A Lesson for Shuvu Banim Members from the City of Holon in the Home of Rabbi

This past Monday night, the eve of the 20th of MarCheshvan, a group of residents of the city of Holon—students of The Rav, Rabbi Berland shlit"a—merited to enter further inward into holiness. They had merited to draw close through his student, the chassidic Rav Rabbi Ofer Erez shlit"a, who strengthens them and delivers lessons to them as part of the great revolution of teshuvah in the city of Holon.

In the lesson, The Rav shlit"a spoke about how they have begun learning the Yerushalmi, about the inner dimension found in learning the Yerushalmi, and about studying the Gemara in depth. Below is an excerpt from his words:

“Now we are beginning the Yerushalmi—on the story of Rabbi Akiva, the iron combs. The whole story in the Yerushalmi is about iron combs—how Rabbi Akiva merited the iron combs. Because the entire Yerushalmi connects the Luchos; therefore we learn Yerushalmi in order to connect the Luchos. A person comes into the world to learn the Yerushalmi; now we are beginning the Yerushalmi. ‘The heart’s joy’ rectified the Yerushalmi. We must learn Yerushalmi every day—one daf—so that you finish it in four and a half years. Eight pages of Gemara is a year. So there is ‘Bereishis bara,’ but the first thing is the study of Gemara, as the Rebbe says. The Rishonim and Acharonim—it is written in Yoreh De’ah that one must learn Rishonim and Acharonim, and the Rosh and the Rif. There is a complete list that people don’t know—except in Shuvu Banim, not a single person knows this halachah…”

[caption id="attachment_53414" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a giving a lesson for the people of Holon[/caption]

He then explained—based on Likutey Halachos in Yoreh De’ah there—the concept of Yosef HaTzaddik. He also spoke about the matter of the day, regarding the elections that had taken place, and about the great victory that came through the kindness of Heaven. After that, he spoke about the weekly parashah and connected it to an in-depth Torah analysis: whether a brother can betroth his young sister, and what legal force such kiddushin has—like Lavan with Rivkah. After that, he spoke about how Yosef carried in his heart a claim against Yaakov for not burying Rachel in the city, but rather burying her by the roadside. In his way, he explained that everything was according to the Divine word: because if it had been another hundred meters inside the city, then in order to enter it would have required mesirus nefesh—like the grave of Yosef HaTzaddik in Shechem. After that, he spoke about the passing of Yaakov, and he also spoke about the miracles that happened for the Chashmonaim on Chanukah.

[caption id="attachment_53413" align="aligncenter" width="1080"] The Rav Rabbi Berland shlit"a giving a lesson for the people of Holon[/caption]

At the end of the lesson, he returned to the issue of a minor girl who was betrothed without her father’s knowledge, and where her father protested after she was already married. With sweet clarity, he brought—based on the responsa of the RaNaCh—the conclusion of the sugya, to bring the discussion to its final halachic ruling. After close to fifty minutes of a fiery, blazing lesson, he concluded with Kaddish, and the strengthened participants went out to Ma’ariv as on every evening—“with a multitude of people”—with the participation of The Rav, Rabbi Berland shlit"a, in the courtyard of the prayer hall.