Attorney Amit Hadad - "The Arrest of Rav Berland Should Not Have Happened"

"The arrest of Rav Berland should never have taken place; in a democratic state, one does not arrest for things that were accepted in the Jewish world in the past and are also common and accepted today. The indictment must contain at least minimal facts that constitute an offense, and here there were only slogans." A comprehensive and moving interview with the attorney of our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, Amit Hadad.

The importance of the Pidyon for the release of Rav Berland shlit"a

These are the words of Attorney Hadad (the interview is courtesy of the Breslov Hotline *9148)

"We have not yet finished this saga, but there is no doubt that this is the beginning of the end. The release of the Rav is something that unfortunately was delayed by a year, because the Rav, in my opinion, should not have been arrested at all, but from the moment he was arrested, we did everything possible to be able to release him, and thank Hashem, we merited that the Rav was finally released."

Hatred caused people to lose their minds

"When I entered the case, I was warned that, regrettably, in certain communities and certain publics, the Rav is perceived as some kind of creature that needs to be imprisoned as far away as possible, and representing him would raise a line of haters against me."

"The truth is that I did not attach special importance to these things; it seemed to me that it was an exaggeration. Unfortunately, I say that I made a big mistake - the exaggeration was upward, not downward. No one exaggerated in this story; Rav Berland is definitely perceived - and unjustly so - by anyone who knows the facts of the case, anyone who knows the evidence in the case, anyone who knows on what basis the things were written in the indictment, knows that there is a huge distance between what they attribute to the Rav and what is found inside this case."

"And therefore, we thought that we needed to act to release him, and indeed - this thing happened almost above nature. Our argument, and it is an argument that I think is so correct, and therefore so difficult to convince people of - that the type of offenses attributed to the Rav are of the type of things that in a democratic state - the state does not enter, does not check, and does not look into this type of event."

The Rav could have said he believes in the power of the Pidyon and would have been released

"After all, what is the argument? The argument is that the Rav performed a Pidyon Nefesh for people, and there is no doubt, even according to their view, that a Pidyon Nefesh is an ancient Jewish practice. Their statement is that the Rav did not believe in his healing power, and therefore when he tells people that it will be this way or that way, if they give money they will be saved, and he says it when he thinks, or believes, or knows that it will not happen, in that he commits an offense."

"If the Rav had said in his interrogations that he believes the result will change, that he believes in the power of the Pidyon Nefesh, that he believes in the power of giving, that the judgments will change and permission will be given to the doctor to heal, if he had said that he believes in this, then there would be no offense."

"And the fact that this type of offense is dependent on the faith of the Rav - this is something that is inconceivable. Beyond that, we showed that this is not an event unique to Rav Berland, that the Pidyon is ancient, but even in our days, identical things are happening in other places, and no one considers investigating."

"And therefore, we thought and think, and we also believe that if this case proceeds, then the things will come out. There is nothing unique here. The only unique thing is that the defendant in this case is called Rav Berland. And the personal identity of the defendant cannot dictate a different legal result."

"That is the argument; it is an argument that is difficult to accept at first glance, but there is no doubt that if this case proceeds and we are inside it, the things will surface and everyone will understand how strange it is to use legal tools, tools of criminal law, the harsh tools of criminal law, in relation to events of this type."

The arrest of the Rav is something that should not have been done

"We thought, think, and will think that this event is an event that was forbidden to exist in our reality, simply. The fact that the Rav was supposed to be released, that there was a decision by the judge in the Magistrate's Court who ordered his release, in fact. But, because the supervisors were delayed and did not arrive, they postponed the hearing to the next day, and then they did an act where they actually tore up the indictment, the suspicions - they tore and pulled out of the indictments some things that they thought were perhaps solid and ready, put it on paper, and with that they ran for an extension of detention until the end of proceedings, and continued to investigate the rest, all in order to keep Rav Berland in detention."

"In our view, this is something fundamentally flawed, and therefore I said that the release of the Rav today is almost an event that is above nature."

The judge erased dozens of indictments for the prosecution

"A. Preliminary arguments, it should be said to the judge's credit, we are arguing in a second round of preliminary arguments. In the previous round, she erased dozens of offenses for the prosecution; I think this received almost no publicity, but she erased many dozens of offenses for the prosecution. Once because of flaws in the indictment, and she simply erased it and did not give us the possibility to correct it, a second time because of the statute of limitations. And therefore, to come and say that the preliminary arguments did not succeed, I think that is not correct."

"Regarding the last decision, we thought that the indictment in everything related to the economic offenses is so thin, meager, and vague that in fact, it is impossible to deal with it. Because to come and say that the Rav brought in over 138 million shekels and did not report it to the income tax, and the only detail you have is what I just said, you will not find more than that in the indictment, it does not allow you to deal with the argument."

"The indictment must contain at least minimal facts that constitute the offense. Here, the things were not even skeletal, less, they were at the level of a slogan, and with a slogan, with all due respect, you do not go and file an indictment."

"This was our argument that, unfortunately, was not accepted, but I think that as things continue, we will be able to prove them and explain them from the perspective of the court and the prosecution."

The medical condition of the Rav is complex and does not allow for a trial

"They would like the evidence hearings to begin immediately; in the end, we are all subject to considerations that are much more significant than legal considerations, and these are the medical considerations. Unfortunately, and this is not a game, Rav Berland is in a very, very complex situation medically. I am not saying this; the Prison Service says it, the Supreme Court said it, everyone said it, and therefore the trial will have to be adjusted also in accordance with the medical matters, and we will bow our heads to the professional positions of the medical personnel."

"There is no deadline; we think that this is an exceptionally justified request. We very much hope that the things will be heard and considered favorably, because a real possibility to manage a mega-trial like this case, against a person as sick as Rav Berland, we think that such a possibility does not exist. And it seems to us that every person who has eyes in his head understands this. Maybe he is not willing to admit it, but everyone understands it, a person who during his detention was in the hospital for so long, who went through so many medical events, in detention and also before that."

"For reasons of privacy, I will not elaborate; it is clear that against such a person, one should not conduct such a precedent-setting, so strange, so wrong, in our view, procedure, to check if he will survive the procedure until the end."

For the benefit of the Rav, the conditions for his release must be maintained

"There is a list of conditions for the release of the Rav. It is important to adhere to the conditions, the light as the severe, if we want the good of the Rav, and I have no doubt that everyone wants the good of Rav Berland. One must adhere to the conditions and rules that were set, the light as the severe. Even if it means that the Rav is far, and even if it means that he is less accessible."

"If we want the good of the Rav, we must adhere to the things, and this means that there are no more Pidyonot Nefesh, not in exchange and not without exchange. Let everyone read, there is a long list there: do not arrive at the place where the Rav is. The place will be kept and is kept secret, do not arrive there - do not cause the Rav to stumble, G-d forbid."

"One must understand that it is forbidden to cause the Rav to stumble; the Rav wants and asks for good for everyone, that is my impression. Let them not put him to the test where he will want to help someone, but in doing so he will harm himself. Therefore, I ask in every way possible to fulfill the things as written and as stated, and to set a fence, even, for the things written there so that we do not cause the Rav to stumble, and so that we do not return him, G-d forbid, to the difficult place he was in."

"Rav Berland was in a difficult place."

Donations for the court deposit are transferred through the 'Chochmat Adam' association. Click here

To transfer your donation by phone, please call now:

*9148 extension 10

Bank transfer:

Chochmat Adam Association

Mizrachi Bank

Branch 403

Account 161694

Hashem is with you!