Towards the end of June many of the descendants of Rabbi Yossef Yehudah Hakim, who was the chief Rabbi of Safed and the Sephardic Community in Israel, at the end of the 19th. century, will join the family in Israel for this reunion. The goal is to search for the roots and to get to know the various branches of the family. More than 200 are expected to attend.

Recently the family found the grave site of Rabbi Yossef Yehudah Hakim in the "Alsheich Cave", where other holy individuals are buried.

This find was in itself a miracle, as the grave is hidden, and family members had to crawl into the dark cave, in order to see and photograph the tombstone. When the pictures were developed we realized that the inscription was written in code that needed to be deciphered. After the code was deciphered, we realized that our illustrious ancestor died exactly 100 years ago, a fact unknown to any living member of the family.

Was it by chance that the reunion was planned for this year ?, or was it a higher power that directed us?

The reunion will commence with a gathering in Moshav Timurim on June 28, from 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., with the emphasis being on meetings between the various branches of the family, and between the generations. Following the welcome address by the International Committee representative, the family tree will be presented. Spokesmen of each branch will tell about their part of the family. Lunch and refreshments will be served, followed by a sing along program. During the week the following activities will take place:

1. A visit to the Diaspora House Museum, where a ceremony is being planned to present the family tree and placing it into the database.
2. An overnight visit to Safed, where the family group will visit synagogues where our ancestral Rabbis occupied the pulpit. In addition, there will be a visit to their graves with a memorial service being held there with the participation of a number of dignitaries. That evening a banquet in honor and memory of our ancestors will take place with the participation of His Honor Chief Rabbi of Safed Rabbi Shmuel Elliyahu, and The Honorable Mayor Moshe Hanya, as guests of honor.
3. A visit to Jerusdalem
4. A final farewell get together will take place on July 5th. in Moshav Timurim, where future plans will be discussed.

The Ha-Levy (Hakim) family was considered an honored family among the Jews expelled from Spain. Later on, when they received the honorary title Hakim from the Sultan, they became the Ha-Levy Hakim family. It appears that at some point in time the name Levy was dropped and the family became known as Hakim. But passing on from generation to generation that we come from the Levy family.

The family adjusted well to life under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. They lived in Egypt, Saloniki (Greece), Menissa (Turkey), where Rabbi Yossef Yehuda Hakim served as Chief Rabbi. In 1868 he was appointed by the Sultan Abdul Aziz to be the Chief Rabbi of Smyrna (Izmir) - Turkey, where the preceding Chief Rabbi was Hayim Palatchi, who served in this capacity for many years until his death.

The Sultan wanted to appoint a strong Rabbi to the post, as there was corruption in the running of the community. It was his expectations that Rabbi Yossef Yehudah Hakim, will lead the effort to clean the problems that existed. The leaders of the community strongly objected to the appointment of an outsider. However, they claimed that their opposition was due to the fact that Rabbi Yossef Hakim was too conservative, and opposed the teaching in the Hebrew schools, any language other than Hebrew.

As a result of all the intrigues that were going on, the Rabbi got caught in the power play, in which the leaders were successful in derailing his appointment. With the encouragement of the Sultan he decided to make the move to Safed, and to settle there with his family.

It is related that after his to move to Safed, he withdrew from society, and stayed in a small room in the basement of the "Yossef Halavan" synagogue for seven years. There he studied Torah, and Kabalah by candle light, and his nourishment consisting of bread and water. He wrote several books, of which only one remains in the family. He was appointed as "Haham Bashi" in Safed by the Sultan, and served as such until his death in 1897.

After his death his son, Rabbi Shlomo Hakim was appointed to take his place, and served as such until he died. He died in Egypt as a result of a traffic accident in 1907, and his burial place is unknown until this date. It is related by his son Raphael , who was orphaned from his father at the age of seven, that his father rabbi Shlomo, traveled to Egypt to mediate between his two brothers, Shmuel and David. In Egypt, in one of his travels on the tramway, as he stepped down from the tramway, a car passed by and killed him. From then on his footsteps disappeared.

Later on the years, after his son Raphael was ordained as a Rabbi, the position of Hakham Bashi was offered to him. Rabbi Raphael Hakim, l"f, conditioned his acceptance of the position to not wearing the long cloak, customary garb of Haham Bashi. The community leaders refused to accept his conditions, and therefore he decided not to accept the position, and instead became a teacher and a Hazan.

The family that was established in Safed by Rabbi Yossef Yehudah Hakim, has eventually spread to many parts of the world. His descendants presently live in Australia, England, throughout the U.S.A , Indonesia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Greece, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and naturally Israel.

There are some in the Israeli branch, that have lived there continuously since the arrival of Rabbi Yossef to Safed, and there are some that returned to their ancestral land before and after the establishment of the State of Israel. It is the hope of the International Committee of the Hakim Family Reunion, that this first gathering of the family, will be the first step in gathering all the descendants of the Hakim family, back in Israel permanently, in the near future. Amen