Tehillim 107 for Refuah Shleimah: How Baba Sali Healed with Arak
How Baba Sali Healed with Arak through Tehillim 107
When Baba Sali (zechuto yagen aleinu) was asked to pray for healing, he would recite a pasuk from Tehillim 107:20
יִשְׁלַ֣ח דְּ֭בָרוֹ וְיִרְפָּאֵ֑ם וִֽ֝ימַלֵּ֗ט מִשְּׁחִיתוֹתָֽם
— “Yishlach devaro veyirpa’em, vimalet mishchitotam” — (He sent forth His word and healed them, and delivered them from their graves).
He would then pour arak over the sick person’s affected area (hand, head, back…), directing his kavanah to the rashei tevot—the initial letters of the first words of this phrase ידו “yado” (His hand).
Remarkably, the gematria of the Name באבא סאלי — Baba Sali — is equal to 107, the same as the number of the Tehillim he used to heal people. (A SilaTehilim insight)
Why arak?
All the rabbis from the Abuhatzeira family, beginning with Abir Yaakov (zechuto yagen aleinu), blessed the Jewish people with arak (anise-flavored liquor). Baba Sali once explained that “arak” ערק consists of the same letters as “Kabel Rinat Amecha”—the second pasuk of the well-known prayer “Ana Bekoach”, namely קרע “Kra”—from the phrase “Kra Satan” (“tear apart…”).
There is also a well-known tradition that Baba Sali would cover a bottle of arak with a towel when pouring it for Jews, and the arak would continue flowing for an extraordinarily long time without running out. This was a miracle of blessing and shefa (abundance)… Rabbi Adir Amrocci reveals this secret to us: it turns out that in many Moroccan communities, arak was made not from anis (anise), but from temarim (dates), so that there would be shefa, since tamar is a symbol of shefa. The sages of the Abuhatzeira family bestowed blessings through arak, performing great and holy yichudim and connecting the Holy Shekhinah, which is now in exile, with its Source.
The Mekubalim teach that one who recites Tehillim 107 before Shabbat performs a tikkun for all the days of the week and rectifies his body, soul, and spirit.
(From explanations given during a private trip with Rabbanit Lea Ben Abu, the granddaughter of Baba Sali)
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Tags: Refuah Shleimah, Baba Sali, Tehillim 107, Tehillim 107 – How Baba Sali Healed with Arak, Arak, Tehillim 107 for Refuah Shlemah – How Baba Sali Healed with Arak
