Story: The Prayers Full of Vitality

A moving description of the immense joy in the Beis Midrash (study hall) of Rabbi Berland shlit"a on Ido HaNavi Street, where multitudes gather before dawn for singing and serving Hashem with enthusiasm.

A particularly exhilarating and joyous sight is revealed to the eyes of anyone who merits to arrive at the Beis Midrash of Morinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, located on Ido HaNavi Street in Jerusalem. The atmosphere in the place is filled with holy vitality, and the people of the tzaddik serve Hashem out of an immense joy that is difficult to describe in words.

Before Dawn

Every day, the service of the Creator begins even before dawn with the morning songs. Elders and youths gather together and begin to sing and chant to the living and enduring King, truly in the aspect of "When the morning stars sang together." Afterward, they continue in their holy service with joy and sweeping melodies.

The powerful voice of the holy congregation is heard from afar, specifically in those early hours when the entire universe is still sleeping. The enthusiasm and deveikus (cleaving to Hashem) of the congregation illuminate the darkness of the night and open the gates of Heaven.

Shabbos and Yom Tov (Festivals)

The sight becomes even more breathtaking on Shabbos and Yom Tov. A massive congregation of about a thousand people, may they multiply, packs the Beis Midrash. Even though they stand crowded together, they praise the Creator of the world with great expansiveness and a boundless joy of the heart, for many long hours.

Due to the tremendous growth of the congregation, the need arises time and again to expand the Beis Midrash to the right and to the left. This fulfills in practice the verse, "You shall spread out to the right and to the left," and as it is written: "Enlarge the place of your tent." This is a living testimony to the power of the tzaddik and the true joy that always dwells in his presence.

From Issue 81 — Parshas Shmini

From the series "A Tzaddik Rules in the Fear of God" — "Shapir Amar Nachmani" publications