Rabbi Shimshon ben Pesach of Ostropoli (1600–1648) was one of the greatest Kabbalists of his generation. His name is associated with very powerful segulot that spread throughout virtually all Jewish communities and are mentioned by many later authorities. He was killed al Kiddush Ha-Shem together with hundreds of Jews in Polonnoye during the Khmelnytsky massacres.
The Most Well-Known Prayers and Segulot of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli
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“Iggeret Rabbi Shimshon” — his most famous segula. It is a profound Kabbalistic explanation of the Ten Plagues in Egypt and the words “אצבע אלקים היא” (“This is the finger of G-d”). This segula provides salvation in the most difficult situations and during severe trials.
It is generally read on Erev Pesach or on the night of the Seder, on a tzadik’s yahrzeit, and at the kever of a tzadik.
Throughout the first months following October 7, a Jewish group led by the Gaon Rabbi Daniel Stavsky—women and men alike—prayed Iggeret Rabbi Shimshon for the hostages.
Rabbi Shimshon’s promise:
Iggeret Rabbi Shimshon is a great and awe-inspiring secret, and anyone who studies it even once a year, especially on the day preceding Pesach, is guaranteed to be saved that year from all kinds of misfortune and from an unnatural death. No one will rule over him, all his enemies will fall before him, and he will step over them. Wherever he turns, good fortune will accompany him, and all his endeavors will prosper until the coming of the Redeemer. Amen, Selah! [Caution! This great segula contains the Names of angels—both holy and impure—which we do not pronounce. Names of angels that we do not generally use or frequently pronounce in prayer may not be spoken; they may only be visualized as they are written in the prayer text].
The complete text of the prayer is here: Iggeret of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli on Erev Pesach — a great segula
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The 42 Journeys (מ"ב מסעות) — one of his most powerful segulot.
Rabbi Chaim Palaggi cites the great Ramban as teaching that the enumeration of the 42 encampments through which the Jewish people traveled in the wilderness is so powerful that during a plague or any other epidemic, whoever reads this passage every day will be spared from the epidemic, and it will not reach the place where he lives.
Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli arranged a special order for this segula, and in its time it saved thousands of Jews from plague. The segula consists of enumerating the 42 encampments and journeys of Bnei Yisrael in the wilderness (Bamidbar, Parshat Masei) according to the translation of Onkelos into Aramaic. Why specifically this passage about the 42 journeys?
Rashi explains that it publicizes the mercy of the Almighty, for He said to Moshe: “List for them all the places where they angered Me.”
We see from this that enumeration nullifies anger.
Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin explains that the 42 encampments and journeys in the wilderness correspond to the 42-letter Name of Ha-Shem, Ana Bechoach, and each letter is a rung upward. Rabbi Shmuel Ha-Katan Klein wrote that Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli told him to print this prayer so that Jews could recite it during epidemics.
The Ostropoler Rav wrote many Kabbalistic commentaries on the Torah and other works, known as “Nitzotzot Shimshon.” Rabbeinu Chida called him “the Holy Kabbalist.”
Moreover, those versed in the Hidden Torah decode for us the first four words of the passage about the 42 journeys, for according to Kabbalah, the first contains the essence and the entire potential of what follows. It turns out that the phrase “Ele mas’ei Bnei Yisrael” (“These are the journeys of the Children of Israel”) hints at the four future exiles: “Ele” (“these”)—Edom; “mas’ei” (“journeys”)—Madai (Media, Persia); “Bnei” (“children”)—Bavel (Babylonia); “Yisrael” (“Israel”)—Yavan (Greece).
Gaon Rabbi Yeshayahu Pinto (shlita) included the passage about the 42 journeys in the wilderness in the Seder Limud “Mi-Yom Le-Yom,” in the weekly prayers for the 42 journeys on Yom Hamishi. He based it on the words of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli (may Ha-Shem avenge his blood), that every person undergoes 42 Masaot (journeys) in life. If a person does not complete all the rectifications associated with these journeys that he is meant to experience during his lifetime, he must return to this world in a new gilgul to complete them. However, through the power of reciting this segula of the 42 Masaot (journeys), a person merits all the rectifications he is required to make and is purified through them.
The complete prayer is here: 42 Encampments in the Wilderness — the Segula of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropol
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Segulot upon Entering and Leaving the Synagogue of Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli
Regarding entering the synagogue, Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli (zekhuto yagen aleinu), the sefer “Dan Yadin” (a commentary on the Zohar HaKadosh) teaches that when a person enters a synagogue, kisses the mezuzah, then bows and recites this pasuk, it is considered as though he brings the Shechinah and blessing upon himself for the entire day and removes the evil eye from himself.
This pasuk contains deep spiritual meaning and can save a person from the evil eye, harsh decrees, and many kinds of harm. When a person feels that things are not going well and that he is experiencing problems, then, as the Gemara writes, it is most likely because of the evil eye. Upon entering the synagogue, one should place his right hand on the mezuzah and say the phrase:
— “Ani omer zot al da'at Rav Huna” — (“I say these words based on the teaching of Rav Huna [zekhuto yagen aleinu]),” and then recite the pasuk:
וַאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ
— “Va’ani b’rov chasdecha avo veitecha, eshtachaveh el heichal kodshecha b’yiratecha” — (“As for me, through Your abundant kindness I will enter Your house; I will bow toward Your holy Sanctuary in awe of You”). (Tehillim 5:8)
Upon Leaving the Synagogue Upon leaving the synagogue, one should recite the following pesukim from Tehillim, known as a means of receiving many blessings and protection from all harm and evil:
יְ־הֹוָה צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ מִשְׂגָּב לָנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה
— “Adonai Tzevaot imanu, misgav lanu, Elohei Yaakov selah” — (“The L-rd of Hosts is with us; the G-d of Jacob is our stronghold, Selah”);
יְ־הֹוָה צְבָאוֹת אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם בֹּטֵחַ בָּךְ
— “Adonai Tzevaot, ashrei adam boteach bach” — (“The L-rd of Hosts, happy is the person who trusts in You”);
יְ־הֹוָה הוֹשִׁיעָה הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְּיוֹם קָרְאֵנוּ
— “Adonai, hoshi’ah; ha-Melech ya’anenu v’yom koreinu” — (“L-rd, save us! May the King answer us on the day we call”);
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Segula for Ayin Hara and All Forms of Evil
Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli also advised reciting Tehillim 5:8 forty times over the head of a person suffering from a severe evil eye or sorcery.
וַאֲנִי בְּרֹב חַסְדְּךָ אָבוֹא בֵיתֶךָ אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל הֵיכַל קָדְשְׁךָ בְּיִרְאָתֶךָ
— “Va’ani b’rov chasdecha avo veitecha, eshtachaveh el heichal kodshecha b’yiratecha” — (“As for me, through Your abundant kindness I will enter Your house; I will bow toward Your holy Sanctuary in awe of You”).
This pasuk contains 10 words. Forty times 10 equals 400. As is known, the Sitra Achra (realm of impurity) contains 400 forces, as indicated by the hidden meaning of the verse: “And behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men.” (Bereishit 33:1) Four hundred is the gematria of “ayin ra.” The number 400 is also the gematria of the word רעעין (“envious,” “one who possesses an evil eye”).
Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli reveals the secret of this pasuk: encoded within it is one of the 72 Names of Ha-Shem, which protects against “ayin ra”—האא—and it is encoded in the words of Tehillim (5:8) “eshtachaveh el heichal”—אֶשְׁתַּחֲוֶה אֶל-הֵיכַל—(“I will bow toward Your holy Sanctuary”).
(Based on a class by Rav Yisrael Yakobov, “The Hidden Meaning of Tehillim 5,” for Silatehilim; and a class by the Gaon Yanuka)
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Propitious Times for Prayer
Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli (Eretz HaChaim, Shin:418) possessed a Kabbalistic tradition concerning three propitious times for prayer:
- when the Aron HaKodesh is opened (as well as while reciting the words: “At Hu zan lecholah u’mefarnes le’olah” — (“You are the One who sustains everyone and provides food for all”) in “Berich Shemei demarei alma”;
- during Hagbah (raising the Torah scroll after Kriat HaTorah);
- during Birkat Kohanim.
Whoever asks at these times will have his prayer certainly accepted.
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The Secret of Rabbi Akiva Before His Death, Revealed by Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli
Tehillim 9:11
— “Ve-yivtechu vecha yode’ei shemecha, ki lo azavta dorshecha Adonai” — (“Those who know Your Name will trust in You, for You have not forsaken those who seek You, O L-rd”).
David HaMelech encoded in this psalm the eighth of the 72 Names of Ha-Shem, hidden in three pesukim of the Torah describing the Jewish people’s crossing of the Yam Suf. In the sofei tevot (final letters) of the 11th pasuk of this psalm, we find the Name
כה׳׳ת - וְיִבְטְחוּ בְךָ, יוֹדְעֵי שְׁמֶךָ: כִּי לֹא-עָזַבְתָּ דֹרְשֶׁיךָ יְהוָה
— “Azavta dorshecha Adonai.”
This Name possesses the power to save from enemies—both physical and spiritual—who seek to cause harm. Reading this psalm with kavanah for the Name—כה׳׳ת—is a segula for protection from enemies and the yetzer hara; it is a saving Name whose power helps a person escape their oppression.
The Sages call this Name “Takeh,” from the Hebrew word meaning “to strike.”
Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli teaches that this Name is also encoded in Tehillim 150—in the roshei tevot, the initial letters of the first three words:
כֹּל הַנְּשָׁמָה, תְּהַלֵּל יָהּ: הַלְלוּ-יָהּ – כהת
— “Kol haneshama tehalel Yah, Halleluyah” — (“Let every soul praise the L-rd, Halleluyah”).
Rabbi Shimshon teaches that this Name follows the Name שד׳׳י—which is written in our mezuzot. On the reverse side of the mezuzah parchment, only one word is written: the Name שד׳׳י, which protects the home—the acronym of the phrase “Shomer Daltot Yisrael” (“Guardian of the doors of Israel”). It removes שד—“shed” (an impure force)—from the home through the letter י, for the letter י symbolizes the revelation of the Divine Presence.
He further reveals that if one takes the letters שדי and looks at the letters that follow them in the alphabet (after ש comes ת, after ד comes ה, and after י comes כ), one discovers that they form the Name תכ׳׳ה. Therefore, Rabbi Shimshon teaches: “Ve-aryeh Shaddai betzarecha”—that when a person is in danger, protective forces stand opposite him: the Name שד׳׳י itself and the letters that follow it, forming the Name תכ׳׳ה.
In addition, Rabbi Shimshon reminds us that Moshe Rabbeinu used this very Name to kill the Egyptian. When he saw two Jews fighting, he said to one of them: “Rasha, lama takeh rei’echa”—“Wicked one, why would you strike your fellow?” In other words: stop—what are you doing, striking a fellow Jew? I already killed the Egyptian with this Name—“Takeh.”
Rabbi Akiva Through this Name, one of the secrets of Tractate Berachot, folio 66, is revealed. It describes the final hours of Rabbi Akiva’s life and how, while being tortured, he recited the Shema. His students witnessed this terrifying scene and asked their teacher: “Rabbeinu, ad kan?” Rabbi Akiva replied that throughout his life, when reciting these words, he had longed to fulfill them: “to love G-d with all his heart.” Why did the students ask Rabbi Akiva “ad kan”—“until now”? Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli revealed that in fact Rabbi Akiva recited only the first part of the Shema, ending with the words “Baruch Shem Kevod…”
Rabbi Akiva—the teacher of the great Rashbi, who revealed the entire Hidden Torah—knew the secret meaning of the Shema. He knew that in the next line of the Shema, “Ve’ahavta et Adonai Elohecha”—את יהוה אלהיך—the sofei tevot of the three words encode the Name of the Almighty—כה׳׳ת. With this Name Rabbi Akiva could have freed himself and killed his executioners, but he knew that the sentence had to be carried out, because he knew that he was the gilgul of one of Yosef’s ten brothers (according to the Midrash, Yissachar).
Tehillim 9 – Rabbi Akiva’s Secret Before His Death, Revealed by Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropoli