The Wonders of Harav Yitzchack Kadouri

90 His friend stood there shocked, not making a sound. Then he began to cry. Shaking, he said, “Please…not the police!” He then began to explain his actions. “My family is going through a dif¿cult time. A crazy thought entered my head, and I saw a way to help my parents out. Please forgive me. Please forgive me from the bottom of your heart.” Immediately, this friend went to his room and returned the money. “This story sends shivers up and down my spine,” said Rav Metzger. “Who else besides The Rav could know such a thing?” The Rav was a holy man, his whole life devoted to purity and sanctity. Without fear that he made a mistake or doubting the mat- ter, he told the boy to open the paper and uncover the thief. Thank G-d, all’s well that ends well. The money was returned, and the thief was forgiven. Since then, the young student kept the story to himself, not wanting to embarrass his friend. Baking matzot In the beautiful streets of Jerusalem, on Ussishkin Street near the apartment of the Rav’s daughter and her husband (liyahu /evi, lies the matzah baking factory of Rav Raphael Cheeba. It opens its doors only once a year, shortly before the festival of Passover. Its cream-colored walls are ador- ned with pictures of the Rav. It was here that the Rav would personally bake matzoth every year, for himself and his family, for dozens of years. Rav Raphael recounts: One year, the Rav did not come. He would usually arrive on a certain day, and to my chagrin, he was no where to be seen. I didn’t un- derstand what happened, but I didn’t have the courage either to call and ask why. /ater in the afternoon, the Rav came with his whole entourage. I approached his son, Rav David, and asked him, “Why did you come so late?” He answered that they had made arrangements for the Rav to bake his matzot in another factory, for the sake of change. When the Rav entered the other factory and realized that it was not the one he customarily baked in, he Rolling out the matzah for the festival of Passover