And on Acts of Kindness — The Avodah of Tzedakah and Chesed of The Rav

Great students of our teacher Rav Berland share moving and stirring stories about the work of charity and kindness of Rav Berland ■ Why a prominent Rosh Yeshiva in Ponevezh helped collect money for Rav Berland ■ 12 hours of chevruta of kindness ■ Who polished the shoes for the yeshiva students of Kfar Chassidim ■ Why the door of Rav Berland's house in Bnei Brak had no lock ■ And what the taxi driver in Bnei Brak recounted, all this and more in the article before you

Collecting Charity with One Shoe

The Rosh Yeshiva of 'Maginei Eretz', Rabbi Michael Gol, recounts: Many years ago, we entered the great study hall of the Ponevezh Yeshiva with the goal of collecting money for the wedding of our teacher Rav Berland's daughter. To our surprise, one of the prominent Rabbis, upon hearing for whom we were collecting the money, stopped his studies and accompanied us, encouraging and urging the many yeshiva students and kollel scholars to donate generously. Indeed, thanks to that prominent Rabbi, hearts were opened and donations increased. After that Rabbi was satisfied, he explained to us the reason for his mobilization for the fundraising for the wedding of our teacher Rav Berland's daughter: "It was many years ago. A certain important Torah scholar here in Bnei Brak had fallen into heavy debt and a very difficult financial situation. Rav Berland, being a young scholar among the yeshiva students at the time, went out on a fundraising journey throughout the city with self-sacrifice. I accompanied him, and along the way, I saw how one of his shoes tore. He picked it up and continued to walk for hours barefoot in the scorching sun until he managed to collect a significant sum of money. I was very astonished; I saw what kindness for another meant. I was impressed by the greatness of the soul of R' Leizer Berland, and thus it is no wonder that I went out of my way when you came to collect money for him..."

Torah of Kindness - 12 Hours for the Sake of Another

One of the prominent Torah scholars in Breslov today recounts that in his youth, despite being the son of a Breslov Chassid, he had not yet acquired the proper way of learning. It was only after our teacher Rav Berland sat with him in the Breslov Yeshiva in Bnei Brak for several hours and told him the entire story of how R' Yisrael Ber Odesser drew close, and strengthened him greatly regarding our holy Rebbe and the matter of learning. When the latter laid out his problem to our teacher Rav Berland regarding his difficulty in understanding the learning and his lack of a chevruta, our teacher Rav Berland told him that from that day on, he would be his chevruta. Indeed, for at least half a year, our teacher Rav Berland studied with him as a chevruta every day for about 12 hours! In the middle, the young man would go for lunch while our teacher Rav Berland remained in the yeshiva, and afterwards, he would continue with him. Only in the merit of this did the latter become an important Torah scholar who sits day and night engaged in Torah and service. Similarly, R' Nachman Horowitz recounts another Torah scholar, a Breslov Chassid, who told him personally that our teacher Rav Berland literally put him on his feet after he was very weak in his learning and had almost left the world of Torah entirely, and for an entire month, our teacher studied with him every day for several hours.

The Materiality of the Other is My Spirituality - Kindness with One's Body

Polishing Shoes

The acts of kindness of our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a began in his youth. The Chassid R' Nachman Horowitz tells 'Hitchadshut' that he heard from our teacher Rav Berland's study partners in Kfar Chassidim that our teacher Rav Berland would make a practice every Motzaei Shabbat of polishing and cleaning all the shoes of all the yeshiva students so that they would be clean for the entire week.

Hospitality (Hachnasat Orchim)

And of course, after our teacher Rav Berland began his work of outreach, his house became a place of hospitality, with the Rav and the Rabbanit bringing all the yeshiva students and all sorts of people who needed strengthening into their home, washing their clothes, and providing them with food. All this was despite the crowding in the house, and everything was done with a good feeling and a shining countenance. More than once, the Rabbanit and her children would go out to look for mattresses to serve the guests... and at night, the whole house was full of mattresses. R' Nachman Horowitz further recounts that the door of Rav Berland's house in Bnei Brak had no cylinder or lock to close it – a house of hospitality for anyone in need. To such an extent that once, when he arrived at the house of our teacher Rav Berland to go with him to the field, Rav Berland told him that he could not because in every room of his house, several people were currently sleeping!!!...

And Bring the Poor into Your House

R' Nachman Horowitz tells another terrible story of kindness in the name of R' Nissim Gueta, who heard it from an eyewitness – a taxi driver. There was a taxi driver in Yavne who would often drive our teacher Rav Berland to the field. Once, returning from hitbodedut late at night, our teacher Rav Berland asked the taxi driver to drive toward the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. When they arrived there, they saw a drunkard sleeping on the floor with dirty clothes... To the taxi driver's astonishment, our teacher Rav Berland woke the drunkard and brought him into the taxi, and that is how they arrived at the Rav's house, where Rav Berland cared for him for several months, rehabilitated him, took care of all his needs, and afterwards even married him off.

Rav Berland Slept on the Floor

A certain scholar told a story that will give us a small glimpse into the magnitude of the rare hospitality of our teacher Rav Berland and the Rabbanit. Once, he found himself in Bnei Brak in the evening for some matters, and as he prepared to return to Jerusalem, he realized he had missed the last bus. In those years, there was no other option for travel to Jerusalem. Knowing our teacher Rav Berland, he decided to go to his house, and indeed, the Rav received him with a shining countenance, honored him, and gave him a bed to sleep in. When the man woke up, he was stunned to see our teacher Rav Berland sleeping on the floor...

He Distributed, He Gave to the Needy - Kindness with His Money

The work of 'charity' of our teacher Rav Berland is a work that arouses wonder, and on an inconceivable scale. Of course, this work also began in his youth at the yeshiva in Kfar Chassidim; when he would bring a cake or similar, he would slice a piece for himself and distribute the rest to others (so recounted the Gaon R' Aharon Golovenditz zt"l, who studied in Kfar Chassidim with our teacher shlit"a).

Right of Purchase

There was a scholar who told Rav Berland that he spent his Sabbaths at his father-in-law's house due to the fact that his pockets were empty, preventing him from spending the Sabbath in his own home. Rav Berland tried to give him a sum of money, but the man refused. To his surprise, a short time later, he received a phone call from the grocery store near his house saying he had a credit of 2,000 NIS... that someone had donated for him...

The Instruction of the Steipler

The scholarship money that our teacher Rav Berland would receive from the kollel, he would distribute most of it to charity even before it reached his house, seeing the poor or people with debts, etc. Because of this, the Steipler zt"l instructed that the scholarship be transferred directly to the Rabbanit tlit"a so that she would have parnassah for the house...

Charity at the Expense of His Teeth

There was a period when our teacher Rav Berland needed dental treatment for his entire mouth, something that cost a great fortune, but the matter was postponed for one reason: every time the sum was accumulated, Rav Berland would transfer it directly to all sorts of poor people and individuals who were in his proximity and needed the money, and this was despite the great suffering from the toothaches that our teacher Rav Berland was enduring at the time...