Dear ,
From Jerusalem’s Mount Zion, where our yeshiva stands, the city already feels different. After Rosh Hashanah’s shofar, people walk lighter, more careful with words, more generous with charity. The old phrase keeps echoing: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written; on Yom Kippur it is sealed.”
Between those
days, we can still change the ink. How? By the same keys our sages raised into the liturgy itself: teshuvah, tefillah, tzedakah—repentance, prayer, and charity—the very forces said to avert the evil of the decree.
Pidyon Nefesh is
how we bundle those keys into one laser-focused act. The Arizal and Rashash laid out its order: give 160 coins of tzedakah (160 echoes deep Kabbalistic symbolism) to a qualified mekubal who performs the kavanot and pleads your case above. The intent is precise: transfer severity to the coins and draw compassion to the person—before the
decree locks on Yom Kippur.
And this timing is not modern marketing—it’s minhag. Chassidim bring a “pidyon nefesh” to the Rebbe around Erev Rosh Hashanah and Erev
Yom Kippur; the Lubavitcher Rebbe even referenced receiving them and bestowing blessings then. Our own site actively offers Erev Yom Kippur Pidyon options for those who want their names raised right before the fast begins.
Who will stand for you?
Rabbi Yakov Shepherd, Rosh Yeshiva of Nefesh HaChaim, is a teacher of Kabbalah and halacha with multiple semichot and years of instruction at Diaspora Yeshiva. He is not delegating this; he performs your Pidyon himself—from Mount Zion—calling you by name, your mother’s name, and your need. This is his life’s work: spreading authentic Kabbalah responsibly to those who seek
Hashem’s mercy.
What it means for your Four Gates:
Health. When medicine seems out of options, we still have Heaven.
A widely cited case describes A grandmother, nearly 100 years old, was rushed to intensive care with life-threatening complications. Her family immediately arranged for a Pidyon Nefesh. To the astonishment of the doctors, she was discharged the very next day, fully stabilized. They described it as nothing short of an open miracle. This is not theoretical;
it is documented testimony in our community.
Parnassah. When income dries and anxiety floods the home, Pidyon Nefesh is a classic path to reopen mazal. Breslev has recorded “dozens of outright miracles” where a Pidyon redeemed the giver’s
soul from debts, sickness, and difficulties—the pattern is real enough to be written publicly.
Justice. Courts on earth often mirror verdicts above. During these days, we
increase charity and mitzvot precisely to tilt the scales; a Pidyon focuses that tilt on your case—your reputation, your standing, your truth.
Soulmate. If you feel delayed, Kabbalah frames marriage as a function of mazal-flow; Pidyon is used to
dissolve blockages so that what is yours can find you. It’s why people bring pidyonim to tzaddikim throughout Elul–Tishrei, when alignment is closest.
How to do it—clean, simple, today:
•
Click the button bellow and submit your Hebrew name + mother’s name, and which of the Four Gates you need opened (Health, Parnassah, Justice, Soulmate).
• Rabbi Shepherd will schedule and conduct the Pidyon personally with the established order (Rashash/accepted nusach).
• Your tzedakah is allocated in holiness; your name is raised before Kol Nidrei—the pivot when the seal is poised. (This pattern of Erev Yom Kippur pidyon is a documented custom.)
Why urgency is justified—not
hype. Yom Kippur begins this Wednesday evening, Oct 1. The Ten Days compress a year’s worth of inner work into a week and change. Charity in these days is amplified by halachic and Chassidic sources alike; Pidyon Nefesh is a precision instrument that combines it with prayer and teshuvah. If you intend to act, act while the gates are open.
May you be written and sealed for good—with healing, abundance, vindication, and a home of love. From Mount Zion, we’ll carry your name as our own.
