Rabbi David Salom Batzri, elder of the kabbalists, died at age 85 after collapsing at home in Bnei Brak

Rabbi David Salom Batzri, head of the kabbalists' yeshiva 'Shalom' in Jerusalem, considered the 'elder of the kabbalists,' died this morning (Friday) at age 85 at Sheba Medical Center, after collapsing suddenly at his home in Bnei Brak.

According to the report, the rabbi collapsed suddenly at his home on Rabbi Landa Street in Bnei Brak, where he had been living in recent years. Medical and rescue personnel performed prolonged resuscitation on him and evacuated him in critical condition to Sheba Medical Center at Sheba Medical Center, where doctors had to pronounce his death.

In recent years the rabbi experienced ups and downs in his health and was hospitalized from time to time, but continued to teach Kabbalah and receive people for advice and blessings. His name became known also for his expertise in the teaching of names and spirits and in the tradition of his grandfather, Rabbi Judah Fetaya, which was expressed among other things in ceremonies of exorcising a 'dybbuk' that gained worldwide attention.

The Shas movement published a condolence statement in which it was written that the Council of Torah Sages and the movement's chairman Rabbi Arye Dery 'weep bitterly' at his passing. The statement noted that he was a student of Sage Ezra Attiah and the son-in-law of the kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Mutzafi, and that 'great is the loss to the world of Torah and to all of Israel.'