With the biblical name of Jesus, the Rabbi and kabbalist described the Messiah using six words and hinting that the initial letters form the name of the Messiah.1FThe secret note said:

Concerning the letter abbreviation of the Messiahs name, He will lift the people and prove that his word and law are valid.

This=1Fis I have signed in the month of mercy,
Yitzhak Kaduri

The Hebrew sentence (translated above in bold) with the hidden name of the Messiah reads: Yarim HaAm Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim

The initials spell the Hebrew name of Jesus, Yehoshua. Yehoshua and Yeshua are e=1Eectively the same name, derived from the same Hebrew root of the word salvationas documented in Zechariah 6:11 and Ezra 3:2.1FThe same priest writes in Ezra, Yeshua son of Yozadakwhile writing in ZechariahYehoshua son of Yohozadak.1FThe priest adds the holy abbreviation of Gods name, ho, in the fathers name Yozadak and in the name Yeshua.

With one of Israels most prominent rabbis indicating the name of the Messiah is Yeshua, it is understandable why his last wish was to wait one year after his death before revealing what he wrote.

When the name of Yehoshua appeared in Kaduris message, ultra-Orthodox Jews from his Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva (seminary) in Jerusalem argued that their master did not leave the exact solution for decoding the Messiahs name.

The revelation received scant coverage in the Israeli media. Only the Hebrew websites News First Class (Nfc) and Kaduri.net mentioned the Messiah note, insisting it was authentic.1FThe Hebrew daily Ma'ariv ran a story on the note but described it as a forgery.

Jewish readers responded on the websites' forums with mixed feelings:So this means Rabbi Kaduri was a Christian?and The Christians are dancing and celebrating,were among the comments.

Israel Today spoke to two of Kaduris followers in Jerusalem who admitted that the note was authentic, but confusing for his followers as well. We have no idea how the Rabbi got to this name of the Messiah,one of them said.

Yet others completely deny any possibility that the note is authentic. Kaduris son, Rabbi David Kaduri, said that at the time the note was written (September 2005), his fathers physical condition made it impossible for him to write.

KADURI'S PORTRAYAL OF THE MESSIAH

A few months before Kaduri died at the age of 108, he surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. He also mentioned that the Messiah would appear to Israel after Ariel Sharons death. (The former prime minister is still in a coma after suffering a massive stroke more than a year ago.)

Other rabbis predict the same, including Rabbi Haim Cohen, kabbalist Nir Ben Artzi and the wife of Rabbi Haim Kneiveskzy.

Kaduris grandson, Rabbi Yosef Kaduri, said his grandfather spoke many times during his last days about the coming of the Messiah and redemption through the Messiah.

His spiritual portrayals of the Messiahreminiscent of New Testament accountswere published on the websites Kaduri.net and Nfc:

It is hard for many good people in society to understand the person of the Messiah. The leadership and order of a Messiah of1Cflesh and blood is hard to accept for many in the nation. As leader, the Messiah will not hold any office, but will be among the people and use the media to communicate. His reign will be pure and without personal or political desire. During his dominion, only righteousness and truth will reign.

Will all believe in the Messiah right away? No, in the beginning some of us will believe in him and some not. It will be easier for non-religious people to follow the Messiah than for Orthodox people.

The revelation of the Messiah will be ful=1Alled in two stages: First, he will actively confirm his position as Messiah without knowing himself that he is the Messiah. Then he will reveal himself to some Jews, not necessarily to wise Torah scholars. It can be even simple people. Only then he will reveal himself to the whole nation.1EThe people will wonder and say:What, thats the Messiah? Many have known his name but have not believed that he is the Messiah.

FAREWELL TO A 'TSADIK'

Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri was known for his photographic memory and his memorization of the Bible, the Talmud, Rashi and other Jewish writings. He knew Jewish sages and celebrities of the last century and rabbis who lived in the Holy Land and kept the faith alive before the State of Israel was born.

Kaduri was not only highly esteemed because of his age of 108. He was charismatic and wise, and chief rabbis looked up to him as a Tsadik, a righteous man or saint. He would give advice and blessings to everyone who asked. 1EThousands visited him to ask for counsel or healing. His followers speak of many miracles and his students say that he predicted many disasters.

When he died, more than 200,000 people joined the funeral procession on the streets of Jerusalem to pay their respects as he was taken to his=1Afinal resting place.

When he comes, the Messiah will rescue Jerusalem from foreign religions that want to rule the city, Kaduri once said.They will not succeed for they will fight against one another.

THE RABBI'S FOLLOWERS REACT

In an interview with Israel Today, Rabbi David Kaduri, the 80-year-old son of the late Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri, denied that his father left a note with the name Yeshua just before he died.

Its not his writing,he said when we showed him a copy of the note.

During a nighttime meeting in the Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva in Jerusalem, books with the elder Kaduris handwriting from 80 years ago were presented to us in an attempt to prove that the Messiah note was not authentic.

When we told Rabbi Kaduri that his fathers official website (www.kaduri.net) had mentioned the Messiah note, he was shocked.Oh no! Thats blasphemy. The people could understand that my father pointed to him [the Messiah of the Christians].

David Kaduri confirmed, however, that in his last year, his father had talked and dreamed almost exclusively about the Messiah and his coming.My father has met the Messiah in a vision,he said,and told us that he would come soon.

Israel Today was given access to many of the rabbi's manuscripts, written in his own hand for the exclusive use of his students. Most striking were the cross-like symbols painted by Kaduri all over the pages. in the Jewish tradition, one does not use crosses. In fact, even the use of a plus sign is discouraged because it might be mistaken for a cross.

But there they were, scribbled in the rabbi's own hand. When we asked what those symbols meant, Rabbi David Kaduri said they weresigns of the angel." Pressed further about the meaning of thesigns of the angel," he said he had no idea. Rabbi David Kaduri went on to explain that only his father had had a spiritual relationship with God and had met the Messiah in his dreams.

Orthodox Jews around the Nahalat Yitzhak Yeshiva told Israel Today a few weeks later that the story about the secret note of Rabbi Kaduri should never have come out, and that it had damaged the name the revered old sage.