The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

59 His elevated qualities From amongst the various traits which the Rav was blessed with, it is those that accentuate his holiness which stand in the forefront. His humble and quiet character, coupled with a constant smile, graced his demeanor and added to his shining countenance. He received all visitors, men, women, young and old, with the same radiant smile. As a profession, the Rav would bind religious books. But he did not do as an ordinary bookbinder does, binding the books merely for immediate payment. Before binding each book, the Rav would review the entire book, com- mitting its contents to memory. This would include the footnotes on the bottom of the page, as well as the mar- ginal notes of the owner handwritten in small letters. ,W GLGQ¶W PDWWHU ZKHWKHU WKH VXEMHFW ZDV VLPSOH H[SOD - nations of Torah or deep esoteric concepts. The Rav learnt them all by heart. He committed every footnote and their respective pages to memory. Often, during a shiur (lecture) , a student might misquote one of these books, and the Rav would astound and enlighten him as to the correct reading, without having the book be- fore him. The tzaddik Harav Nissim Teherani shlita, one of WKH 5DY¶V PRVW FDSDEOH VWXGHQWV WHVWL¿HV WKDW PRUH WKDQ RQFH WKH 5DY ZRXOG point out to a student a footnote at the bottom of the page from memory. Binding books One of the more well-known stories involves the dean of Yeshivat Porat Yosef +DUDY (]UD $WWLDK ]W´O 5DY $WWLDK VHQW D UDUH ERRN WR EH ERXQG DQG after two weeks, the book still had not yet been returned to its owner. He VHQW D PHVVHQJHU WR ¿QG RXW ZKDW KDSSHQHG ³7ZR ZHHNV KDYH DOUHDG\ SDVVHG ZLWK WKH ERRN LQ \RXU SRVVHVVLRQ ´ VDLG WKH PHVVHQJHU ³:K\ LV LW WDNLQJ VXFK D ORQJ WLPH"´ 7KH 5DY DQVZHUHG ³3OHDVH WHOO +DUDY $WWLDK DV IROORZV +LV KRQRU NQRZV WKDW , GRQ¶W ELQG D ERRN XQWLO , OHDUQ LW IURP FRYHU WR FRYHU 7KH book that you just sent me requires a great deal of understanding.” Quiet, humble, and always with a smile