A Lesson for the Residents of Chashmona’im at the Home of The Rav

On Monday night, the eve of the first day of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, a group of our community members from the town of Chashmona’im near the city of Modi’in Illit entered further inside, into the holy inner chamber, to hear words of the Living God from The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Below is a record from the lesson, and several points that The Rav shlit"a spoke about during the shiur—according to what we managed to see and write down on this page:

The Rav shlit"a opened the shiur with the topic of Miriam’s Well: that one who drinks water on Motzaei Shabbos merits all healings, because Miriam’s Well circulates through all wells and all springs. In the course of this, he spoke about Miriam’s merit—how she merited the well because for eighty years she served as the midwife for all of the Jewish people, and she foresaw what was destined to be when Amram separated from Yocheved.

Afterward he spoke about many subjects, and among them he mentioned Eliyahu HaNavi in the cleft of the rock, who ate for forty days and forty nights. He said that from the age of twenty one no longer needs to eat—only a little—and he told of the great ones of Breslov zt"l, and how wondrous their avodah in eating was.

Later, the Rav read from the Chasam Sofer about the severity of the prohibition of leaving Jerusalem. There it is written that all the upheaval in Tzfas was because they left Jerusalem and moved to Tzfas. He also brought the Ramban, who said, “Avraham committed a great sin” by going down to Egypt. He hinted that when one remains close to the Tzaddik, one merits all abundance. He even mentioned Ovadiah’s wife—how, in the merit of Elisha, all the abundance of oil was opened for her. He said that the Tzaddik is constantly bestowing influences, and that oil is an allusion to wisdom.

He also spoke, in this context, about the greatness of the mitzvah of settling the Land, and he brought the Ramban who says that it is a mitzvah one merits to fulfill every moment. Wherever a Jew settles, he merits to fulfill, “You shall possess it and dwell in it.” He expanded on the episode of the spies, and on the unique quality of each tribe—about Zevulun, who is in the Kesser, and about Dan, who gathers in all the camps. Within these words he delved into the hidden dimensions of Kabbalah.

Afterward he spoke about King Shlomo, and how Pharaoh’s daughter misled him by doing sorcery so that he thought it was still night. Then his mother came and cried out, “What, my son, and what, son of my womb”—I am not like all the women of David who wanted their son to be king; I wanted you to be a Tzaddik.

The Rav shlit"a also addressed, during the shiur, the day of the yahrtzeit of Yosef HaTzaddik—1 Tammuz—and Yosef’s sale. He also spoke about the dispute of Korach and his assembly, and he mentioned Likutei Halachos: that their being swallowed into the earth was the result of arguing against Moshe. When a person argues against the Tzaddik—which is a blemish of the eyes and the bris—then he is swallowed by the earth, because he is weighed down by sins. The Rav spoke about the consumer boycott that was carried out against Angel due to the affront to the honor of the Torah of the Gadol HaDor, the great gaon Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein zt"l. He told of his greatness—of the simplicity with which he lived: that he slept on the floor, and that he would walk on foot to the Lomza Yeshivah, where all the great ones of the generation studied. In the course of these words, The Rav shlit"a said about himself that from the age of thirteen he cannot leave the Gemara for even a moment, because it is such a delight that it cannot be explained at all!

After close to an hour of the shiur, The Rav shlit"a concluded with Kaddish, blessed those present, and afterward led the Ma’ariv prayer with a great crowd from the balcony of his home.