The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

298 A form of exchanging one’s sins by giving money to char- ity was performed by the Rav, based on the teachings of the Rashash . The Rav would take 160 pure silver coins, and redeem the person from iniquity. The number 160 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word for eitz (tree) kesef (money) and tzelem (image.) The analogy of a person to a tree is recorded in the Torah, and by giving money, one recti¿es his image of G-d that he sullied by sinning. The Rav would perform this redemption in the predawn hours of the morning, right before sunrise, as this is a time of tremendous Divine favor. Many sick people were healed by the use of this redemption. On the morning preceding Yom Kippur, the Rav would perform the customary pidiyon kaparot (redemption of sins,) using eighteen shekalim for each person who asked him to do so for them. For himself, the Rav would use a live rooster, as mentioned in Halachic and Kabbalistic sources. This was done after the Morning Prayers. A shochet (ritual slaughterer) would come to the home of the Rav and slaughter the rooster before his eyes. The Rav explained that the atonement for one’s sins comes from realizing that the slaughtering done to the rooster was actually meant for the owner, due to his many sins. This realization is what brings one to complete repentance. On Shabbat, the Rav followed the custom of the Kabbalists who circle their table and to smell myrtle branches before the meal. Similarly, the Rav would read several chapters of mish- nayot from the Tractate of Shabbat. Most of the meal was spent learning from excerpts of the Zohar as well as singing zemirot in honor of the Shabbat. His intake of food was small even on Shabbat. The table he ate on was square and had four corners, representing the altar in the Holy Temple. It is well known that the Babi Sali worked miracles, often by distributing drinks from his bottle of arak . I saw an amulet writ- ten by Harav Kadouri which uses the Hebrew word of arak , ap- parently having some alternate meaning and referring to a holy name. It would seem that this was the reason that the Babi Sali used this drink.