Two Dreams About Rabbi Berland
Many Jews in the chareidi world have been turning to us to express their tremendous dismay at the terrible, one-sided brutality and deliberately provocative actions that have been meted out against Rabbi Eliezer Berland, shlita, and his community.
Today, after all the awful recent persecution that has taken place against many of the Gedolei HaDor, more and more people are starting to understand that the opposition to Rav Berland is only the beginning of a much wider war that’s being waged against the religious Jewish world generally.
Today, it’s obvious that many red lines have been crossed, and that Rabbi Berland is not going to be the last one to persecuted in this way. It’s increasingly obvious that this whole campaign of persecution is being run by anti-democratic elements in the State of Israel, and has been built on a number of ridiculous fairy-tales about what a big Rabbi in the State of Israel should be ‘allowed’ to say.
And this is only going to snowball and intensify, from here on in.
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The writing was on the wall when tens of armed police decided to storm a beit hamidrash where Rabbi Berland was teaching a Gemara lesson to tens of students in the early morning, where they tossed around stun grenades and wave their weapons in everyone’s faces.
If they had waited 2-3 hours more, nothing would have been easier than to take the Rav away quietly from his home, without all exaggerated ‘drama’. But no, that’s exactly what they wanted – to delegitimize everything that smells a little different from the secular world of the ministers who have tied up the leadership of the State of Israel.
It’s shocking to see just how much power these people actually have, whether we’re talking about the State Prosecutor’s office, the people in the media, or those who are betraying the religious community from the inside.
Let’s make it clear for everyone who hasn’t already woken up to the new reality, so they can wipe the cobwebs out of their eyes and prepare themselves for what is about to happen: Rabbi Berland and his community are only the first ones they are coming after.
You and your community and your rabbi are the next ones in line.
And if they aren’t coming straight for you – yet – then you can still be sure that they will try to subvert your community in a million other ways, such as by trying to interfere with what your children are being taught in the schools, or by cutting budgets, or by passing laws designed to negatively impact the Torah-observant community and its institutions.
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One of the big rabbis who is very connected to Rabbi Berland told us about a significant dream he had about the Rav:
“Today, I had a dream about the Rav. In the dream, they told me that Rabbi Berland was here in the room (I don’t remember if it was a room in the hospital, or in the prison.) I entered the room, and there were two beds there. On one, there was the Rabbanit Tehilla, may she live, who was sick (chas v’shalom).
“The second bed belonged to Rabbi Berland, but the Rav wasn’t lying down on it. Instead, he was standing next to the bed. Rabbi Berland was really sick. Just from looking at his face, I could see he was really unwell, it was something very scary to see. But light, and happiness and hope were still shining out of him, as usual.
“Rabbi Berland was talking to the people around him, and strengthening them, as usual, then he saw me and simply held out his hand. I came closer and took his hand, and his hand was very cold and weak-feeling. I kissed his hand, and started to shake and weep.
“The Rav asked me in a wondering voice, “Why are you shaking and crying? There’s no need for that.”
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“I immediately realized in the dream that we get all sad and worried because that’s what we want. But we can also get out of these things whenever we want, and to be happy. This is what Rabbi Berland wants – this is the dream that the Rav came to show me in the dream.
“The following morning, I remembered that I’d dreamt about the Rav, but I couldn’t remember anything about it. Then suddenly, it all flooded back to me, clear as day. The Rav’s path, shlita, throughout all of the years, has been one of total emuna and bitachon in the reality of Hashem.
“The Rav hasn’t been scared about developments for even a second….The Rav has been praying for years, already, that he should be arrested. There are very high matters that the Tzaddik needs to clarify in relation to the neshamot of the Jewish nation which are currently sunk very deep into the realm of the klipot (side of evil).
“The Rav, thanks to his high spiritual level, knows what is required in order to free them from there. We need to strengthen ourselves with the strength of the Holy Elder, and to not let current events affect us too much, and to cool off our simple, Jewish emuna.
“As Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says, all the actions of the Tzaddik are the secret of secrets.”
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On the same night of this first dream, another Rabbi from the Shuvu Banim community also had a dream.
Here’s how he explained it:
“I saw the Rav in a dream, and he was walking through a crowd of people, but they couldn’t see him. I took from this dream that the Rav was totally in control of the situation and knew what was going on. He wasn’t with anyone, he wasn’t with his attendants or anyone else, he was just operating totally alone.
“So we should just know that the Rav is not flesh and blood in the same way that we are, and that he can act on a level that is way above what we understand. And also, that they can’t touch him.”
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May our dreams for a speedy resolution to this process of geula unfolding be realized, only the sweet way, very soon.
