Benayahu ben Yehoyada

Benayahu ben Yehoyada – the great military commander of two Kings of Israel – David and Shlomo. Yahrzeit - 20th of Elul Burial place - Biriya, Israel The residents of the town of Biriya, where the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada is located, according to a tradition preserved among them, hold the Yahrzeit/Hillula of the great commander every Rosh Chodesh Adar. He was the son of Yehoyada HaKohen. Benayahu had a son named Amizavad, who helped him manage the military divisions, since his father was the Minister of the Army of King David, which was divided into 12 divisions, so that each would serve King David for one month. Benayahu was responsible for the 3rd month (Sivan). He was also the 12th head of the Sanhedrin during the reign of King David. Benayahu was a kabbalist and known for his meditations in "Yichudim." It is said in Shmuel II (23:20): "And Benayahu ben Yehoyada, the son of a valiant man (Ben Ish Chai), great in his deeds, from Kavtze'el; he struck down two heroes of Moab; he also went down and slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day. He also killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear, and he went down to him with a staff, and wrested the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did Benayahu ben Yehoyada, and had a name among the three mighty men. He was more honored than the thirty, but he did not attain to the first three; and David set him over his guard." The Zohar on Benayahu ben Yehoyada The Zohar HaKadosh (1:7a) states: "Benayahu never departed from the walls of David's heart. There will never be separation between them." According to the Zohar HaKadosh, Benayahu ben Yehoyada was the most important of the 30 Tzadikim that existed in the world. The name Benayahu comes from the word "binah" – understanding. The gematria of his name בניהו = 73, which is also the gematria of the word "chochmah" – חכמה (wisdom) = 73 – implying that he fully utilized his mind. The Arizal teaches that Benayahu ben Yehoyada is the rectification (tikkun) of Eliezer (the servant of Avraham). The name בניהו literally means "son of Yehu", where Yehu represents the first three letters of the Name of G-d – Havaya (yud, hei, vav). His father's name, Yehoyada – יהוידע – literally means "the one who knows Yehu." Thus, the Arizal teaches, the soul of Eliezer reincarnated into both father and son. The first part of his name, בנ, is a connotation of the fullness of the essential Name of G-d, Havaya, which corresponds to the sefirah of Malchut (Kingship) and the Oral Torah. Together, the two parts of his name signify that he was the one who added the lower wisdom, the wisdom of the Oral Torah, to the first three letters of the essential Name of G-d, which correspond to the Heavenly, Written Torah. Indeed, his full name בניהו בן יהוידע בן איש חי equals in gematria 611, which equals the gematria of the word Torah – תורה. The Zohar states that two Temples existed in the merit of Benayahu ben Yehoyada; his entire generation received Shefa (abundance) through him, and after his passing, the "flow from above" ceased.   Commander of King David King David divided the Jewish people into twelve groups, each of which served him and fought with him in wars for one month each year, and he covered their expenses. Each division consisted of only twenty-four thousand men, since David chose only strong warriors and wealthy men who could leave their affairs to serve the King; he did not take poor men, who had to support themselves. Each division had one commander. Benayahu ben Yehoyada was responsible for overseeing the 3rd month (Sivan) and its twenty-four thousand members. Benayahu was more important than the other heads, and retained the additional title of "Minister of the Army." His son Amizavad helped him lead the army.   How the Grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada Was Found Rabbi Chaim Vital was sent by his teacher the Arizal to perform the "Yichudim" meditation at the graves of Abaye and Rava in Ovnit. When he returned, he was surprised that the Arizal stood up in his honor, greeted him, extended his right hand, and was very glad to see him. When Rabbi Chaim Vital asked the reason for his teacher's strange behavior, the Arizal replied that he had stood up in honor of the soul of Benayahu ben Yehoyada, which had accompanied Rabbi Chaim Vital. Three months later, the Arizal and his students passed by a certain place, and the Ari pointed to a pile of stones, saying that he saw with Ruach HaKodesh that the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada was there. Rabbi Chaim Vital recalled that on his way to the grave of Abaye and Rava, needing to rest, he had sat on that very same pile of stones and practiced the "Yichud" that his teacher had given him. As the Arizal said, it was through the power of that "Yichud" that Benayahu had joined Chaim Vital. Ashmedai and the Shamir Worm When King Shlomo needed the Shamir worm to build the Temple, he ordered Benayahu ben Yehoyada to capture Ashmedai (king of the demons). For this purpose, the king gave him a chain and a ring, upon which the Divine Name was engraved. He also gave him a bundle of sheep's wool and flasks filled with wine. Benayahu went to the mountain and found Ashmedai's well. He dug a second pit beneath it, drilled a hole in the bottom of the well, and diverted the water into the lower pit. Then Benayahu filled Ashmedai's pit with wine and covered the hole with the bundle of wool that Shlomo had given him. Returning that evening, Ashmedai found wine in his pit and was very surprised. He did not want to drink the wine (fearing he might be poisoned), but overcome by thirst, he could not resist, drank it, and fell asleep. Then Benayahu descended from the tree where he had been hiding and fastened the chain around Ashmedai's neck. Waking up and finding himself in chains, Ashmedai desperately tried to break free. "Stop," Benayahu shouted at him. "Upon you is the Name of the Most High, your Master!" Ashmedai allowed Benayahu to bring him to King Shlomo, but along the way he was overtaken by a spirit of destruction: he broke trees and demolished houses. When they passed by the hut of a poor widow, she begged him not to destroy her hut. Ashmedai took pity on her, but turned away so sharply in frustration that he broke his own collarbone. "How true are the words of Shlomo!" he exclaimed. "A soft tongue breaks the bone." (Mishlei 25:15) (The demon meant that his strength had yielded to the gentle pleas of the poor widow.) Then they passed a blind man groping for his way, and Ashmedai helped him. He also helped a drunkard who was walking along the road. When they passed a wedding procession, Ashmedai wept, and upon hearing a man order a cobbler, "Make me shoes that will last seven years and not tear," he burst out laughing. He was also greatly amused by a magician demonstrating his sorcery. Then they arrived in Jerusalem and, after waiting three days, were received by King Shlomo. After the audience with King Shlomo, Benayahu asked Ashmedai about his strange behavior along the way. "Why did you help the blind man?" he asked. "I heard in Heaven," Ashmedai replied, "that this man is a tzadik gamur (a completely righteous man). Anyone who helps him will receive a share in the World to Come." "But why did you need to help the drunkard find his way?" asked Benayahu. "I heard it proclaimed in Heaven," replied the king of demons, "that he is a rasha gamur (a complete sinner). By doing him a kindness, I repaid him for all the good deeds he may have done in his life. Therefore, he will receive his punishment in the World to Come in full." "And why did you weep when you saw the bride and groom?" "I know that the groom is destined to die within a month, and his wife will remain a widow for twelve years." "And why," Benayahu continued to ask, "did you laugh at the man who told the cobbler to make him shoes that would last seven years?" "Because I know," answered Ashmedai, "that he will not live even seven days." "And what amused you so much in the words of the magician we passed?" asked Benayahu. Ashmedai replied: "He claimed to know about events happening at the edge of the world, when in fact he doesn't even know that a treasure is buried right beneath his feet!" Benayahu did not ask about the houses and trees that Ashmedai destroyed along the way, for he knew that demons are destroyers by nature. But that a demon could help someone seemed strange to him. From Ashmedai's answers, Shlomo and his advisors learned much of importance: it turns out that demons are endowed with the ability to harm people who believe they stand firmly and confidently on the ground. But they come to the aid of the poor and humble, as well as the righteous, for whom the World to Come is destined. The Queen of Sheba When the Queen of Sheba came to visit King Solomon, he sent Benayahu ben Yehoyada to greet her. Benayahu was so handsome that the queen thought he was the king himself. Here is how his beauty is described: "He is like a special light that rises and shines in the morning, like the radiant star of Venus among the other stars, and like a rose growing by streams of water." The Milk of the Lioness Once, when the King of Persia was gravely ill, the physicians told him that his only hope was to drink the milk of a lioness. In despair, he asked for help from the wise King Shlomo, who assigned Benayahu ben Yehoyada to find the milk of a lioness. Benayahu took 10 goats, found the lioness's den, and each day came to her with 1 goat, gradually accustoming the lioness to himself. After 10 days, the lioness allowed her benefactor to approach, and Benayahu was able to obtain milk from her. [Midrash Tehillim, 49] Ben Ish Chai When the Ben Ish Chai visited the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada as a pilgrim, he underwent a profound spiritual illumination, and great kabbalistic secrets were revealed to him. Concluding that he was a gilgul (reincarnation) of Benayahu ben Yehoyada, he named all his books in his honor, including "Ben Ish Chai," "Ben Ish Chayil," "Rav Poalim," and others. Benayahu ben Yehoyada is buried in Biriya in northern Israel, near Tzfat. For a long time, the location of his burial place was unknown, until the Ari HaKadosh revealed it to his student Chaim Vital. In "Kitvei Ari" there are special meditations that can be performed at the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada. The residents of the town of Biriya, where the grave of Benayahu ben Yehoyada is located, according to a tradition preserved among them, hold the Yahrzeit/Hillula of the great commander every Rosh Chodesh Adar.   Segulot at the Grave of the Tzadik   1. Today, mekubalim perform Tikkunim with "Shir HaShirim" at the grave of the Tzadik;

2. A segula to pray for the soldiers of the IDF, and for victory in legal proceedings.

  May the merit of the righteous Benayahu ben Yehoyada protect our people!   (From a trip to the graves of the Tzadikim with the Yeshiva "Yodei Bina")