Recently, the Brooklyn Sephardic community was honored to have as its special guest Rabbi David Messas, Chief Rabbi of Paris, France. The rabbi, who had spent that weekend visiting various Sephardic synagogues, had come to New York by special invitation for a meeting of the Orthodox Union regarding kosher products and kosher supervision worldwide. Rabbi Messas is the son of former Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jerusalem Rabbi Shalom Messas, A”H, who passed away earlier this year. Rabbi David Messas is not merely the highest rabbinical authority in Paris; he is known as the rabbi to whom important French politicians often turn for advice.

Rabbi David Messas attended Friday night services at Congregation Netivot Israel of Ocean Parkway as the guest of Rabbi Bouskila. He gave a speech Shabbat morning at Shaare Zion of Ocean Parkway, and prayed Minha and Arbit at the Sephardic Rabbinical Lebanese Congregation, where he was Rabbi Eliyahu Elbaz's guest.

The prior Thursday, he attended a meeting arranged by community leader Jack Avital at his office. A festive atmosphere filled the room as the guests enjoyed Sephardic delicacies and had the opportunity to listen to some of the rabbis from our community, including Rabbi Shimon Alouf, Rabbi Eli Ben-Haim, Rabbi Yakkov Ben-Haim, Rabbi Gad Bouskila, Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Rabbi Aharon Farhi, Rabbi Abraham Hecht, Rabbi David Jemal, Rabbi Shlomo Lankry and Rabbi David Yosef—who was visiting from Israel. Community members in attendance included Jimmy Azizo, Gabby Chehebar and Bunny Escava. Jerry Greenwald and Jacob Klass, from the Jewish Press also attended.

Another noted guest was Deal Mayor Harry Franco, who had met Rabbi Shalom A”H on a solidarity trip and was greatly inspired. Mayor Franco wished to tell Rabbi David about his father's strong impact and to pay his respects regarding Rabbi Shalom A”H's passing.

The event began with a few brief remarks by Rabbi Eliyahu Elbaz. Rabbi Elbaz then introduced Rabbi Messas, who addressed the crowd in Hebrew. Part of his speech was based on his father's teachings. He gave much praise to his father, Rabbi Shalom A”H, telling all how deeply he missed him as he used to call him on a daily basis. Still today, when he is faced with a problem, he finds himself picking up the phone by force of habit, prepared to call his father once more. Rabbi Messas explained that we all need to learn from his father's message of humility, as well as from the maintenance of the Sephardic heritage and halacha (Jewish law). He began to describe some of the beliefs and characteristics of Rabbi Shalom—his humility, his “down-to earth” personality and his ability to keep a non-judgmental view of anyone whom he encountered. For example, when Rabbi Shalom Messas, A”H, made a psak din (halachic ruling), said Rabbi David, he didn't simply hand out chumrot (stringencies of the law) to people. While he accepted many chumrot upon himself, he made sure people were aware that he did not necessarily expect them to do the same. Not everyone has the ability to hold himself to such a high standard, and Rabbi Shalom A”H understood this and taught his son the importance of every single individual, regardless of differences of beliefs.

In conclusion, Rabbi David Messas praised the Sephardic community for its tremendous unity and gave recognition to Chief Rabbi Saul J. Kassin, who was in attendance. He also raised, once again, the importance of keeping our heritage so as not to lose minhagim (customs) in future generations.

He gave host Jack Avital a blessing and went on to describe how his father's love and respect for Jack was passed on to him. Jack, he said, is routinely called upon to solve problems, whether here, in Israel or across the globe. The rabbi called him a “shaliach Yisrael” (messenger of Israel) who is always ready to perform any act, including one of tzedakah (charity), on behalf of the people of Israel.

It was truly remarkable to witness this memorable gathering of our community's rabbis, and a privilege to hear and help welcome French Chief Rabbi David Messas.