I once accompanied my father, zy”a, to the grave of Rabbi Chaim Pinto, zy”a, in Morocco. When we reached the Mellah, the Jewish section of the city, Father began describing the glorious community that lived there in the days of his father. He talked about life in that era; simple and modest, but rich in Fear of Heaven. After relating tales of this wonderful place, he closed his words with the statement, “In merit of the walls of the Mellah, that kept the Jews sheltered from the winds of the time, many Jews were saved from spiritual annihilation through assimilation.”
- The Mellah in Mogador
The following incident is related in Avot (6:10): Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma said, “Once I was walking on the road, when a certain man met me. He greeted me and I returned his greeting. He asked me: Rabbi, where are you from? I said to him: I am from a great city of scholars and sages. He asked: Rabbi, would you be willing to live with us in our place? I would give you thousands upon thousands of golden dinars, precious stones, and pearls. I replied: Even if you were to give me all the silver and gold, precious stones and pearls in the world, I would dwell nowhere but in a place of Torah. And so it is written in Tehillim (118:72) by David, king of Israel: I prefer the Torah of Your mouth above thousands in gold and silver.”
Every Jew must aspire to live in a place of Torah. One’s residence has a direct effect on his family’s spiritual structure.
