Amazing: Saved from Death Sentence in Thailand After Redemption to the Holy

An amazing story of rescue received directly from one of the people involved in the testimony before three Torah scholars. It concerns a Jew who was sentenced to death in one of the toughest countries in the world, Thailand, and who transferred a pidyon nefesh (redemption of the soul) to our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Rabbi Binyamin Dafan relates that the story was heard by three of the most prominent students of the Chatzot Kollel at Rachel’s Tomb directly from one of the people involved: Rabbi Aharon Berkowitz, Rabbi Yaakov Balti, and Rabbi Binyamin Dafan.

The story is courtesy of the Tzaddik Hotline - 02-532-6502.

This is the testimony:

"About 7 years ago, we were studying at Rachel’s Tomb, and there was a Jew who would arrive every day before dawn. One day he heard us... we were then at Rachel’s Tomb from the yeshiva: Yaakov Balti and Rabbi Aharon Berkowitz, and we were talking about Rav Berland."

"One day that Jew heard us talking and said, 'Are you talking about Rav Berland? I have a story to tell you that I am involved in. I have a friend who is in Thailand and was sentenced to death. They appealed and held trials, bribes, they tried everything—there is a death sentence, but there was still no date set for when they would execute him.'"

"The family had already bought a burial plot in Israel; they had already come to terms with the situation that they were going to sit shiva. There was no way to appeal, no way to cancel the sentence under any circumstances; the only thing was, there was still no date. They had heard the witnesses and the trial, everything had already been conducted, and the matter was closed."

"One day, the Jew who was at Rachel’s Tomb tells us that he heard about Rav Berland, and then he said to the family of the Jew who was in Thailand: 'Listen, Rav Berland is a great tzaddik, a miracle worker; many have seen miraculous deeds from him. Perhaps he can perform this great miracle?'"

"They, of course, did not believe too much, but for every shred of a chance that perhaps, just perhaps, they could help, they were willing to give every fortune in the world for it. They gave the Rav a pidyon, and the Rav spoke with him on the phone. Of course, they also bribed a guard there in Thailand to get him a phone, and the Rav spoke with him on the phone."

"This Jew had never heard of Rav Berland and, of course, did not know him. The Rav said to him: 'I am coming to you on the 26th of the month to set you free.'"

"When the Jew from Thailand heard the Rav say that to him, he truly scorned him in his heart. He said, 'What does that mean? How will the Rav come? Will he fly to Thailand and what? Will he come with some plane, some tractor, and break down all the doors? How exactly will he come to free me?' The whole conversation seemed truly delusional to him. He really just wanted to end the conversation; there is no point in dragging it out with a person who is speaking, ostensibly, such nonsense. What is this, 'I will free you on the 26th of the month?'"

"The conversation ended, and he felt disappointment and a waste of the money they had given as a pidyon to the Rav. Not even fifteen minutes passed, and his lawyer came to visit him. They brought him into the visitation room, and he said, 'I don’t know what happened, but the judge, after the matter was supposedly closed and there was already a sentence and the ruling stood, it’s over.'"

"The lawyer says: 'The judge says she wants to hear the witnesses again, and she says that one of two dates will be chosen, either the 26th or the 28th.' As soon as he heard the word '26', he fainted and fell to the floor. The first word he said after he woke up was: 'Set it for the 26th, and that’s it.'"

"This was about two weeks before the date. He asked his friend, 'Who is this Rav? Who is this tzaddik? There is no chance anymore, there is nothing to talk about at all, nothing to hear! What did the Rav do here?'"

"The friend answered, 'This is the tzaddik Rav Berland; people talk a lot about him performing salvations.'"

"The whole family and friends, of course, ordered flight tickets to Thailand, and the friend who is telling the story says, 'I arrived at Rav Berland’s about two days before the hearing and said to him, "Kavod HaRav, you told him you would come on the 26th to free him, and we are two days before the hearing. Should I order a flight ticket for the Rav to Thailand?"'"

"The Rav said to him, 'No, but I have prepared a special amulet for you to give to your friend in Thailand, and he should hold it during the entire trial.'"

"The friend answered, 'Rav, there is no chance. The courthouse is upstairs and the prison is downstairs; they bring him up with an elevator like a cage, surrounded by a ring of police. There is no chance that it is possible to get it to him; everyone is watching, it is impossible to even speak to him.'"

"The Rav said to him, 'Don’t worry, you will find a way to pass it to him.'"

"Everyone traveled together to Thailand; he held in his hand the amulet that the Rav told him to give. Exactly as he described, it happened with the cage... and he says to himself: 'I practiced self-sacrifice; I said, no matter what happens to me, I am doing what the Rav said.' I put my hand in between all the police; everyone was watching, everyone saw how I passed it to him. No one tried to stop me, and no one even spoke after I gave it to him in his hand."

"The friend asked me, 'What is this?' I told him that it is the amulet that Rav Berland sent him. 'Hold it in your hand during the entire trial; that is what the Rav said!'"

"The trial began. There were four witnesses at his trial, three Thais and one American. He said that they began to give testimony. The judge heard everyone, and when the last of the witnesses finished, the judge said: 'Truth is told only once. Everything you submitted, it is written here that every time you said the same testimony; now you are saying something completely different.' She canceled the sentence entirely."

"Baruch Hashem, this Jew is alive in the merit of our teacher and master, may Hashem protect him, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, that in the merit of what he is... that the tzaddik says..."

"Baruch Hashem, he released him to good life and peace, Baruch Hashem."