RAV YICHYA ALSHEICH ZT"L
by D. Sofer

An overloaded plane slowly lumbered over the Red Sea, its steel belly
packed with Sefardi Jews on their way to Eretz Yisrael. This was part of
the "Magic Carpet" airlift that swiftly increased the fledgling State of
Israel's population by hundreds of thousands.
Suddenly, in mid-flight, a government representative on the plane
smelled burning kerosene. Striding down the aisle to investigate he
almost tripped over a Sefardi calmly boiling water over a tiny kerosene
stove. "Idiot!" he yelled at the man. "Put that fire out!" And as the
representative strode off he muttered under his breath, "Boy, do these
primitives have plenty to learn!"
Primitives. That word encapsulates the condescending attitude held by
many in the early days of the state to the new immigrants streaming in
from the Middle East. They were primitives to be modernized by all means
and at all costs, and this meant prying them from their "antiquated"
Torah, as well.
Rav Yichya Alsheich, a Yemenite gadol who came to Eretz Yisrael in those
times, strove to save at least a remnant in those days of wanton
spiritual destruction.

LIFE IN YEMEN
The Alsheich family was one of the most eminent in Yemen. In fact, the
family's original name, Levi, was changed to "Alsheich," which means
prince, to denote its role in leadership and rabbinical greatness. Rav
Yichya was born in Tsan'a, on 13 Tammuz 1915 (5676). His father Netanel
Alsheich, was a great sage who dedicated almost every moment to Torah study.
Sadly, Rav Netanel passed away when Yichya was only six years old.
"Until my father's petira," Rav Yichya related, "I was a regular child.
But just before my father's death he called me to his bedside and placed
his hands on me and blessed me and at that moment I felt that the
wellsprings of wisdom had opened and my heart began to burn with the
love of Torah."
So great was the young boy's hasmada that after his regular studies in
the Talmud Torah he would retreat to the synagogue and review his
studies until the late hours of the night. Sometimes, he would even end
the night sleeping on a synagogue bench. By age 16, he had already
completed Shas a number of times. This is even more amazing considering
that he was an orphan and had to earn part of his upkeep by teaching two
to three hours a day. At age 20, he married his wife, Yonah, and
proceeded to build a bayis ne'eman b'Yisroel.
PIRACY
The year 1949 (5710) was a time of great upheaval. Jewish Agency
representatives arrived in Yemen promising to take all who wanted to
their beloved Holy Land and very few turned down the offer. This was the
beginning of the end for many of them, as some cynical representatives
showed utter disdain for the new olim even before they set foot in Israel.
"Please remove your jewelry and give it to us," the Jewish Agency
representatives would tell the Yemenite Jews lining up to board the
airplanes that would take them to the land of their dreams. "Leave your
Torah scrolls with us too. Don't worry; you'll get everything back in
Israel. The plane can't carry so much cargo."
Yemenite women trustfully turned over precious jewels donned in honor of
the important trip and men innocently handed over the Sifrei Torah
cradled in their arms.
Rav Yichya Alsheich's main concern, at the time of this mass
immigration, had been to transfer to Israel the tremendous Alsheich
synagogue library, which included many sifrei Torah and rare
manuscripts. He too trustingly obeyed Jewish Agency representatives who
claimed they would ship them by boat.
But when Rav Yichya arrived in the port of Yafo to fetch his precious
freight, he was informed that everything had been ravaged in a fire
aboard ship. A shipping clerk even took Rav Yichya to a storage room and
showed him a few charred scraps of parchment. Broken-hearted, Rav Yichya
tore k'riya as if a relative had died and the traumatic incident damaged
his health for long afterwards.
Only years later did Rav Yichya realize what had really happened. There
had been no fire and no burnt sifrei kodshim. His seforim had been sold
by unscrupulous elements who pocketed the money for their own use. Much
of the womenfolk's jewelry suffered a similar fate.
But that was the least of the plagues visited upon the new Yemenite
immigrants. Not only was their money stolen, but their infants as well.
They were "placed" with secular families to be brought up as "civilized"
westerners. And this was not all. They were systematically robbed of
their timeless heritage - the Torah. .
Rav Yichya Alsheich never forgot or forgave these crimes and devoted his
life to the spiritual restoration of Yemenite Jewry.
Rav Yichya was first placed in the infamous Ein Shemer ma'abara
(immigrant camp), a place of where thousands of olim lived for years in
tents.  Only after four difficult years in the Talpiyot ma'abara in
Yerushalayim did he finally move into a normal house.
Faithful to the Yemenite tradition of not making a living from his
Torah, Rav Yichya initially supported himself with menial jobs. Then, he
began raising funds for yeshivos, and afterwards took a position in the
Yerushalayim religious council. But then, realizing that this was
irreversibly damaging his Torah learning, he decided to devote himself
to full time learning.
Rav Yichya utilized his vast Torah knowledge for the benefit of his
people, traveling from city to city to strengthen his brethren. He even
visited secular kibbutzim, but for this he paid dearly when a group of
enraged kibbutzniks gave him such a severe beating that he suffered back
pain the rest of his life.
Nevertheless, Rav Yichya was undeterred, understanding that the only way
to instill belief and emunas chachamim into secular Jews was to show
them warmth and affection.
One of his students related how an encounter with Rav Yichya drew him
back to the Torah.
"I studied in a secular school," he relates, "and was far from
Yiddishkeit. When I mentioned to a ba'al teshuva friend that I wished to
examine the medicinal properties of certain plants in the Far East he
recommended that I first meet Rav Yichya who had experience in that
field. Although I'd hardly seen a rav in my life, I agreed to go along
more out of curiosity than anything else.
"Rav Yichya greeted us warmly," continues the student. "He told us a
story of a man who was terminally ill and, out of desperation, went to a
desert and ate every plant he could lay hands on.  But this only made
the man sicker and only after returning home did he finally begin to
recover."
"At first I didn't understand what Rav Yichya was getting at," says the
student. "Only after receiving Rav Yichya's loving bracha, which sent
waves of warmth into my heart, did I realize that he had subtly hinted
that it is Hashem who cures the ill and not expertise in plants. I still
traveled to the Far East, but the seed of emunah Rav Yichya had planted
slowly grew inexorably until I became completely religious."
Even in those early battles with the secular forces in the medina, Rav
Yichya understood that the fight for Jewish souls was not a hopeless
cause. Once while passing through a secular neighborhood Rav Yichya
asked his companion, "Where are we?"
"In an irreligious neighborhood," came the reply.
"Don't say that," retorted Rav Yichya. "Say that it's residents aren't
religious yet!"
In later years Rav Yichya often declared, "Be'chasdei Hashem many Jews
are returning to their roots. With Hashem's help, all Yemenite Jews and
all klal Yisrael will fully repent."

CHASAN HATORAH
Although Rav Yichya never held an official position as a rav or rosh
yeshiva, his vast Torah wisdom could not be concealed. Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach zt"l once asserted that Rav Yichya was a gadol hador and Rav
Benzion Abba Shaul would direct difficult shailos to him, even referring
to him as "the pillar of the world. " On another occasion Rav Benzion
said, "Rav Yichya is not just expert in all of the Torah. He himself is
Torah."
Rav Yichya did once publicize his encyclopedic knowledge of the Torah
when he competed in the Israeli Torah Contest and placed first in the
regional, national, and international contests. Rav Yichya would never
have dreamt of entering, but close acquaintances pressed him, perhaps to
impress the public with the importance of memorizing Tanach in the time
honored Yemenite method.
At the end of the regional contest Rav Yichya stated, "My life's goal is
to devote myself solely to Torah study.  May this contest be a
springboard to increase Tanach study and the pursuit of its values among
the youth." When Rav Yichya was congratulated afterwards he said, "All I
did was l'shem Shamayim, and for kavod haTorah."
Rav Yichya's photographic memory of every verse was indicated in his
reaction to a sefer discussing the secret Torah codes. Rav Yichya was
unimpressed. "I'm sure Chazal were aware of all this even without a
computer," he said.
Rav Yichya outstanding humility was expressed in his way of answering
shailos. "It seems to me," or "I think that." was his inevitable
preamble to any reply. He would also honor every Jew he met, calling him
"Mari," "my teacher," and kissing his hand. He always fled from
dissension and strove to further peace.
Another of Rav Yichya's astounding traits was gratitude. He would always
warmly thank people for even the smallest favor.

DEDICATION TO KLAL YISRAEL
Rav Yichya was totally dedicated to klal Yisrael even to the exclusion
of his own needs. His home was the address for anyone who needed
counsel, help, halachic guidance, blessings, or even medical advice, and
very often he didn't manage to even snatch a bite to eat until the
afternoon.
Many are the stories about his miraculous brachos. A Jew once required
an operation to remove a growth on his back. He was terrified and his
brother suggested that they ask Rav Yichya's advice.
"Don't be afraid, " soothed Rav Yichya. "It's only a fat deposit and not
a dangerous growth at all. Before operating the doctors will examine you
and decide that everything is fine. To melt the fat I suggest you eat a
lot of dill."
Sure enough, the man was found to be perfectly healthy.
During the Gulf War Rav Yichya predicted that no harm would befall
Yerushalayim and that no one needed to seal any rooms. He added that
Saddam Hussein would suffer a downfall on Purim. When asked later why
Hussein hadn't been killed, he replied: "Klal Yisrael hasn't done
sufficient teshuva."

HIS LAST HOURS
On Motzei Shabbos, 21 Cheshvan 1996 (5757), Rav Yichya lifted a cup of
wine but instead of reciting havdalah, he began to recite the verses
read prior to a funeral instead. His grandson thought that he was
confused and tried to correct him, but Rav Yichya merely repeated the
verses. Only afterwards did he recite havdalah as usual.
Three-o-clock that morning Rav Yichya rose and fell back into bed. He
then called to his wife for a cup of water, recited she'hakol, sipped
some water, and his soul suddenly departed.
Thousands attended his levaya and hespedim delivered by gedolei Torah.
Rav Yichya was buried on Har Hamenuchos near the Chida's grave and is
survived by his family whose members continue in his illustrious path.
May his memory be a blessing.
Much of this article is based on information contained in Rav Gidon
Gilkrov's "Hei'ir Hamizrach."