500 Fly For Rabbi Azimov’s Funeral

By COLlive reporter
Photos by @Er0wine

Hundreds of French Jews, including dozens of rabbis and leaders, attended the funeral of Rabbi Shmuel Azimov, the legendary and revered Head Shliach of Paris.

His passing from a stroke on Wednesday morning at the age of 69 is being mourned by Jews from all backgrounds in the country where he led a Jewish revival.

Messages on social media recalled his personal care and loving influence that led many to reconnect with their Jewish roots. Heading the 115 Chabad centers, educational institutions and communities are people who called him a mentor.

Boston-based hip-hop singer and songwriter Nosson Zand wrote, “I wouldn’t be an observant Jew if it weren’t for this man. A wonderful shliach of the Rebbe who’ll be sorely missed.”

The Twitter account of the Jewish youth group Betar France called Rabbi Azimov “a great tzaddik” and @attal_gary thanked the Shliach “for all that you did for the Jewish community.”

Members of the Jewish community in Paris came to his home on Rue Des Vinaigriers on Wednesday to pay their respects and bid farewell to the spiritual leader they candidly called “Moulé” (MOO-leh).

One of them was Jack Yves Bohbot, Vice-president of the Central Jewish Consistory of France and President of the Nazareth Synagogue, the oldest of the ‘great’ synagogues of Paris.

“Deeply saddened by the death of Rabbi Azimov, a major figure of French Judaism,” he commented, noting that there are some 1,000 people making their way to Rabbi Azimov’s home.

From there the procession continued to Beth Haya Mouchka, the educational complex Rabbi Azimov built on rue Petit which is home to the largest Jewish school in France with 2,000 students bursting at the seams.

The aron was then placed on a flight to Israel for burial. French-born Jews from around the country are expected at the Shamgar Funeral Home in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon.

Joining them are some 500 people from Paris who are boarding a chartered passenger flight operated by Air Mediterranee Airlines at 3:30am to attend the funeral.

Rabbi Azimov will be buried in the historic Jewish cemetery on Har HaZeitim near Jerusalem’s Old City alongside his late wife Mrs. Bassie Azimov OBM who passed away in 2011.

His children, Rabbi Mendel Azimov, Mrs. Esther Marasov and Rabbi Levi Azimov, are expected to return home to Paris for Shabbos, following which they will be sitting Shiva.