Yitzchak Kaduri

The great Mekubal - Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri was born in Baghdad. His father, Katchouri Diba ben Aziza, was a spice merchant. In his youth, Kaduri excelled in his studies and began learning Kabbalah while still a teenager. He was a student of Rabbi Yosef Hayun and studied at the Zilkha Yeshiva in Baghdad. He moved to Eretz Yisrael in 1923 and changed his name from Diba to Kaduri. In Israel he went to study at the kabbalistic yeshiva "Shoshanim LeDavid" - for immigrants from Iraq. There he studied under the leading kabbalists of the time, including Rabbi Yehuda Petaya, author of "Minchat Yehuda," and Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer, author of "Kaf HaChaim." Later he studied Talmud at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, where he also studied Kabbalah with the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Ezra Attia, as well as with Rabbi Salman Eliyahu (father of the former Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu). He worked as a binder of holy books, and before returning each one to its owner, he would study it thoroughly. Later, his children helped him establish the Nachalat Yitzchak Yeshiva. The Blessing of the Ben Ish Chai When the great Sephardic Rabbi, the Ben Ish Chai, received the young prodigy from Baghdad, Yitzchak Kaduri, none of those present expected the famous rabbi to devote so much time to the young man. Their private conversation lasted several hours. Ninety years later, Rav Kaduri, the oldest and most respected of the kabbalists of the Holy Land, told the Chief Rabbi of France, Rabbi Sitruk, that the Ben Ish Chai had given him three blessings – that he would live a very long life, that he would remain healthy until the day he died, and that he would merit to see the Mashiach. As for the secrets and mysteries of the Torah that were transmitted to him at that meeting, Rav Kaduri chose to keep silent. All the blessings came true: Rav Kaduri passed away on January 29, 2006, at the age of 108, having managed without doctors' help until the final weeks of his life. Before his death he regained consciousness and asked to be left alone with his four closest students. He then said the following: "If kabbalists study what I have said in these last months concerning the coming of the Mashiach, they will find his name hidden within my words, which was revealed to me on the 9th of Cheshvan 5764 (November 11, 2003). On that very day I merited to meet him face to face. He is here, he is among us, but he will not come forward and say, 'I am the Mashiach, follow me.' The kabbalists must uncover him among the 'hidden' words, and after that the people of Israel must ask the Mashiach to become king." He then lapsed back into unconsciousness, but woke again a few minutes later and whispered into the ear of one of his students the esoteric code for revealing the name. The students refuse to say to whom exactly he gave the code. In Israel, the name of Rav Kaduri is wrapped in an atmosphere of mystery and reverence. And although many Ashkenazi rabbis regard his miracles with a certain degree of skepticism, among ordinary people, especially those of Eastern origin, his authority as a miracle-worker is unquestioned. Countless legends and extraordinary stories are told about him. The Miracle Worker One of the colorful members of a Moroccan synagogue, a stout and loud-voiced man named Avner, used to come to prayers accompanied by three daughters. Three more waited at home with his wife, just as statuesque and loud-voiced as her husband. Avner greeted his first and second daughters with adoration, the third with a certain unease, and after the sixth he became truly agitated… "A girl," he complained, "is known to be a sign that a boy will be born after her. But how many signs can there be – where is my heir?! Who will say Kaddish for me after I die, who will carry on my family name?!" I did my best to comfort the inconsolable father, but no explanations or persuasion had any effect on Avner. He greeted his wife's seventh pregnancy with wary anxiety, and when a test performed due to the mother's age showed that it was another girl, he fell into complete despair. Then someone advised him to go to Rav Kaduri. "Why?" his wife objected. "The child won't turn into a boy now, so why stand in a huge line and bother the venerable elder for nothing?" "For you it's nothing," Avner boiled over, "but for me it's everything! That's it, tomorrow I'm going to Jerusalem." He stood in the entire line, told Rav Kaduri his problem, and the rabbi, placing a slightly trembling hand on his head, expressed the wish that in six months Avner would invite him to a brit milah. The happy father flew home on wings of joy. "Nonsense," his wife scolded him. "As always, you got it all mixed up and explained something wrong to the Rav. Or he meant not six months but a year and a half – it can't happen any sooner." "Be quiet, woman," Avner said sternly. "Whatever Rav Kaduri said, that's how it will be." "We'll see," his wife chuckled ironically. Six months later, right before Yom Kippur, she gave birth successfully and almost painlessly to… a boy. When asked in bewilderment, the doctors answered evasively and cautiously, explaining what had happened by equipment inaccuracy, statistical probability of error, and other elaborate medical phrases. Avner's joy knew no bounds. He went to invite Rav Kaduri to the brit accompanied by a crowd of relatives and friends. The Rav listened to the invitation and blessed the boy, but did not come to the brit. Instead, Avner hung a huge photograph of the kabbalist on the wall in front of the mohel. (Yaakov Shechter, "Lechaim") Kameot (Amulets) It is known that Rav Kaduri was an expert in kameot (amulets) - he learned the kabbalistic secrets of amulets from his teacher, Rabbi Yehuda Petaya. Thanks to his amulets, thousands of Jews were saved. Once Rav Kaduri was asked whether there was an amulet against cancer. He replied that he had searched and found none, since this is a "gezeirah mi-Shamayim" (a heavenly decree). But he added that a very good remedy to protect oneself from it, and from other troubles, is to recite "Pitum HaKetoret." This is written in the holy book of the Zohar, in the portion of Vayakhel. (https://silatehilim.com/7092-2/)