R' Chaim Kohen Perachyah known as “Chalban” which means “the milkman” was the last of a special group of hidden tzadikim in Tel Aviv who appeared as simple laborers. They earned a living from manual labor while secretly gathering together to study kabbalah. The other members of the group were R' Moshe Yaakov Rabikov (he passed away in 1966) who was known as “the shoemaker,” R' Yosef Waltuch who was known as the “the street-cleaner,” the hidden tzadik R' Hillel Simchon, R' Avraham Fish, R' Ezra Eliyahu Hakohen who was the father of R' Chaim Kohen, known as the Chalban and R' Yehuda Leon Patilon who was known as “the painter.” Their titles reflected their municipal day jobs. The gedolim of those years such as Chazon Ish, the Beis Yisrael of Gur and the Imrei Chaim of Viznitz spoke of these men with great reverence, referring to them as the lamed-vuv tzadikim of the generation. In the final years as their true identities became known, people sought them out for advice and brachos.
On one occasion, R' Chaim Kohen Perachyah went with the hidden tzadik R' Yosef Waltuch (1921-1983) to Meiron to the grave of the R' Shimon bar Yochai. When he entered the grave area he asked R' Yosef, “What happened today that there are so many people here?” R' Yosef answered, “Chaim, only you can see these things. There are hardly any people here. What you are seeing are the souls of many (deceased people) who have come to seek a tikun (rectification) at the grave of R' Shimon bar Yochai.”
He was extremely humble and wise, and possessing phenomenal powers of ruach hakodesh. From a young age, the Chalban had a gift of spiritual vision. He could gaze out and know hidden things, spiritual and physical, past and even future. Despite all this greatness, he appeared to most people as a simple dairy worker. During the Israeli War of Independence in 1948, while everyone slept in fear in bunkers, young Chaim had a dream, where Eliyahu Hanavi reassured him saying: “Do not fear, bombs will not fall here.” Then Eliyahu Hanavi revealed to the child all the specific locations that would or would not be targeted with bombs. The following morning Chaim shared his dream with his father, R' Ezra Kohen. His father’s response: “Yes, Eliyahu Hanavi already updated me on all this.” (B’tzeil Ilan Hachaim, Volume 1)
Interestingly, R' Yosef Waltuch’s shadchan was R' Shlomke Zvhiller. R' Waltuch was close to leading mekubalim, such as the Baba Sali and his son Baba Meir. He was known as “the street-cleaner,” since for a long period he earned a living cleaning the streets of Tel Aviv. R' Waltuch lived alone, without a proper address. As a result, hundreds of petitioners, Rabbanim, Rebbes and other mekubalim would mail their correspondences to the homes around Tel Aviv where he would regularly eat his Shabbos seudos.
