Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Avraham HaKohen HaItamari of Izmir – author of "Midrash Talpiyot", "Shevet Mussar".
Yahrzeit - 8 Adar
Resting place - Izmir, Turkey
In "Shem HaGedolim" it is written: "Rabbi Eliyahu HaKohen of Izmir wrote nearly 40 books and through his public lectures turned many away from sin."
Once he was looking for his prayer belt to tie before praying. Unable to find it, he finally noticed a black cord on the floor, bent down, picked it up, and tied it around his waist. After Rabbi Eliyahu finished his prayers, he began to untie the cord – it suddenly unwound and slipped out of his hands. It turned out that the "cord" he had worn throughout the prayer was in fact a real venomous snake.
In memory of this miracle, Rabbi Eliyahu named the next book he wrote "Ezer Eliyahu" (Eliyahu's Helper).
Whenever the Chassidic Rebbe Moshe of Kobrin told this story, he always added the following:
"Actually, it is not so great a miracle that the snake did not strangle or bite the Rabbi. No living creature can harm a person who has not damaged his 'Tzelem Elokim' – the Divine image. For it is written: "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the sky, upon all that moves upon the ground and upon all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered." (Bereishit 9:2)
And the fact that the snake did not try to free itself while Rabbi Eliyahu was praying is also not surprising; the snake was afraid of the tzadik, so it remained completely still.
What is truly astonishing in this story is the greatness of Rabbi Eliyahu. In his immense devotion to G-d, even before he began to pray, he did not notice that the 'cord' he had picked up was not a cord at all, but a living snake." (Yerachmiel Tilles, from "Stories My Grandfather Told" by Zev Greenwald)
"Midrash Talpiyot" contains 926 sections – corresponding to the gematria of the word "talpiyot".
The Earth and the Human Organs
In the book "Midrash Talpiyot" (Anaf Eretz Yisrael) we find a wonderful comparison of the entire planet Earth to the human body, where countries correspond to the head, arms, legs, kidneys, liver, lungs, and so on. Eretz Yisrael is the soul of the whole earth; its essence is not gold or other minerals, but the Shechina, the Divine Presence. (Adam Davidov on Shlach)
The Lion
Midrash Talpiyot teaches that the lion's strength is in its eyes, and if someone throws a piece of cloth (from a garment) into a lion's eyes, its strength will be weakened.
If we look at the word "lion" in Hebrew – אריה (aryeh) – we see that it contains the same letters as the word רואה ("sees"). The lion's name reveals where its strength lies – in its sight.
It is known that the lion is the king of beasts. And if we see that the King's strength is in his eyes, it turns out that his entire reign flows from his vision.
This teaches us that one who guards his eyes from forbidden things, and who maintains the sanctity of his vision, will attain kingship. (Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi)
The Book of Adam
Rabbi Eliyahu HaKohen of Izmir (Smyrna), in his book "Midrash Talpiyot," writes that he saw the "Book of Adam" belonging to a certain "physician and philosopher," translated into the "Christian language" (for a resident of Turkey, this was undoubtedly Greek). The book indicated which days and hours were governed by which angels, and revealed the secrets of the solstices and the oppositions of the Earth and Sun... "And this is a wonder," Rav Eliyahu HaKohen adds reverently.
Dybbuk
In the book "Minchat Eliyahu" he described how a possessing soul (dybbuk) spoke before the assembled community, and he recorded the beginning of its speech:
"This story happened in August 1688. A spirit entered a woman. Eight months before it became known that a spirit was in her, she was ill, and the physicians wore themselves out searching for a cure for her.
And so, one day, when I entered the courtyard where that woman sat, she fell down and began muttering incessantly. When I saw this, I understood that an evil spirit was within her. At midday I came to her accompanied by people, and as soon as she saw them, she fell just as before. Then I, threatening the spirit with excommunication, commanded it to say who it was and why it had tormented the heart of a daughter of Israel for so long.
And it said: 'I am Avraham Shneur de Coronieel, who committed suicide, for the time of my wedding had come and I had no money for its expenses, and I chose death out of shame. And now I have no rest. When my soul departed, it was sent to kaf hakela, to Gehinnom, and tens of thousands of wicked ones came out to meet it with fiery rods, and began pushing me. And they said: "Leave, defiled one." And my soul wanders the world, pursued by destroying angels.'
Terrible. One who commits suicide must know that he has no portion in the World to Come (Rambam, Hilchot Rotzeach, 2:2), and he is not even brought into Gehinnom. In the end, the holy gaon rectified this soul. But before that he asked it questions and received instructive answers. Here is one of them.
I asked it about the size of the spirit, and it answered: it all depends on one's spirituality. Its spirit is like a small nut. And there are spirits smaller than it."
It sends chills down one's spine.
A person departs into the world of the Holy One, blessed be He, proud, standing tall, six feet in height — but that six feet he leaves behind here. What rises upward — a sesame seed? A poppy seed?
Our forefather Avraham was "a great man among giants." In Shunem there was a "great woman," G-d-fearing. Their personalities are great. Rabbi Brona, Rabbi Shmuel, Rabbi Eliezer, and Levi were called "great men" because of their personalities.
But there are those who are like a nut. Yet they have one consolation: "There are spirits smaller than them." It pains the heart. (Maayan HaEmuna)
Shevet Mussar
Once Rabbi Bunim of Peshischa came to his Rav – the Seer of Lublin – with eyes red from weeping. When the Chozeh of Lublin asked, "What happened?" Rabbi Bunim answered that he was crying because he had been deeply touched to the core.
The Seer asked: "And what did you do to the one who offended you?"
- "I kissed him," Rabbi Bunim replied.
The Chozeh of Lublin was amazed and asked: "Who was it?"
Rabbi Bunim answered that it was the book "Shevet Mussar" by Rabbi Eliyahu HaKohen HaItamari of Izmir, whose words had moved him to tears. And when he finished reading, before returning the book, he kissed it.
7 Adar and the Lot of Haman
https://silatehilim.com/7-адара-жребий-амана-или-почему-в-пурим/
Shir HaShirim on Erev Shabbat - Tikkun Shlomo HaMelech
https://silatehilim.com/шир-а-ширим-в-эрев-шабат-или-тикун-шломо/
(From the book "Branch of the Tree of the Fathers" - commentary on Pirkei Avot by Rav Ovadia Yosef)
