![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/broken-heart.jpg\")
\nThe history of the Bibas family is intertwined with the history of the people of Israel<\/strong>
\nThe tragedy that befell the family is not an isolated incident. As Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Rabbi of Safed, recounts: “The history of the Bibas family is intertwined with the history of the people of Israel. It represents the Zionist vision, the courage to rebuild the nation in its land \u2013 and also the heavy price its descendants have paid throughout the generations.”<\/p>\n
His views were revolutionary and unfathomable at the time, but in retrospect, they turned out to be an accurate vision of the path that led to the establishment of the State of Israel.<\/p>\n His words shook my heart<\/strong> A window of opportunity of only 100 years<\/strong> The books were burned, but the vision lives within us<\/strong> The grandfather was among the first to call for the establishment of a Jewish state with an independent military and economic power. 200 years later, his descendants suffered from terrorism themselves – in the Hebron massacre and the massacre on October 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":15676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,88,6],"tags":[2955,2953,3001,3003,3002,2954,2788],"class_list":["post-15675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judaism","category-will-remember","category-security","tag-ariel-bibas","tag-kfir-bibas","tag-rabbi-shmuel-eliyahu","tag-rabbi-yehuda-alkalai","tag-rabbi-yehuda-bibas","tag-shiri-bibas","tag-yarden-bibas"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Rav-Shmuel-Eliyahuy.jpg\")
\nThe wise man who preceded Herzl<\/strong>
\nThe Bibas family is descended from Rabbi Yehuda Bibas, one of the earliest heralds of Zionism. Decades before Herzl, already in the 19th century, he spoke about the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, not as unprotected refugees \u2013 but as an independent and strong nation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/stamp-with-herzls-face.jpg\")
\nRabbi Bibas, a descendant of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar, author of the book ‘Ohr Haim’, advocated for immigration to the Land of Israel and settlement there. In 1840, long before the Zionist idea became a reality, he called on Jews to build a military force, develop an independent economy, and learn professions that would enable a healthy existence in the future state.<\/p>\n
\nRabbi Bibas’s influence did not remain within the boundaries of his community. Among those influenced by him was Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, who described how the meeting with him “shook my heart and my knees weakened.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Rav-Yehuda-Alkalai.jpg\")
\nRabbi Alkalai dedicated his life to spreading Bibas\u2019s teachings, wrote books on the importance of immigration and the Jewish state \u2013 and his influence even reached the family of Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl, the father of political Zionism.<\/p>\n
\nBeyond the Zionist vision, Rabbi Bibas also eerily predicted the future. He said that Jews had only 100 years \u2013 from 1840 until 1939 \u2013 to establish a Jewish state. If they did not take advantage of this time, he warned, “after it comes the year 5700 (1940), may it not be!” In 1940, the horrific Holocaust began, in which six million Jews were exterminated \u2013 just before the establishment of the State of Israel.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/aushwitz.jpg\")
\nThe family that paid a heavy price \u2013 twice in history<\/strong>
\nThe Bibas family did not only talk about Zionism, they sacrificed for the ideal. In the year 5689 (1929), during the Hebron riots, the large library in Rabbi Bibas\u2019s home was burned down, along with family members and dozens of Jews who were murdered in the city.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Hebron-monument.jpg\")
\nNearly 100 years later, the murderous terror struck his descendants again, this time at the hands of Hamas terrorists.<\/p>\n
\nRabbi Yehuda Bibas\u2019s vision became a reality. The state he called for indeed arose, and it is strong, independent, and economically stable \u2013 just as he had predicted. However, the path to that state was paved with blood. As he warned, without military strength and steadfastness \u2013 our enemies did not hesitate to strike again and again.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/israeli-flag.jpg\")
\nRabbi Eliyahu concludes the heart-wrenching story of the Bibas family\u2019s grandfather by saying that today we all see how fitting the description is: “A wise man is preferable to a prophet.” Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas did not get to see their grandfather\u2019s vision fully realized, but the spirit of Rabbi Bibas continues to resonate through the State of Israel and the people of Israel, who continue to fight for their right to life and security. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"