The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

231 Building the arch over the tombstones “Make the monument of the Rav and his Rabbanit a work to be proud of,” I said. As an afterthought, I added, “We ¿nd that the Chiram, King of Tyre, sold to King Solo- mon gigantic timbers of cedar, to be used in building the Holy Temple. Although he was a non-Jew, and got paid in full, he merited entering the gates of Paradise for his contribution. How much more so,” I told the contractors, “will you be wor- thy of entering Paradise for beautifying the site of the Rav. Who can fathom the reward waiting for you in the world to come? Don’t despise your manual labor. Instead, make it a work of love, do it sincerely and be upright, and you will get paid ‘in full’ in the next world. By doing good work, you will show that you understand this concept.” Because I am acquainted with those who lovingly donate for this cause, out of love for the Rav, I have another thought to add. This is how our master and teacher, Harav Ovadiah Yosef, once explained the verse, “G-d is your shadow, following on your right side.” He explained: When a person walks down the street, his shadow follows him wherever he goes. Every act he does is copied by his shadow. If he lifts his hand, the shadow lifts his. If he opens his hand, the shadow mirrors his action. Similarly, G-d mirrors our actions. If He sees a person open his wallet and stretch out his hand to the needy, in the Heavens up above He does so too. G-d acts with each person according to their actions. And if G-d forbid one closes his ¿st and does not give, unfortunately G-d does too, just like a shadow. May G-d open our hearts and help us to be generous people, doing acts of kindness, and may we be from those who give and not from those who need to take, Amen.