Segula for Rosh Chodesh Nisan for Parnassah and All Salvation
A great segula for Rosh Chodesh Nisan has been handed down to us. Serach, the grandmother of the great Iraqi Kabbalist Rabbi Sasson Mordechai, transmitted a minhag that had been passed down through the generations of their family. Rabbi Sasson Mordechai was the maternal grandmother of the Ben Ish Chai’s uncle. According to the tradition of the mekubalim, he received revelations from Eliyahu HaNavi, the three Patriarchs, and Ezra HaSofer. He was born in 1717 in Baghdad, Iraq, into one of Iraq’s most privileged families. From childhood, he diligently studied Torah. At the age of 15, he accompanied the great Kabbalist Rabbi Simcha, who had come from the Land of Israel to Iraq to pray at the grave of Yehoshua ben Jehozadak, who had served as the Kohen Gadol in the Second Temple and was buried near Baghdad. After the Kabbalist completed his visit, he blessed him to become a great leader and sage, and from that time onward he became like an overflowing spring. In addition to the Ben Ish Chai, this segula was also practiced by other great tzadikim: Rabbi Yoel Sirkis—the Bach, and Rabbi Shlomo of Radomsk. Rosh Chodesh Nisan is the beginning of all the months of the year. The minhag on Rosh Chodesh Nisan is to take 12 coins (if the current or coming year is a leap year, then 13 coins on Alef Adar and Bet Adar). The coins should be white (symbolizing Chesed), each with a denomination of 1 shekel (or the equivalent currency in the country where one lives). Place them in a glass vessel containing a large amount of olive oil (it may be mixed half-and-half with water, but it is better not to), and light a candle lekhvod Rosh Chodesh. Allow the oil to warm slightly, and then add the 12 coins to it. Then recite the following short prayer: יהי רצון שייפתחו לי שערי פרנסה ושפע בזכות החודש הזה- “Yehi ratzon sheyiftachu li sha'arei parnasa veshefa bizchut hachodesh hazeh” — (May it be Your will that the gates of sustenance and abundance open for me in the merit of this month.)
