Rav Berland celebrates his great-grandson's bris

THE BRIS OF A NEW GREAT-GRANDSON

This week marked another milestone for Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, and his family, as the Rav was given the honor of being the sandak at his great-grandson’s brit. The brit took place at the Hadassah hospital hotel, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Although it’s still very difficult for most people to be able to visit the Rav, the fact that he was able to celebrate a brit with his family - after such a long time where that was impossible - made the occasion even more touching than usual.

Bezrat Hashem (with G-d’s help), the day will come soon when we’ll all be able to fully celebrate these happy occasions with the Rav again. Over the course of the brit, Rav Berland, shlita, was also able to give over a shiur (torah lesson) to the guests.

In the picture below, you can see the Rav surrounded by many of the guests at the brit, including one of his long-time students, Rav Shmuel Stern, shlita, who heads up the Nachalei Netzach educational institutions.

Here, we share some of the photos from this joyous event, and also a small excerpt of the Rav’s words.
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The Rav asked a difficult question during the shiur: “How was it that Devorah Hanavia (the prophetess) served as a judge, at a time when Pinchas [the grandson of Aharon HaKohen] was still alive? What, weren’t any other people who could have been judges or dayinim (judges who serve in the beit din, or religious courts) in her generation?”

Rav Berland then explained: “Eliyahu Hanavi (Elijah the Prophet) testified that [at that time] there was absolutely no difference between men and women. Just as a man could be a judge, so a woman could also be a judge.

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“Devorah Hanavia used to prepare wicks from six in the morning to six in the morning. So, she was called ‘eshet lapidot’ a woman of torches. She used to make wicks without taking any breaks. In the yeshiva, there were a thousand students, and each of them would receive a fat candle, that would burn from morning until night, from six in the evening until six in the morning.

“’The candle wasn’t extinguished at night’ - she used to pray all night that the candles wouldn’t go out. And in truth, in Devorah Hanavia’s time, no candle was extinguished, the same as in the time of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. In his time, even the vinegar burned. Let it be vinegar, let it be wine, the ikker (main point) is that it should light up, because if the heart lights up and bursts in to flames, then everything else will be set aflame, too.”