Jerusalem – The 114-Year Old Mosad Agent and Shul Gabbai Tells His Secrets

Jerusalem – The Gan David Senior Citizens’ Home in the center of Rechovot has a new resident — Meir David Pur, a 114 year old former Mosad agent who moved in, after living 19 years with his 69-year old son Salim. Pur is still physically active, lucid and has a phenomenal memory, so under the circumstances, it’s understandable why we’re not going to wish him only to 120.

Pur attends shiurim in the senior citizen’s home, following all the material completely.

Salim explains, “He is expert is nistar writings. “His ahavas yisroel and mesirus nefesh which has been a part of him for over 100 years for every Jew wherever he is, infuses him with fresh, supernatural strength.”

Pur has already buried six of his children, and only his children who are 80 and younger are still alive. Since Pur arrived at the senior citizen’s home, he has become a celebrity, with many people visiting him and seeking him out for blessings. The home’s director claims that since he moved in, a number of problematic things in the home suddenly took a turn for the good.

Being born in 1895, Pur has seen a lot in his life. He still remembers vividly World War I, when he was drafted to the Iranian army, World War II, and Israel’s Independence War. During the latter, he worked for the Mosad and secretly transferred Iranian Jews to Israel. While living in Iran, he served as a shul gabbai in his town and a gabbai tzedaka. He was already 60 when he finally moved from Iran to Israel with his family.

What is the secret of Pur’s longevity? “I always lived in peace with everyone, both goyim and Jews, both abroad and in Israel. The important thing is not to hate anyone,” he says.

Pur has a creative side that one would find surprising from a Mosad agent. He composes songs in Persian, mixed with Aramaic. His entire family are expert in Piyyut and their singing at the Shabbos table sounds like a Far Eastern musical performance. Even during the interview, he began to sing with his son a song of dveikus to Hashem that he composed in Farsi. When singing it, it is obvious he is transported to spiritual realms.

His many descendants call him up regularly to hear his words of wisdom. And these are many. “Tension is the cruelest thing that hurts a person and his health. The Torah only strengthens a person and gives him life. All the various illnesses that the medical world tries to find medications for, derive only from evil, theft and wickedness. All these traits cause misery.”

Salim says that many miracle stories have been tied to his father. “During World War I, my father was drafted into the army and worked for intelligence. He would set out on secret missions riding on a camel, go on a way no one knew, sometimes in dangerous places where a person’s foot had never stepped such as in thick forests. He came out of everything in peace. He was never afraid of anyone, besides Hakodesh Baruch Hu.

Video Credit Kikar.net

“Once he was sent from Iran to India to transfer secret military maps and equipment for India. Since the material he was carrying on his camel was super confidential, my father preferred to travel through forests and difficult terrain. One day, when he was riding through the forest alone, he saw a panther known especially for its cruelty and ravaging.

“The panther was able to jump on its prey and choke him within a few seconds. These panthers had ripped apart an entire battalion of soldiers hiding in the forests. But my father noticed the panther, and without fear, he shot an arrow straight at it. The animal gave a roar and fell over. My father picked up the carcass, slung it over the camel and brought it with him to India so he could keep its skin, which was very expensive. When he showed the skin to his commanders, they were so impressed they promoted his rank.”

The skin of this panther is hanging today in the home of one of Meir Pur’s greatgrandchildren, as a pirsuma d’nisa. Pur mentions that when facing the panther, he hadn’t been afraid. He just aimed the arrow and prayed that Hashem would give him success. This is just one of the many stories of miracles that happened to Pur.

As Pur advanced in the Iranian army, he came to the attention of the Persian Shah and soon became his good friend. Salim says that Pur was privy to the information that the Shah had murdered the son of Khomeini, because he feared he would take over his kingdom and depose him.

Pur was always physically strong. He ate very little. In the morning, he drinks three cups of home-made arak, eats a food made from a special plant which his son Salim picks for him, two dried fruits, and two cups of hot water. That’s all he eats during the day, although sometimes he eats a yogurt or something small.

“Two years ago,” Salim recalls, “my father suddenly called me and said that he doesn’t feel well. Suddenly his head slipped and his breathing got weaker. It looked like he had passed away. I went to get a sheet to cover him, but my wife called Magen David Adom and a ambulance came and rushed him to Kaplan hospital. When the doctors heard his age, they didn’t even try to resuscitate him. They just told us he was dying.

“My wife stood next to him and prayed. Suddenly my father opened his eyes, looked at her, and tried to get up. The nurse rushed to take his pulse and discovered that it had returned and the color had returned to his face too. His blood pressure had also revived. After a few hours, my father returned to life as if nothing had happened. The hospital staff was stunned too and they called it a medical miracle which they had never seen before.

“My father’s revival at the age of 112 was publicized in all the media in Israel. People came to see the miracle for themselves. My father was in a good mood, as usual, and didn’t understand what the whole fuss was about. When he came home, he whispered to me, ‘They took me to the place which they’ll give me when I go. But it’s too good for me. I don’t deserve it…’

“I tried to get out of my father some details about what ‘his place’ looked like, and what he saw there when he was experiencing clinical death, but Father didn’t want to tell me. ‘What I saw, was only for me,’ he said.

When asked for the secret of his longevity, this is the advice that Pur has to say, “The source of blessing and longevity, is giving charity, helping others, and being happy. Serve Hashem with joy, and trust in Hashem, and you’ll never know illness or misery. Whatever hakodesh Baruch Hu does, He does for the good.”