A Lesson for the Young Men of Anash at the Home of the Gaon and Tzaddik

On Monday night, the 24th of Tammuz, Parshas Matos-Masei, our teacher, the Rav shlit"a (may he live long and good days), delivered a very long lesson of nearly an hour to the young men of Anash (our community) at his holy residence. Before you is a report of the lesson:

The Rav shlit"a began the lesson regarding the weekly Torah portion and the greatness of the daughters of Tzelafchad. He also spoke about the virtue of the women of Israel who were not confused and took no part in the sins in the desert. This is mentioned in the verse, "And among these there was not a man," meaning that only from the men did none enter the Land of Israel, whereas all the women merited to enter the Holy Land. The Rav shlit"a said several times during the lesson that the role of the mother is such that the entire education of the children depends on her.

Afterward, he gave encouragement regarding the matter of praying at Netz HaChama (sunrise). He said that even if one travels to the graves of Tzaddikim (righteous ones) during the night, one must stay awake until sunrise to pray Shacharis (the morning prayer) and only afterward go to sleep. Following this, he spoke about the matter of Avraham (Abraham) in Ur Kasdim and how he caused his entire generation to stop worshipping idols. Then, he dealt with what is brought in the Tanakh (Bible) regarding the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant from Beis Shemesh to Kiryat Ye'arim, citing the verses "Goren Kidon" and "Goren Nachon." He said that if David had not become angry, Hashem would have revealed to him that the place where 50,070 people were killed, as well as the death of Uzzah, occurred because the Ark of the Covenant passed through the place of the Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies).

Later in the lesson, he discussed how Shaul (Saul) arrived to subdue Agag, the king of Amalek, which is hinted at in Gematria (numerical value)—his name equals 337, "Agag Melech Amalek." He added that every person comes to eliminate a certain kelipah (spiritual shell of impurity), and this is why David asked, "What is the measure (midas) of my days?" In Gematria, "Midas" equals "Goliath." He further spoke about the war with Amalek, saying that if Shaul had waited for Shmuel (Samuel) for just one more minute and had not offered the burnt offering, he would have merited eternal kingship. For the Tzaddik knows everything and sees everything. Just as with Eliezer, who saw regarding Rivka (Rebecca) that Esau would descend from her; in truth, Rivka had to subdue Esau, and this is the secret of Rivka's "Kad" (pitcher). He calculated the commentary of Rashi on the verse "Like them and like them a hundred times," reaching a multiplication of four trillion. He also noted that the blessing of Yoav was greater than the blessing of Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) because he would distribute food to the people of Israel and perform acts of chesed (kindness).

During the lesson, he told many stories, including how the Western Wall was revealed thanks to the trash that people used to throw there. He also told how an entire plane was saved from crashing thanks to one of our community members named R' Nachman Bitton, may Hashem protect him, who told all the passengers to say the verse "When you pass through water, I am with you" three times along with him. The Rav shlit"a spoke extensively about the greatness of this verse. He also encouraged traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

At the conclusion of the lesson, the Rav shlit"a mentioned that he still has a "black visa" (entry ban) to Ukraine, and this is the time for us to strengthen our prayers with even greater intensity so that we may merit to be in Uman for Rosh Hashanah this year together with the Tzaddik shlit"a.