're having you know with the [music] seating no we never did it said we no haram no m you can't do it you I went to him he says you can do it on condition to find anybody who lost his money in business the past 10 years and quietly [music] give him seat for nothing. >> Was not afraid to touch on any topic. There was no question in which he said, you know, this is going to be uh too much out of my realm or I'm nervous about what the implications were going to be. He was the go-to. I mean Sam Kanam told me that you know anytime you'd have a question that you wanted an authoritative answer with sources [music] you'd go to and he would always say bring me the he wouldn't answer off the cuff bring me haram bomb bring me and he would open up and he would show them when I look at the way that he approaches real world questions with a tremendous level of sensitivity [music] he's not just taking a theoretical question he knows that there's a human being behind that question, who needs an answer, who needs to know what to do, [music] who needs a rabbi who's going to pres present him with something that he could do with your mind. You know, they would press him for a leniency. And they would say, "Come on, rabbi. Maybe you could find a loophole." And he would go like this. He would put his hands together and he would say, "My hands abound to the rulings of Haram." And >> you wanted clear and you wanted a ruling, you went. >> He was loyal to the tradition and he didn't bend. and if he could find the leniency [music] and but they were all sourced. Nothing came from from himself. >> He was somebody who wasn't afraid to say what he thought and what was the truth. What was the cuz [music] it all comes from >> when gave my uncles the to [music] shave after seven said that he wants the kids to shave after seven days because they're business people and he doesn't want them to keep their beards for 30 days. Of [music] course, they went to Ra that was their rabbi and he writes a landmark tishu in. And he goes on to a whole analysis of it. And at the end, he says that the reason why you don't shave is the cav of thear of the deceased. And if the deceased says he doesn't want it, so that's not his. And therefore, there's no problem to shave after seven. His writings on adoption were done in a way with meticulous detail and research [music] and supposedly that the Supreme Court in Israel uses that as their source still today. >> We are a [music] community thriving with Talmudra with learning with studying with [music] with education because of Akamat Lub's leadership and his vision for what we need to [music] survive in the galut in America. The rabbi himself studied Torah under some difficult conditions. It wasn't always easy. It wasn't always affluent. It wasn't always glamorous. It was [music] really uh taking a lot of energy out when you're sick, when you're healthy, when you have money, when you don't. Um is and you study it every day, no matter what. And especially when times get hard, that's the time that you have to make even more of an effort to empty the tank and uh and make sure that Torah is uh is the only thing that matters. And if that's what is everything is built upon, then it's going to be able to last. One day I'm in the Mishhiva and one of the boys, he was a Moroccan boy, comes over to me and tells me, "One of your rabbis was here last night. It was Friday night. What happened?" [music] He said came to the yeshiva at 11:00 Friday night. There was very very few boys learning and he walked [music] in and he said he needs an he needs a he has a and someone found him a miri and they gave it to him and he sat down. He opened it up to a certain page and he just studied it. He read he was looking at one page. He says he was there almost two hours. He was just studying this page of Erie and kept [music] on closing his eyes and thinking and thinking thinking >> the things that were important he tried very hard like Shabbat he tried very hard for them not to work on Saturday to go don't go into the retail business go into the wholesale business >> we bridge the gap between the old [music] and and the questions that come up and that will continue to come up We looked at the guest list for the testimonial dinner that they had in his honor in 1965 where they gave him this gold watch, by the way, which still works perfectly. [music] He only agreed [music] to that because it was to the benefit of the uh of the yeshiva. [music] Nothing lasts forever, but a [music] legacy does. A legacy is what we leave behind for generations to come. Kakamat Lub was a bridge between worlds, carrying the Torah of the old country into the heart [music] of the new country with strength and perseverance. Through his leadership, teaching and unwavering dedication, he ensured that Torah education [music] would not only survive but build, expand, and strive. The families and students shaped by his [music] efforts are living proof to that vision. Benefits we continue to enjoy until this very day. long after he is no [music] longer with us. >> It was a cold Sunday morning, January [music] 1970. Bensonhurst is quiet. About a thousand men and women shuffled [music] toward 67th Street. They converged on the Magenavid knice to pay their last respects to their Kakam community leader and luminary passed away just before sunset. of our great Rabbi leader, Rabbi Makaji, returned to its holy source. I turned around to my son who was standing next to me and I made and said the blessing of Dana with shame and of I considered a close and an affectionate friend and at this moment that our community has become orphaned and we have lost as David Aid Jame said about Israel, a prince and a great man. >> When my grandfather died, they took like 10 boys [music] from my class and each one holding a candle over the misva over my grandfather. And I was shocked, completely shocked because I [music] I never looked at my grandfather as anything but my grandfather. He was my grandfather. Today there is a wall in Shhation with the uh hall of fame wall of rabbis [music] and shalom is on the wall. uh put a podium right here in um [music] the Lwood Shul and also two podiums in the learning center and the >> [music] >> uh main shel in his memory. It's an honor to welcome you to this special 50th year memorial of our great sadik human and compassionate and understanding man brilliant enough and confident enough to work into real life and he devote his life for that talmut in halmut here in in Brooklyn worked very hard to have magid shiva >> the rabbis we had in the Yes, these rabbis without a question held the community with their Torah. Crucial time cuz if they didn't have that Torah, we could have went very quickly into oblivion. They kept us in it. They kept us in with their Torah, with their with their laws, with their and [music] gave our community respect for if someone came up with a came out with a that he says it's mut and that kept our community following which is something unbelievable was to learn. Everybody has their interpretation what menag halab is you know to eat visit on ocean parkway and this one says to play to this one says you know to sink pismon it's true they did those things but manag halab was it was a city of scholars they had a means was depth they didn't learn superficially they had a real hold on every single suga and they carried themselves in a very humble way in a modest way they didn't seek any honor or claim or cavod so that's the legacy of hagalab is to learn all of the other aspects of the community, the tradition, the food, the names, the lingo. There's all cultural things that are nice that can, you know, bring people together, but nothing will advance or preserve a community the way a true commitment and dedication to Torah is going to do. I read a shake at the mission he had in front of him, there was this wasn't happening. People were in public school. People were barely going to synagogue in the morning, getting a little bit of a class. And he writes, Shivuim for the redemption of these shivim these souls who were taken hostage here in America. These young children put them in front of me to spread to the Torah learning in the institutions of our community. I swore to do and we accomplished our goal. I was so inspired by the dmut by the image of the great rabbi [music] that when we were naming my second son Chucky giving him his Hebrew name at Milah I wanted to name him Sha after my father-in-law but Sha Matlub afteraml a at the same time I wanted my son to live up to a legacy of [music] learning of Torah learning that's everything Hakam Matlub stood for >> it's a wonderful feeling that he's getting the recognition >> we do what we can do in order to remember the greats of the previous generations to realize we don't have to look elsewhere. We have everything here in our glorious community. And we have the ability to strive for greatness within of who we are, our great hakam. [music]