First Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Egyptian Community in Brooklyn

By; Rabbi Jacob Savdie

Hacham Halfon Savdie

• Teacher in Yeshibat Ahaba Ve Ahva – Cairo, Egypt
• Rabbi of Congregation Ahaba Ve Ahva – Brooklyn, NY
• Born 6 Adar 5653 – Deceased 13 Shebat 5739

The Early Years: Hacham Halfon Savdie was born in Halab (Allepo), Syria on the 16th of Adar 1893 (5653) to Hacham Shelomo and Rachel Savdie. His name appears in the Allepo Berit Milah Database as Halfon Bawabeh because the original family name was Safdiyeh-Bawabeh.

At the age of six he emigrated together with his family to Cairo, Egypt. In addition to his studies at the schools in Cairo, he supplemented his Torah study with his father. In the year 1916 Hacham Halfon married Tera (Sarah) Masri. Together they raised a blessed family of three sons and eight daughters. Unfortunately, Tera suffered with a heart condition and passed away in 1956 (at the young age of 56).

Oseh Sedakot: To earn a living, Hacham Halfon owned a grocery store where he sold strictly kosher food products to the kehilla. He worked long hours to support his family, before each holiday he would distribute food products and wine to the poor families of the kehilla to allow them to celebrate the holidays with dignity.

When the Chief Rabbi of Egypt, Hacham Haim Nahum Effendi, became ill and felt he was nearing his end, he asked Hacham Halfon to take over his role as Chief Rabbi. Hacham Halfon turned down the position because he felt his task of overseeing the kashrut for the needs of the kehilla was extremely important.

Ahaba Ve Ahva: On weeknights, Shabatot, and Yamim Tobim he spent his time at Yeshibat Ahaba Ve Ahva learning and teaching Torah. He organized and taught the group which studied the Zohar and Kaballa. The room in which the shiur took place was nicknamed “oda el tayarat” - the flying room- as they dealt with heavenly topics there. He also taught hazanut and pizmonim. On the Yamim Noraim, he served as the Hazzan in Ahaba along with two other Rabbis at his side.

Coming to America: In June 1961 Hacham Halfon traveled to France with his extended family (seventy in all).After spending six months in France, they made their way to Brooklyn, New York to the Syrian Community in Bensonhurst. As the Jews from Egypt began to settle in the community, they established their own congregation in 1963 and named it Ahaba Ve Ahva. It was housed in a rented space provided by Congregation Magen David on 67th Street. Hacham Halfon served as the congregation’s Rabbi, working tirelessly to guide the kehilla and teach them Torah.

Final Destination: In 1976 Hacham Halfon fulfilled his lifelong dream of living in Eres Yisrael and made aliyah. He lived in Ramat Gan with his son Solomon and his family. Towards his end, although he suffered from Alzheimer’s and didn’t even recognize his own family members, he still remembered entire passages of the Zohar by heart. He passed away on the 13th of Shebat in 1979 and was buried on Har Hamenuhot.

Hacham Halfon’s legacy lives on through the charity fund established in his name, and through his descendants who are an integral part of the kehilla. Many of them serve as Rabbis, Teachers, Lay Leaders, Hazanim and Ba’ale Kor’im.

Mazkeret Halfon

In 1982 Hacham Shimon Hai' Alouf and David Savdie established a charity fund entitled ‘Mazkeret Halfon’ in memory of Hacham Halfon. The fund provides the holiday needs of over 400 families in Eres Yisrael in a dignified manner. It also helps some of the poor in the Brooklyn community who find themselves in difficult situations. Over the course of the past forty years the fund has distributed over a million dollars to those in need.