A Prayer Before Surgery: The Miracle of Rabbi Kaduri’s Blessing

“Rabbi Kaduri placed his hands on my head and, with deep focus, said: ‘All the diseases that I placed upon Egypt, I will not place upon you, for I am Hashem who heals you.’”

“At that moment,” recalls Yehuda Ben Bassat, “I felt shivers go through my whole body, something I had never felt before. Only then was I able to go into surgery with peace of mind, full of trust in Hashem and complete belief in the blessing of this holy tzaddik (righteous man).”

Nineteen years ago, when Yehuda was only 14, he was facing serious surgery for scoliosis, a condition affecting the spine. It was a delicate and dangerous procedure. Any small mistake, G-d forbid, could have led to lifelong paralysis. Yehuda and his family understood how serious this was. That’s why they were determined to receive a blessing from Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri before the operation.

“My father and I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and headed to ‘Nachalat Yitzchak,’ the Rabbi’s yeshiva in Jerusalem,” he says. “After morning prayers, the shamash (synagogue attendant) motioned for me to wait by the exit door. A while later, I saw the honored Rabbi approaching, surrounded by people kissing his tallit (prayer shawl) like it was a holy Torah scroll.”

Rabbi Kaduri blessed Yehuda with great concentration. Then Yehuda returned home, holding tightly to the power of that moment.

When the time came, Yehuda was admitted for surgery. It lasted seven long hours. “I don’t remember anything from the surgery,” he shares, “but my parents told me that while they waited outside, they lit a special candle that had Rabbi Kaduri’s prayer written on it. The whole time I was unconscious and suspended between heaven and earth, they recited Tehillim (Psalms), poured their hearts into prayers, and asked Hashem to protect me. And as long as the candle burned, my soul seemed to hold on.”

When the surgery was finally over, the professor came out and reassured the family: it had gone well, and there was no danger to Yehuda’s life.

Yehuda was moved to intensive care. The moment he opened his eyes, the first words he spoke were a heartfelt thank you to Hashem.

His parents told him about the candle that had burned throughout his surgery. But when Yehuda asked to see it, the candle was gone. “They searched everywhere and were very upset. Then they remembered that another family, Arab neighbors, had been in the same waiting room. It turned out that they had taken the candle. Apparently, they understood something supernatural had happened, and they wanted to hold on to whatever had brought that blessing.”

From that point on, Yehuda’s health improved dramatically. Today, he is healthy and grateful. To give back, he founded a Facebook page called Zocheh U’Mezakeh, “One who merits and helps others merit” where he shares daily words of encouragement and faith.

“If not for Hashem walking with me through every step, and if not for Rabbi Kaduri’s powerful blessing that protected me,” Yehuda says, “I truly believe I wouldn’t be here today. I feel that I was saved in order to help strengthen others, to bring people closer to Hashem in a gentle and loving way, without them needing to go through the pain that I did.”