The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

110 to lie horizontal, it could not bear fruit. The ‘fruit’ of the Tanna Rabbi Meir who is buried in Tiberias, are his good deeds, in whose merit the Jewish people have witnessed miracles throu- ghout the ages. /ooking straight ahead, one can see the Kinneret (Sea of Ga- lilee) from the grave of Rabbi Meir ‘Ba’al Hanes.’ The Rav’s group would walk to the Kinneret and take a chartered boat to the middle of the lake. According to the Arizal, the miraculous biblical well of Miriam ¿nds it’s reposit in the Kinneret. The center of the well sits in a straight line from the tomb of Rabbi Meir ‘Ba’al Hanes.’ The Rav would lower a bucket at its center and ¿ll it up with water, and the Kabbalists present would all take a drink. A spirit of joy permeated the air, and the group continued on to other places of prayer. At the banks of the Kinneret, the Rav would perform a rite known as the ‘recti¿cation of the almonds.’ Just as an almond is covered by an extraneous shell and one must crack it open in order to eat the fruit, so too, man is some- times encrusted by depression, melancholy, or a spirit of impurity. The group of Kabbalists would immerse in the waters of the Kinneret and say various words of prayer, covering each others’ bare head with their hand (so as to permit the recital of prayer when bareheaded.) They would all dip a certain number of times and then receive ten almonds. The custom of the Arizal was to throw the shells into the water, but the Rav did not let them litter, and so they would save them to be thrown out elsewhere. This whole rite is detailed in the Kabbalist work, Sifsei Chachamim , which was written several hundred years ago. The Rav would urge the assembled Kabbalists to bring some of the almonds home for their family. The joy of the group was almost palpable, and it carried over to their families as well. In his last years As a result of old age and extreme weakness, the Rav could not go on the trip during the last few years of his life. Harav Yosef Chaim Gadol asked the Rav, “Will the Rav come with us tomorrow to visit the Arizal’s grave?” The Rav answered no, and asked for Rav Gadol to go on without him. “Tell the Rav (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai) that I am unable to make it, but I will say the prayers and meditations here in my house.” Rav Gadol continued, “What should I pray for by the grave of the Arizal?”