The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

181 Harav Beniyahu Shemueli shlita The Rav opened a yeshiva here and established its syllabus, the Talmud and its codi¿ers in the morning hours, and the study of Kabbalah in the afternoon, to prompt and hasten the ¿nal redemption. How much did the Rav request and demand of us to pray with the prayer book of the saintly Rashash. Thank G-d, he saw his students establish themselves as Rabbis and Kabbalists, upright and devout Jews, fortunate is he and fortunate is his lot. Who is not coming forward to greet him on his journey up Above? The Rashash, certainly is, so too all of the tzaddikim from Yeshivat Beit E-l, the Kabbalists from Yeshivat Porat Yosef, and at their head their teacher, Rabbi Saliman Eliyahu zt”l, whom the Rav studied with day and night. The Rav told me that he would read the Adra Rabbah (a portion of the Zohar) with Rabbi Saliman Eliyahu every Friday night. I asked the Rav, why did he pick that section to learn? He answered that by doing so, they reviewed the entire Eitz Chaim, as the Rav (Rav Eliyahu) knew all of the teachings of the Kabbalah by heart, and expounded upon it as they read the Adra Rabbah together. The Rav was able to serve the greatest Rabbis of the previous generations. Thus who wouldn’t come forward to greet the Rav? How the Rav would honor and greet each and every Jew, with such a pleasant and warm reception! He dealt with each one, according to their situation. I am personally aware of the humility that the Rav displayed towards others…He would read every letter which came to his house, with its accompanying plea for a blessing, and write down the name of the person and then pray for them. What patience! Once, a letter arrived and was torn into little shreds by mistake. He took the pieces and sat down to try to piece it together…What tremendous character we saw! What a burning desire to learn Torah he had! Whenever I would visit him, I would ¿nd him sitting with a book, studying from it. He would learn and learn…That was all he had and all he wanted from life. Nothing else held his interest or focused his attention, besides learning Torah. He put so much effort into building the Yeshiva here, along with his son, only in order to increase the glory of Heaven, and to hasten the redemption. It is well known that the learning of the Zohar and the Kabbalah can hasten the redemption. This was his whole focus and purpose in life.