Shuvu Banim in Moshav Ora ○ Highlights from the Lesson ○ The Story of the Teshuvah of the Chassid R’ Shalom Arush shlit"a

The Shuvu Banim community in Moshav Ora was privileged, on Monday night—the night of the 25th of Iyar—before the Ma’ariv prayer, to enter the holy residence of The Rav shlit"a for a special lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, The Rav spoke about the kings of the House of David, explaining that they correspond to the offerings brought by the Nesi’im (tribal leaders). The Rav also related, in the style of Aggadah, the siege laid by the Romans and the entire story of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s escape, and how Rabbi Akiva said about Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, “He turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish”—because he did not request mercy for Jerusalem. The Rav also mentioned the teaching that Rebbe Nachman said: that all prayers are really Him—so to speak—Who becomes “impregnated” within us and prays. The Rav continued with teachings from the Aggados of Chazal about Daniel’s prophecy that was fulfilled regarding Belshazzar: his kingdom came to an end when Darius and Cyrus killed him, yet he lingered until the moment of dawn, because “one kingship does not encroach upon another even by a hairbreadth.” The Rav spoke further from those passages in Tanach. In the course of the lesson, The Rav told the story of the Teshuvah of his student, the Chassid R’ Shalom Arush shlit"a. He had served as a medic in the IDF, and each time he passed over the Egyptian positions that were firing at them, he would cry out—without even realizing what he was saying—“G-d, save me!” But after the war, he forgot what he had cried out to Hashem. Later, he was in an accident, and the doctors told him, “Only G-d can save you.” Indeed, he experienced great miracles, and through this he was awakened to Teshuvah—until, as is known, he came to the home of The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Afterward, The Rav spoke about a current matter: the miracles that took place in the “Shield and Arrow” war. They fired 1,200 rockets, and aside from one Jewish woman who was killed, nothing else was killed. He said that all the targeted eliminations in Gaza—in which thirteen senior terrorists were killed—are all secrets, in the aspect of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Everything is Divine Providence, in the aspect of: “By one road they will come out against you, and by seven roads they will flee before you.”

Toward the end of the lesson, The Rav addressed the question raised by Rabbi Avraham ben R’ Nachman zy"a in Be’er HaLikutim: why the verse, “For in a cloud I will appear upon the Kapores (the Ark-cover),” etc., appears only after seven sections dealing with the building of the Mishkan. The Rav explained his words: only after Moshe Rabbeinu was included within all the Nesi’im—especially within Nachshon ben Aminadav of the tribe of Yehudah—only then can Hashem appear upon the Kapores. Later in the lesson, The Rav spoke about the Gemara in Kiddushin 29b regarding the snake with seven heads, and said that it is a reincarnation of the episode of the Pilegesh b’Giv’ah: the “snake” is the concubine; Abaye is the elder who advised them to enter the house; and Rav Acha bar Yaakov is the husband who performed the miracles. After forty minutes of teaching, The Rav concluded by saying that this is the festival of Shavuos, when they remove from every snake its head—and we will merit the complete Geulah speedily in our days, amen!