Hacham Haim Shaul Dweck Hakohen Hacham Haim Shaul Dweck Hakohen was born in 1857 in Halab. The Beginning of his torah education started with his father Hacham Eliyahu , the son of the chief rabbi of Halab , Hacham Shaul Ezra. He learned most of his torah from Hacham Mordechai Abadi and Hacham Eliyahu Mishaan. In 1887, he became the Chief Rabbi of Halab. 3 years later , he merited to move to Eretz Yisrael where he would further his learning in the Kabbalist Yeshiva “Beit El”. In 1896 , with the help of Hacham Nissim Nahum , he was able to establish a yeshiva “Rechovot HaNahar” for the study of Kabbalah. Towards the end of his life , he lost his eyesight which deeply saddened him. Yet it didn’t stop him from connecting to Hashem. He would have people read him sefarim and on some occasions he would even correct a person if he skipped a word or a line!
The Holiness of Eretz Yisrael During World War One , When the situation of Hacham Haim’s eyes worsened, he was urged by his family to leave Israel to find a specialist for a successful surgery due to the lack of doctors in Israel. He refused to seek treatment anywhere outside of the Holy Land and scheduled a surgery to take place in Eretz Yisrael. Sadly, after he woke up from surgery , it was worse than expected and he had lost sight completely in both of his eyes. But all he said was “ Everything was worth it. To leave the Holy Land for even an hour wouldn’t have been worth it”. Preserving His Spiritual Limbs Towards the end of his life, one night at midnight , he met his students in the Yeshiva to give a shiur. His leg looked terrible , swollen and bloody. His students needed an explanation. The Hacham told them that he had to undergo a procedure for his leg because it had puss. The doctor said he would need anesthezia for the great pain that would come from opening the wound. But the Hacham refused to be unconscious so as not to distract his attention from Hashem in this world for a single moment. Before they began treating his leg, He urged them that he should not be touched by a single woman throughout the procedure , and to that request , the nurses laughed. In the middle of the procedure the nurses started to hold his holy body. Once he realized, he got up immediately and let out a bitter cry of pain. He left in the middle of the procedure to go give his regular midnight shiur in the yeshiva. The works of Hacham Haim Kabbalah 'איפה שלמה'- על 'אוצרות חיים' שר שלום'-כולל כוונות זמניות לליל הסדר, חנוכה ופורים מסידור הרש"ש ביאורים לדברי הרש"ש בספר 'נהר שלום', •חידושים לספר "שפת אמת" •הגהות לספר "אור הלבנה" לרבי יעקב קצין, •הגהות לספר "עלי נהר" פאת השד"ה- על ידי תלמידו הרב יעקב הלל