Illness and Death
In 1983, while delivering a eulogy at the funeral of Rabbi Yaakov Mutzafi, he suddenly felt ill and suffered a stroke a short while later. Half his body was paralyzed and his speech was slurred. Over the next 15 years, he suffered a series of mini-strokes that eventually made him a wheelchair user. Nevertheless, he continued to teach Torah and to involve himself in community affairs.
His vast knowledge from years of learning became evident in his later years. As his eyesight dimmed, he asked students to come and the read the Talmud to him. One boy recalled being corrected on a Rashi in the tractate of Nazir; another on a Tosafot in Gittin. His son said that Abba Shaul corrected him while he read the words of the Rambam to him.
He died in Jerusalem on 13 July 1998 (19 Tammuz 5758). An estimated 200,000 people of all denominations — Sephardic, Hasidic, Ashkenazic — attended his funeral.
He is survived by his only son, Eliyahu, who is rosh yeshiva of Ohr LeZion Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Read more about this topic: Ben Zion Abba Shaul
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