A Fiery Lesson Explaining Why All Synagogues Were Closed

In recent times, there is a feeling of deep soul-searching among the people, and within the community of the G-d-fearing in particular. These matters were well expressed by HaRav Aharon Stern shlit"a: "My teachers and my masters, how difficult this day is for the people of Israel, like the day the Holy Temple was destroyed. On this day, entire communities were forced to leave thousands of synagogues throughout the country (and the world) with terrible weeping and go out to pray in the street."

Our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, explains in a lesson that is entirely a fiery flame, why all the synagogues were closed?

"People see clearly that they fought with Hashem, they fought with the Shabbat; they thought they were higher than Hashem. Chana says, 'For there is none beside You, and there is no Rock like our G-d' (I Samuel 2:2). It is impossible to fight with Hashem; if a person wants to fight with Hashem, he cannot. Hashem says to do an hour of hitbodedut (secluded prayer). We hope that by August 31st, the coronavirus will stop, so that they will be able to travel to Uman; if not, they will not be able to travel to Uman either."

"Now they have closed all the synagogues, because everyone speaks lashon hara (evil speech) today. Today, all the synagogues are only for lashon hara; they are just nests of hornets of lashon hara. It is written regarding Esau, 'When you will struggle, you shall break his yoke from off your neck' (Genesis 27:40). They told me in Kfar Chassidim, when I was still a Litvak and a 17-year-old boy, that 'when you will struggle' (tarid) means that you will 'tear' (toref) the mitzvah of the 614th (taryad). There are 613 mitzvot, but 'tarid' is 614, which is one more. There is one additional mitzvah, which is to speak lashon hara. Sometimes it is permitted to investigate if you are making a shidduch (marriage match); you want to know if she is a good, kosher girl, if she will listen to her husband, that she is not a street girl who wandered the streets. When it is for a good purpose, it is permitted to investigate, but to believe it is forbidden! It is for a good purpose; you want to take a maggid shiur (lecturer) for your yeshiva, so it is permitted to check and investigate, but to just speak lashon hara about Jews? What for?"

"So if you grasp the 614th mitzvah, the mitzvah to speak lashon hara, then we are finished—now we will close all your synagogues. It is impossible to control the world, 'and you shall break his yoke from off your neck' (ibid)."

"When a person takes a mitzvah like lashon hara, which is only meant for caution and being careful, for shidduchim—and you go and turn this mitzvah into a service of Hashem. As Rebbe Nachman says, do not take the mitzvah of conflict and lashon hara. This was the case with Datan and Aviram, who spoke lashon hara about Moshe Rabbeinu, they were contentious."

"So Moshe Rabbeinu said, 'Now I understand, you are speaking lashon hara, that is why you are in slavery.'"

"It is written, 'And they cried out'; as soon as they cried out, they were immediately redeemed. 'And they believed in Hashem and in His servant Moshe' (Exodus 14:31). As soon as they believed in Moshe, they were immediately redeemed. The moment they knew that Moshe is the true tzaddik, they were immediately redeemed."

"They could have called Moshe a 'dreamer' and not be redeemed..."

The recording of the lesson is courtesy of the information and lessons line *9148.

Our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, teaches us the way in which we can leave the quarantine immediately and not need to be closed off until the end of August. Our teacher, Rav Berland, mentions the difficult war over the Shabbat, in which they fought to open all businesses and entertainment venues on Shabbat; the result was that all businesses and entertainment venues were closed, and not only on Shabbat.

Our teacher, Rav Berland, adds and mentions that we did not want to pray to Hashem and do hitbodedut; the result is that we are all, against our will, in isolation—it is impossible to fight with Hashem.

We see that the words of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, revolve around the difficult subject of baseless hatred and lashon hara, which is in fact a war with Hashem, and the flaw in the belief in the tzaddik who is the foundation of the world, when they speak lashon hara about Moshe Rabbeinu and do not believe that he is the tzaddik who is the foundation of the world.

Everything centers on one point, which is a war with Hashem, but Hashem shows us that it is simply impossible.