Rabbi Raphael Encaoua

Rabbi Raphael ben Mordechai Encaoua (1848–1935)

When you connect with a tzadik, you connect with his mazal. Even non-Jews come to a tzadik because they feel this connection with the tzadik.

It is known from the Kabbalists that the middle line on the hand is the line of the neshama - the line of mazal - it begins at the base of the palm (the root) and, crossing all the other lines, rises up to the fingers - it is responsible for the mind, for luck, for the soul.

For women it is on the left hand; for men, on the right.

Sometimes, in the children of wealthy people, this line begins slightly off to the side - this indicates that all his luck came to him through the merit (zechut) of his father or grandfather - the merit of his ancestors.

Sometimes the line breaks off and then continues.

The Mekubalim teach that there is a concept called "kav melave" - (the accompanying line) - this thread that follows you, connects you to a tzadik and protects your mazal. You can see it on the hand - if you look, the line of the neshama runs along - then it stops, and, shifting slightly, another line continues - this is the "kav melave" - the accompanying thread - this is the secret of the connection either with a tzadik or with some powerful righteous ancestor who accompanies you. This is precisely why children are named after tzadikim - then the tzadik connects with the person and protects him.

Once, a woman who had serious problems came to a certain Rav, and he asked to see her left hand - upon seeing a portrait of Rabbi Encaoua on her hand, he asked: do you have a connection to Rabbi Raphael Encaoua?

She said: no, I follow the Ashkenazi tradition - I'm from Bnei Brak - I follow the Chofetz Chaim. He said - no, I see that you have a strong connection to this tzadik.

Then she said that her father is Moroccan - maybe he could explain. The Rav asked for her father's phone number and called him.

The Rav asked the father the same question about his connection to the tzadik, and the father was surprised - how did he know? The Rav said he had seen a portrait of the tzadik on his daughter's hand and explained that everything in his life came from the blessing (bracha) of Rav Encaoua.

The father then admitted that he had a very strong connection to the tzadik, and told him that every time his mother became pregnant with another child, she would miscarry.

Among Moroccan Jews there is a tradition - if a woman is prone to miscarriages, she would go to the "Chevra Kadisha" - the burial society - and make an agreement: from today, this child is yours, and together we will make a "machluf" - we will exchange his mazal - you give him the name of any tzadik. This preserved the life of the fetus, and the child was born safely.

His mother did just that, and the Chevra Kadisha drew up a bill of sale with her and named the child after Raphael Encaoua. And indeed, the child was born and survived. This was he - the father of that woman.

When he was 20 years old, he went into the army. One of his army friends invited him to go out and have fun on Shabbat, when he was home on leave - he tried to refuse as best he could, saying he was Shomer Shabbat and couldn't go, but his friend pressured him... On Shabbat night, when everyone had gone to sleep, he climbed out the window and ran off to the party.

When he returned toward morning, he saw his mother sitting on a chair, waiting for him. When he asked why she wasn't asleep, his mother answered: "I know everything - you desecrated Shabbat today. The tzadik Raphael Encaoua came to me in a dream and was strangling me - he said: a son who bears my name and carries my mazal desecrates Shabbat??? This is an avera gedola - a tremendous sin."

After this incident, he did complete teshuva, to such an extent that his "kav melave" passed on to his daughter as well.

Segula at the Tzadik's Resting Place

The resting place of Rabbi Raphael HaMalach in Salé (Cimetière juif de Salé).

(based on a lesson by Gaon Rabbi Yehuda Tourjeman)