An amazing rescue story received directly from one of the involved parties, testified before three Torah scholars. About a Jew sentenced to death in one of the harshest countries in the world, Thailand, who transferred a redemption to our teacher, the holy Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Rabbi Binyamin Defan recounts that the story was heard by three prominent scholars of the Chatzot Kollel at Rachel's Tomb directly from one of the involved parties: Rabbi Aharon Berkowitz, Rabbi Yaakov Balti, and Rabbi Binyamin Defan.

The story courtesy of the Tzaddik Line - 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 come 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, talking about Rav Berland."

"One day that Jew heard us talking, he said, you are 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 conducted trials, bribery, tried everything - there is a death sentence, but still no date for the execution."

"The family had already bought a plot in Eretz Yisrael, they had already come to terms with the situation that they were going to sit shiva - there is no appeal, there is no way to cancel the sentence in any way, just that there is still no date. They heard the witnesses and trial, everything was already conducted and the matter was closed."

"One day, the Jew who was at Rachel's Tomb, tells us he heard about Rav Berland, and then he told the family of the Jew in Thailand: 'Listen, Rav Berland is a great tzaddik, a miracle worker, many have seen miracles with him, maybe he can perform this great miracle?'"

"They, of course, did not believe too much, but any shred of hope that maybe, maybe they could help, they were willing to give any fortune in the world for it. They gave the Rav a redemption and the Rav spoke to him on the phone, of course, they also bribed a guard there in Thailand to get him a phone, and the Rav spoke to him on the phone."

[caption id="attachment_48041" align="alignnone" width="792"] A prison in Thailand - one of the harshest places to be imprisoned in the world[/caption]

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

"When the Jew from Thailand heard the Rav say this to him, he really scorned him in his heart. He said, what does it mean, how will the Rav come? Will he fly to Thailand and what? Will he come with some plane, some tractor and break all the doors? How exactly will he come to release me? The whole conversation seemed completely absurd to him. He really just wanted to end the conversation, there was no point in prolonging it with someone who, seemingly, talks such nonsense, what does it mean I will release you on the 26th of the month?"

"The conversation ended and he felt disappointment and a waste of the money given as redemption to the Rav. Not a quarter of an hour passed and his lawyer came to visit him. They brought him into the visiting 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 verdict stands, it's over."

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

[caption id="attachment_48042" align="alignnone" width="813"] Sentenced in a prison in Thailand[/caption]

"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, nothing to hear! What did the Rav do here?"

"The friend replied, this is the tzaddik Rav Berland, many speak of him as one who works salvations."

"The whole family and friends, of course, booked flights to Thailand, and the friend telling the story says, I came to Rav Berland about two days before the hearing and told him, Honorable Rav, you said you would come on the 26th to release him and we are two days before the hearing, should we book the Rav a flight to Thailand?"

"The Rav told him no, but I prepared a special amulet for you to give to your friend in Thailand and that he should hold it throughout the trial."

"The Rav told him no, but I prepared a special amulet for you to give to your friend in Thailand and that he should hold it throughout the trial."

"The friend replied, Rav, there is no chance, the court is upstairs and the prison is downstairs, they bring him up with an elevator like a cage, surrounded by a ring of policemen. There is no chance to give it to him, everyone is watching, you can't even talk to him."

"The Rav told him, don't worry, you will find a way to pass it to him."

[caption id="attachment_48043" align="alignnone" width="801"] Prisoners in a prison in Thailand[/caption]

"They all traveled together to Thailand, he held in his hand the amulet that the Rav told him to give. Exactly as he described happened with the cage..., and he says to himself: I did self-sacrifice, I said, no matter what happens to me, but I will do what the Rav said. I put my hand in between all the policemen, 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 this is the amulet that Rav Berland sent him. Hold it in your hand throughout the trial, that's what the Rav said!"

"The trial began, there were four witnesses in his trial, three Thais and one American. He said they started giving testimony. The judge heard them all and when the last witness finished, the judge said: Truth is said once, everything you have testified, 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 lives thanks to our teacher and master, may Hashem protect him, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, thanks to what he is small, that the tzaddik says..."

"Baruch Hashem, he was released to a good and peaceful life, Baruch Hashem."

The story courtesy of the Tzaddik Line - 02-532-6502