All Calamities Are Because of the Suffering Caused to Yosef the Tzaddik

On the night of the second round of the mayoral elections in Jerusalem, the esteemed Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a arrived in Kiryat Sefer. Rav Berland shlit"a held a public audience at the location and afterwards delivered his holy words.

"All the calamities are because of the pain caused to Yosef the Tzaddik; because of this, all the calamities that exist, all the wars, all the disasters. Yaakov wrestled with the angel until the break of dawn, 'And Yaakov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn' (Genesis 32:25), 'And he said, Let me go, for the dawn has broken. And he said, I will not let you go, unless you bless me' (ibid. 27). Yaakov said to him, you shall bless like Bilaam, and he can never regret the blessings."

"'As valleys that stretch forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the aloes which Hashem has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters' (Numbers 24:6). All the Children of Israel are like cedars; they possess the strength of cedars. 'They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions' (II Samuel 1:23)."