Israeli Kabbalah Mystic Dies

[alicia-w]

JERUSALEM -- Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri, a leader of the Kabbalah school of Jewish mystical thought who wielded great influence over Israeli politics, has died. He was believed to be at least 106.

Kadouri died Saturday of complications from pneumonia after his liver failed during an operation. An estimated 200,000 people filled the streets of Jerusalem on Sunday for his funeral, and he was eulogized by Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

Ultra-orthodox Jews gather during the funeral of Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri in Jerusalem, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006. Kadouri a revered mystic who cursed Saddam Hussein, criticized Madonna and influenced Israeli elections, died of pneumonia and was to be buried Sunday. He was believed to be about 106.

Kadouri's appeal was mostly among Jews of Middle East origin and ultra-Orthodox Jews, but his words could move political mountains.

Katsav, then a little-known parliamentary backbencher, won a shocking victory over Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former prime minister Shimon Peres in the 2000 presidential election after Kadouri said he had a "vision" that Katsav was favored by the heavens.

A year earlier, Kadouri galvanized opposition to an emerging peace deal with Syria in exchange for the strategic Golan Heights, which were captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Kadouri said at a rally that the plateau "must not be given back to the gentiles," and talks later fell through.

Kadouri took on world figures, as well. In 1998, he pronounced a curse on Saddam Hussein, willing him to be removed from power. "Let fear fall upon them (the Iraqis)," he said, after Saddam threatened Israel. "Let the curse be transferred to them."

Pop star Madonna didn't escape his critical gaze, either. When Madonna made a high-energy trip to Israel in 2004 as part of her studies of the Kabbalah, Kadouri was not moved. "It is forbidden to teach Kabbalah to a non-Jew," he said.

The source of Kadouri's appeal is hard to pinpoint. While recognized as a kabbalist, or a Jewish scholar of the mystical book at the base of the Kabbalah, Kadouri never published a notable work or made a groundbreaking discovery or religious revelation.

But people seeking his blessings would crowd his house and sometimes line up outside, waiting for his incantation, even at his advanced age.

"Like all mystical and mythical figures, the fact that Rabbi Kadouri has recently been less productive and communicative doesn't affect his acclaim," Avishai Ben Haim, the Maariv newspaper's reporter on ultra-Orthodox affairs, told Army Radio recently. "Unlike other rabbis ... Rabbi Kadouri never sought a public. He is all about aura."

It often appeared that his age alone was a magnet of attraction and reverence. Ben Haim calculated Kadouri was 106, Israel Radio reported his age as 108, and Moshe Nimni, his aide, said he was "at least 112 or 113." There are no records of his birth.

[kevin]

Tikkun olam.

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

Tikkun olam.

I appreciate the attempt, but that's Hebrew for "repairing the world"

[kevin]

Yep. An important concept in kabbalah?