(Courtesy of Kollel Chatzos) Just like every year, people “in the know” have been counting down the days and eagerly waiting 10 Shevat. Partially because 10 Shevat, January 15 of 2019, is the yahrtzeit of the holy Reshash. But primarily because 10 Shevat is the day Kollel Chatzos designated to perform Pidyon HaReshash for Yidden in need of yeshuos. Throughout the year, these Yidden anticipate this opportunity with tenacious hope. They know R’ Chaim Vital has said this segulah has brought yeshuos thousands of times. They’ve heard of others who’ve been zoche to yeshuos on this day, and they daven that next year, they too will be part of this fortunate group of “geholfene Yidden,” who’ve been helped in the merit of the pidyon.
Who was Rav Shalom Sharabi? And what is the secret behind his wondrous segulah?
The Reshash, or Rav Shalom Sharabi, zy”a, lived at a time that klal Yisrael was blessed with many illustrious personages. Still, his name rings strong as one of the most eminent mekubalim of his generation. The Reshash served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas HaMekubalim in Beis Kel and was lavishly praised by the Chida and Rav Chaim Palagi. He dedicated himself to elucidating and arranging the kavanos of the Arizal for posterity.
One of the gifts the Reshash gave klal Yisrael was the Pidyon Reshash. While the holy Arizal revealed this powerful pidyon, it was the Reshash who instructed us how to perform this segula. The Sha’arei Rachamim describes the Pidyon Reshash as a segulah received from Eliyahu HaNavi himself.
The Reshash wrote that one should set aside 160 pure silver coins, recite special lengthy kabbalistic tefillos, and donate these coins to talmidei chachamim who are moser nefesh to learn Torah. The 160 coins, equivalent to the numerical value of “eitz,” symbolize man who is likened to a tree, an “eitz” hasadeh. Through this segulah, the person receives a pidyon nefesh; judgment is transferred from the person to the coins and the person receives a new tzelem Elokim.
This segulah is a source of yeshua and hatzlacha. It is astounding to see just how many brachos lie hidden within the segulah. Rav Chaim Vital wrote this person will live the entire year in peace. The renowned kabbalist, Rav Mordechai Sharabi, zt”l, proclaimed, “This is the only cure for the dreaded machala” (in reference to cancer). It is known to bring children, shidduchim, health, parnassa, hatzlacha and more.
While the segulah is potent every time, it is particularly powerful after midnight. When the Ropshitzer Rav was sick, the Ateres Tzvi even wrote to the Zera Kodesh to perform the pidyon after chatzos and “certainly, certainly, certainly, you will merit a yeshua.”
Every year, on 10 Shevat, on the yahrtzeit of the Reshash, the Kollel Chatzos’s talmidei chachamim perform this segulah and distribute the coins amongst the Kollel learners. These talmidei chachamim, who sacrifice their nights for Torah, are the most worthy to perform the pidyon, for they truly personify Torah with mesirus nefesh. They recite the lengthy tefillos individually for each supplicant in the most mehudar way and perform the pidyon at the most opportune time—after chatzos.
And so, every year, after performing the pidyon for Yidden who are longing for yeshuos in the most stellar way possible, the Kollel merits to hear story upon story about individuals whose lives have been transformed by the Pidyon. Just like Reb Chaim Vital predicted.
Because the zechus of Torah is the very best segulah.
