A Shaking Testimony from the Heavenly Court and the Power of Redemption

Rav Baruch Nimni, may Hashem protect him, from Holon, shares a stirring testimony regarding the power of the pidyon (redemption) of the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and about the Heavenly Court.

"I worked with a building contractor from Holon. One day, he approached me and told me about a problem. The son of his friend, a professional in the field, had fallen from the scaffolding of a construction site from the fourth floor—and had become a vegetable."

"He asked me what to do. I answered him, 'Prepare a pidyon nefesh for Rav Berland; what else can one say in such a situation?' The friend accepted my words with simplicity!"

"The boy who fell was 16 years old. He had been lying there as a vegetable for several months, and the doctors told him that there was no chance he would wake up, and that it was actually better that he didn't."

"I went to their home. The contractor friend warned me beforehand, 'Baruch, don't give them false hope.' I answered him, 'Don't worry, you don't exist; there is only Hashem.'"

"I entered his home and asked him: 'Is there a Creator of the world?' He answered me, 'Yes.' I continued to ask, 'Are there tzaddikim?' 'Yes!'"

"I told him: There is Rav Berland shlit"a, I don't know how, but your son will wake up! Are you prepared to have self-sacrifice for this to the very end?"

"He answered me, 'Yes!'"

"I took him to Rav Berland in Jerusalem. The Rav told him, 'Give a pidyon of one thousand dollars, and your son will wake up next week on Sunday.'"

"The friend gave the pidyon, but the boy did not wake up as Rav Berland had promised."

"I told him: 'The Rav said that another pidyon of one thousand dollars is needed.' He didn't ask questions, and without a peep, he gave another thousand for the pidyon. Again, the Rav said the boy would wake up the next week, and again he did not wake up."

"My friend the wealthy contractor was confused and asked me, 'What?' I answered him, Do not interfere in the matters of Rav Berland, whereas the father who gave the pidyon was not confused at all and conducted himself throughout the entire process with the utmost simplicity, as did the mother."

"I answered the contractor friend: 'Don't ask me, I don't understand anything about the actions of Rav Berland, but I know that there is something here.'"

"The third time, he also gave a thousand dollars for the pidyon, and the boy still did not wake up. The fourth time, Rav Berland told him, 'Tomorrow at ten in the morning, your son will wake up.'"

"We are talking about a boy who had been unconscious for several months. When he woke up the next day just as Rav Berland said, it took him a little time to recover. Then he said to his father, 'Father, I was dead, I was dead.'"

"The father answered: 'Of course you were dead, only the machine was keeping you alive!'"

"The boy insisted: 'Father, I was in the Heavenly Court, I was on trial, and suddenly someone entered wearing a tallit. He placed a thousand dollars on the scales; they told him it wasn't enough. He returned and placed all three thousand—and then it was enough.'"

"The father asked his son: 'If I show you his picture, would you be able to identify your advocate in the Heavenly Court?'"

"The boy answered: 'Yes.'"

"At the time, I had set up a standing order for him to the yeshiva, and therefore he had a picture of Rav Berland from the standing order voucher. He took out the picture and showed it to his son—'Father, it's him, he was running there above, back and forth.'"

"I said to myself, the Rav is causing a stir in the Heavenly Court, going, returning... Finally, the four thousand dollars, after the father gave a pidyon to Rav Berland four times, were enough to redeem the son."

"Thank God, this boy is alive and well today; he has started a family."