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But It Is Impossible to Rectify the Souls of the Wicked Except Through Songs and Melodies • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

עורך ראשי
But It Is Impossible to Rectify the Souls of the Wicked Except Through Songs and Melodies • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Before you is a summary of the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days) – yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Thursday night, the eve of the 6th of Nissan, Parshat Vayikra:

In ten more days is the Seder night. We are now reading Vayikra (the book of Leviticus). Moses was stubborn for seven days; Hashem (God) tells him to go—children are being slaughtered, children are being thrown into the Nile—and Hashem says, "Go!" This is against the Halacha (Jewish law); in Halacha, if someone is approached to lead, he must agree after being asked three times. Moses was "heavy of mouth" (had a speech impediment); at the age of 3, he took the crown off Pharaoh's head, so the angel moved his hand toward a coal, and he put his hand in his mouth. Later, at the giving of the Torah, he did not agree; he wanted Rabbi Akiva to give the Torah. He went to Rabbi Akiva's lesson and didn't understand a word, so Moses refused to go. Rabbi Elazar ben Arach, when he walked in the forest, he burned the entire forest; in the end, he said "Cheresh" (deaf/mute) instead of "Chodesh" (month)—he was "deaf" in his heart until finally Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet) opened his heart. Now in the Parsha (Torah portion), for the third time, Hashem tells Moses to write V-Y-K-R (Vayikar - and He happened upon). He writes everything, but he does not agree to write the letter Aleph. The Baal HaTurim says that Moses said, "I am like Bilaam," where it is written "Vayikar" (implying a chance encounter). The whole argument between Bilaam and Moses was that Moses said, "I am like Bilaam," and Bilaam said, "I am like Moses." In the end, they made a compromise: a tiny Aleph. Moses asks why the Leviathan (the legendary sea creature) merited to be described as—"Will he make many supplications to you... a servant forever" (Job 40:27)—and I did not... Hashem tells him, "Speak like him with supplications; will he speak soft words to you?" Therefore, the Seder night is the feast of the Leviathan. Abel and Cain understood that this is the time when all the gates of heaven are opened. Abel immediately brought all the signs (offerings). But Cain brought from the flax. Flax represents the souls of the wicked, but it is impossible to rectify the souls of the wicked except through songs and melodies. Therefore, "My harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the voice of those who weep" (Job 30:31)—because I did not play music, he could not rectify all the souls.

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