BDE: Rabbi Chaim Meir Chazan, OBM

With great sadness, we report the passing of Rabbi Chaim Meir Chazan OBM, a shochet and founder of Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim in Kiryat Gat. He passed away on Thursday, the 29th of Nissan, 5786.

Reb Chaim Meir was born in Russia in 1948 (תש”ח) to his father, the well-known mesiras nefesh chossid, Reb Aharon Chazan, and his mother, Mrs. Nechama Leah. From a young age, he was raised with a deep sense of self-sacrifice for Yiddishkeit, a hallmark of his upbringing under the harsh conditions of the Soviet regime.

In 1966 (תשכ”ו), he merited to leave Russia, emerging from what many referred to as the “valley of tears.” A few years later, in 1969 (תשכ”ט), he traveled to learn in “Beis Chayeinu” as part of the kvutza year.

Following Pesach 1970 (תש”ל), he was among a group of dedicated bochurim sent to help establish the Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim in Kiryat Gat, together with his colleagues Rabbis Eliyahu Suissa, Eliyahu Dahan, Chaim Elbaz, Moshe Heblin, and Mordechai Noch Mendelson.

He later married his wife, Chava, daughter of Rabbi Yechezkel Brod, and settled in Nachalas Har Chabad. There, he served for many years as a shochet in the local slaughterhouse, carrying out his responsibilities with dedication and yiras Shamayim.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Chava Chazan, and their children: Rabbi Moshe Chazan (Kfar Saba, EY), Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Chazan (Beitar Illit, RY), Rabbi Sholom Ber Chazan (Shenzhen, China), Rabbi Shmuel Chazan (Kiryat Gat, EY), Rabbi Yisroel Chazan (Kiryat Gat, EY), Mrs. Basya Heblin (Kiryat Gat, EY), Mrs. Chana Weinfeld (Beitar Illit, EY), and Mrs. Rivka Klein (Even Yehuda, EY).

The Levaya will take place in Eretz Yiroel.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes