A Lesson for Chassidim in the Home of the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland

Last night, Tuesday night, the eve of the 22nd of Teves, about twenty young married men and young bochurim entered “into the inner sanctum” for a lesson from The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. Below is a summary of The Rav shlit"a’s words from the shiur:

The Rav opened the shiur with Parshas Vayechi: Yaakov sought to reveal the End—the Keitz—which is the secret of “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh,” the secret of the year 190. He added that Moshe wanted to reveal the Name of Havayah, but Hashem told him that for now it is only the Name “Ehyeh,” while the Name Havayah will be revealed only with the Geulah.

After that, he spoke about the sale of Yosef, and how Yosef did not meet with his father so that a situation would not arise in which Yaakov would find out about the sale—because then he would be strict with the brothers, and they would die. From one matter to the next, he mentioned Yaakov’s curse of Shimon and Levi: because of this they did not receive a good portion—Shimon received rocky land, while Levi did not receive a portion at all.

He continued to the episode of the killing of the people of Shechem, and the well-known question of the Ramban: Why didn’t Yaakov himself go to free Dinah from captivity—and not only that, but when his sons free her, he curses them? He brought the Likkutei HaRim, who says that the “bar mitzvah derashah” of Shimon and Levi was the dispute between the Rambam and the Ramban regarding why the people of Shechem became liable to death. He also spoke about the special merit of traveling to Baal HaYadit, whose yahrtzeit fell on that day.

Later he addressed the verse, “For Elokim has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house,” and explained that Yaakov Avinu said in this verse that his merit was not because of his lineage from Avraham and Yitzchak. He mentioned the words of Rabbeinu HaKadosh, who said that everything he reached in his level was through his own strength, and not due to lineage at all. After that he spoke about how the Geulah will come in the merit of the tribe of Menasheh, who gave their lives in order to bring down the body of King Shaul, which was in Beis She’an.

In the course of his words, The Rav strongly encouraged learning Gemara in depth, together with Ketzos HaChoshen, and he discussed the Gemara sugya about the borders of Eretz Yisrael. Along the way, he mentioned that today, in the Diaspora, there is terrible assimilation.

Later in the shiur, The Rav shlit"a spoke about how the Avos kept all the mitzvos, and that Esav’s mistake was that he missed the time of the Afikoman. The Rav strengthened everyone and said that if a person wants abundant parnassah, he should be careful to eat the Afikoman before midnight. The Rav shlit"a told several stories about Rothschild and other Jews who, because they did not swear about money—even though they were in the right—merited extraordinary wealth.

Toward the end of the shiur, The Rav discussed the Gemara in Shabbos 89 that the Geulah will be in the merit of Yitzchak—because Yitzchak agreed to take upon himself the sins of all of Am Yisrael, and what he said to Hashem there: “My sons—and not Your sons…?” as brought there.

The Rav shlit"a concluded with Parshas HaShavua—Shemos—on the verse, “And behold, the lad was crying.” The Rav explained that from the day Moshe Rabbeinu was born, he saw everything; therefore he is called a “lad,” and therefore it is also written that he was crying—because he saw the suffering of Israel, the afflictions that Am Yisrael goes through from the day he was born. The Rav said: this is the Tzaddik— from the day he is born, he does nothing but cry over the suffering that Am Yisrael goes through.