Seeking Segulot

Fear of the pandemic and the urgent need to arouse the public to repentance has led many to discover the auspicious segulah of Sefer Devarim * A timeless segulah revealed and ingrained in the public by Chief Rabbi of Morocco Yoshiyahu Pinto shlit”a * The segulah of reading Sefer Devarim has been praised and endorsed by gedolei hador across the spectrum, and a stunning collection of blessings and explanations by Torah luminaries and Chassidic Rebbes regarding the awesome powers of this segulah were compiled into a captivating video clip * The messages of our venerable spiritual leaders regarding the ruling of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto shlit”a

1. Kalir

A special video clip created and edited by students of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto shlit”a is making waves in the Jewish world, reinforcing the remarkable segulah of learning Sefer Devarim on every Shabbat.

The segulah, a longtime sacred custom of Jews around the world, is sourced as far back as the writings of the Rishonim and Achronim and teaches of the awesome force of reading and learning Sefer Devarim every Shabbat.  Among the famous sources are the compelling words of the Maase Rokeach upon the 955 verses in Sefer Devarim and the advantages of learning them every Shabbat. The author of the Shevet Mussar likewise inscribes at the end of Tractate Yuma that the meaning of the verse, “Kchu imachem devarim, v’shuvu el Hashem, Take for yourself words and return to G-d” (Hoshea 14:3) is that every Jew must learn Sefer Devarim. The Yalkut Shimoni teaches that with the same strength of Sefer Devarim, which describes the scene of Yehoshua bin Nun halting the sun in the heavens, it has power to effect miracles. This message is reiterated in many forms by the great Chassidic sages. The above sources, along with numerous others that were garnered from writings of great Jewish sages and Chassidic masters by Rabbi Pinto and quoted in his lectures, are presently being compiled by a team of outstanding Torah scholars into a book that shall present all these sources and the thoughts of Torah sages throughout the generations on the subject.

The one endeavoring to reach out, spread the word and inspire thousands to adopt this segulah is Morocco’s Chief Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto shlit”a, who has drawn many a Jew closer to faith in G-d and Torah as a direct result of this recommendation. To date, over 400,000 copies of special-edition Sifrei Devarim have been printed, and this edition features a beautiful preface encompassing an abridged summary of his brilliant lectures and the famous sources of this segulah. Rabbi Pinto’s awe-inspiring lectures, broadcast on media channels to audiences around the world, mesmerize tens of thousands, and are the subject of extensive articles and feedback on Hidabroot websites in Israel, the United States and France.

Since the start of his efforts to ingrain awareness of this segulah, there have been numerous accounts by viewers and listeners regarding personal salvations and miracles that they experienced in their own lives or witnessed in other people’s lives after undertaking to learn Sefer Devarim on Shabbat.

Torah sages across the spectrum praise the segulah and endorse Rabbi Pinto’s endeavors. In a special project launched by Rabbi Pinto’s students, these blessings, remarks and letters were compiled into a short, but inspirational video clip featuring the blessings of Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky shlit”a, Hagaon Harav Yaakov Meir Schechter, the Belzer Rebbe, Hagaon Harav Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern, Hagaon Harav Elimelech Biderman, the Tolna Rebbe, the Kuzmir Rebbe, the Kretchnif Rebbe, Hagaon Harav Aharon Taussig, Hagaon Harav Baruch Povarsky, Hagaon Harav Meir Tzvi Bergman, Hagaon Harav David Batzri, Hagaon Harav Yehuda Yosefi, shlita, and others. These gedolim and tzaddikim from all congregations relayed their verbal or written praise of this remarkable segulah and endorse Rabbi Pinto’s concerted efforts to publicize this segulah which is auspicious for salvation.

The Kretchnif Rebbe concludes his letter with the following inscription: “The sacred ruling to learn all of Sefer Devarim each and every Shabbat is well known among Israel. In every city and place, one finds faithful Jews from all walks of life toiling in the G-d’s living Torah by learning Sefer Devarim, and who can estimate the remarkable force of this sacred ruling which is sourced in the holy writings of our venerable sages zy”a, the exalted Chassidic luminaries and tzaddikim of generations past, zy”a.

“I have personally born witness to places in the Holy Land and Diaspora where Jews who have not yet merited to sit in the tent of Torah throughout the week elevate themselves and are aroused to bind themselves to our Father in heaven and the radiance of our holy Shabbat with the force of the holy Torah. They cleave to the Torah by learning Mishneh Torah, which is Sefer Devarim, as his honor as instructed.”

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This Week’s Shechitah Campaign

Several days before Pesach, the first group of students trained as shochtim by Shuva Yisrael Yeshiva in Casablanca was escorted by Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto to the slaughterhouse where they slaughtered enough animals to provide meat to all Jewish residents of Morocco who were under heavy lockdown following the outbreak of coronavirus. On Lag Ba’Omer, Rabbi Pinto and his team of shochtim once again headed to the slaughterhouse, with the Rav stringently supervising the shechitah process that will avail kosher meat to Jewish Moroccans.