A Wondrous Tale: The Rav's Precise Instruction That Saved from Death in Halhul

A chilling story about a nighttime journey to the graves of tzaddikim in the hostile village of Halhul, and how a precise timing instruction from Rabbi Berland shlit"a saved the travelers from great danger.

A certain Jew, who was then a young boy in a yeshiva ketanah (junior yeshiva), tells of an amazing miracle of salvation he experienced in the merit of the far-reaching vision of our teacher, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

The story began when one of our people, who had been waiting to be blessed with children for many years, approached Rabbi Berland shlit"a for advice. The Rav instructed him to undertake a spiritual regimen of traveling for forty consecutive days to the graves of the tzaddikim in Hebron and the village of Halhul.

That Jew fulfilled the instruction with dedication, traveling every night. "I joined him on these trips," the witness recounts. "Since the vehicle was full, I would sit in the back, in a cramped space meant for equipment behind the bench. It is important to understand that Halhul is a hostile Arab village, which even twenty years ago was considered a very dangerous place for Jews to enter."

The Surprising Instruction at Midnight

On one of the final nights of those forty days, Rabbi Berland shlit"a met one of the regular passengers and asked him, "What time are you traveling tonight?"

The passenger replied to the Rav that they planned to leave around twelve o'clock at night, as they usually wait until all those joining have arrived.

Rabbi Berland shlit"a immediately responded firmly: "Why are you waiting? Tomorrow you are not waiting for anyone; rather, you must leave immediately at exactly twelve o'clock!"

The passengers obeyed the explicit instruction of the Rav and set out exactly at the time he instructed, without delaying for even a single moment.

Salvation in the Hostile Village

When they arrived that night at the village of Halhul, they suddenly understood the meaning behind the Rav's precise instruction. "Suddenly, we saw an Arab truck approaching us in the darkness," the narrator recalls. "We immediately realized it was a danger and quickly hid behind a large tractor tire that was lying there."

From their hiding place, they clearly saw how the people in the truck were searching for something or someone in the dark while driving slowly. It was obvious that they were ambushing them.

"Immediately after the truck passed and moved away, we ran quickly to the holy tziyon (gravesite). There, we recited The Tikkun HaKlali, and I read the special request that Rabbi Berland shlit"a had instructed me to say at the tziyon."

When they finished their study session and left the tziyon, dawn had already broken and it was early morning. They saw the elders of the Arab village making their way to the mosque, and even managed to greet them with a 'good morning' out of a sense of security and gratitude for the miracle.

"From this story, one can tangibly see how the tzaddik sees and knows exactly what is about to happen," the narrator concludes with emotion. "He directs the hours, gives precise instructions, and takes full responsibility so that everything passes peacefully."

From Issue 84 — Parashat Vayakhel

From the series "A Tzaddik Rules in the Fear of God" — "Shafir Amar Nachmani" Publications