An example of how a Pidyon actually saved someone’s life:
Once a person from Ra’anan a five-year-old child who had a brain tumor 12 by 10, which is huge. (This is recorded in the hospital file.) They told the parents two weeks before the scheduled operation. They did a Pidyon Nefesh, after which the Rav advised them to do a checkup before the operation. At first, the doctors did not acquiesce. They ended up agreeing. The checkup was made and the doctors were astonished to discover no more signs of any tumor! So was written in the file, “No symptoms of
a tumor were found in the brain…” The parents became Torah observant and placed their children in religious schools.
However amazing this is, it is not the only such thing. There have been other cases of tumors that disappeared through doing a Pidyon.
It is important to point out that this did not happen in every such case. But if there is a decree upon a person, one of the best things to do is a Pidyon. Why one is healed and the other not are Heaven’s considerations which are not given to us.
Our Rabbis of blessed memory teach that the cause of illness is that the soul is as if taken captive in the hands of the evil accusing forces that start up with him due to his faults, causing damage. It stops up the person’s mazal, making him feel as if things are closed from all sides. Illness is one of the offshoots.
Many books of Kabbalah bring that it is worthwhile for a person to do a Pidyon Nefesh. It saves him from many problems and is actually like redeeming a prisoner who fell into the hands of the enemy.
That Pidyon Nefesh is a powerful charm to help a sick person is brought in the work, ‘Kuntras Hayichieli’. There here says that, “רפא ירפא-572/rapo yerapei [heal certainly heal]” (Shemot 21:19) plus 4 = פדיון נפש-576/Pidyon Nefesh. He continues to explain, saying some of the things we mentioned:
The idea behind the Tikun is to redeem a person’s soul from the decree upon him through the aid of a special prayer called Pidyon Nefesh, which liberates from all kinds of suffering – physical & spiritual. The order of the Pidyon is to take 160 shekel coins can count them according to a particular system based on Names of the Creator. This activates the Pidyon and sweetens the dinim [judgments] in
their root. Afterwards, a prayer is said to bless the person.
I saw cases where the Pidyon helped almost immediately in a wondrous manner. In other cases, it did not. It is important to know that the matter depends upon the personal Heavenly account of each individual. But in many instances, the power of Pidyon is able to push away the difficulty of din and bring mercy!
