“It is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind” – a Kvod HaTorah gathering led by the Gaon HaTzaddik, our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, for hundreds of examinees of the “Netzor Torati” program at the holy yeshivah ‘Breslov Chochmah V’Da’at’

A Kvod HaTorah gathering for hundreds of examinees in the review program “Netzor Torati” of the ‘Breslov Chochmah V’Da’at’ yeshivah ■ Watch a fiery, flame-hewing address on the greatness of in-depth Torah study from our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a ■ Distribution of certificates to hundreds of yeshivah bochurim who were tested on hundreds of pages of Gemara by heart ■ “It is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind”

Our holy Rebbe said: “For the truth is, what Hashem limited for the human intellect to be able to understand is—it is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind—to understand a matter clearly, in its full depth.” There is no one who enters the holy yeshivah ‘Breslov – Chochmah V’Da’at,’ under the leadership of our teacher shlit"a, who does not see our holy Rebbe’s ‘words’ being fulfilled before his eyes. In the past year, a program was established in the holy yeshivah for reviewing and repeating hundreds of pages of Gemara by heart, in Torah knowledge, called “Netzor Torati.”

Baruch Hashem, Who has brought us to this moment and sustained us, when all the precious bochurim completed what they undertook—to learn, to review, and to fulfill the Gemara’s teaching: “If a person asks you, do not stammer… rather, tell him immediately,” and they merited knowing hundreds of pages of Gemara by heart!

We merited that on the night of 22 Adar I, a Kvod HaTorah gathering took place at the ‘Beit Malka’ halls in Jerusalem, led by our teacher shlit"a, for hundreds of bochurim, may they be well, who throughout the past year were tested on what they undertook to learn and know by heart, as well as for alumni, donors, and friends of the holy yeshivah.

Opening the event in memory of the bochur Shimon Heller zt"l

At 17:15 the doors opened, and little by little hundreds of participants began streaming into the hall. At the front stood a magnificent stage for our teacher shlit"a and his greatest students, great Torah sages who came to participate in the gathering, and the rabbis and staff of the holy yeshivah—befitting royalty, the crown of Torah. In front of the stage were set tables for the “grooms of the Torah”—hundreds of bochurim of the holy yeshivah.

At 18:00 the gathering began, as the orchestra—led by the musicians R’ Shimon Marian, may he live long, and the organist Natan Goods, and the clarinetist Yehudah Balti—began playing melodies of simcha (joy) and song in honor of the Torah. The great crowd, continually flowing into the filling hall, sang with yearning and longing for the study of the holy Torah.

At 19:30, a wave of emotion swept through the hall as our teacher shlit"a entered to the sound of the song “Eli, Eli, lamah azavtani…” in the stirring Breslov melody. Our teacher shlit"a sat upon his holy chair, with his longtime friend and companion seated beside him—the Av Beit Din of Komemiyut, the gaon Rabbi Moshe Mendelzon shlit"a.

The master of ceremonies, the mashgiach, the chassid R’ Nachman Goldblum shlit"a, opened the Kvod HaTorah gathering—‘Netzor Torati’—in memory of the yeshivah bochur Shimon Heller zt"l, who ascended in a storm to the Heavenly heights about a year ago; and may this holy evening be for an elevation of neshamah (soul).

A holy address by the Av Beit Din of Komemiyut, the chassid R’ Moshe Mendelzon shlit"a

Afterward, Rabbi Moshe Mendelzon shlit"a was honored to say a few words of chizuk (strengthening) to the hundreds of bochurim being tested. Rav Mendelzon strengthened the precious bochurim regarding the greatness of prayer with kavanah (intent), and explained why there are so many obstacles to praying with kavanah. He expanded further on the subject, concluding his address with a blessing that we should merit the coming of Mashiach, as it is written: “At the conclusion of the seventh [cycle], Mashiach comes,” and that our teacher shlit"a, at our head, should live long over his kingdom in strong health, amen.

After the strengthening address of the gaon Rabbi Moshe Mendelzon shlit"a, the Rosh Yeshivah, the chassid R’ Moshe Mordechai Ashlag shlit"a, was honored to say a few words of chizuk. Rav Ashlag explained the goal of the ‘Netzor Torati’ program, saying that the ultimate goal—as our teacher shlit"a instills in us—is that every bochur should know the entire Shas by heart, with depth and in-depth analysis. He then strengthened the bochurim regarding yirat Shamayim (fear of Heaven), that “The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem…” and to always conduct oneself in all one’s ways with derech eretz, with one’s head held high—to be “I have set Hashem before me always,” as the Chiddushei HaRim says, whose yahrtzeit falls this week. Finally, he thanked—on behalf of the entire audience—the director of the institutions, the chassid R’ Natan Chananyah shlit"a, and the yeshivah director, the chassid R’ Nachman Adri shlit"a, and all the devoted staff who ensure throughout the year that the bochurim can sit and learn, grow and flourish, rising higher and higher according to their path in the levels of Torah and kedushah (holiness). The entire audience, together with our teacher shlit"a, applauded as a sign of thanks and appreciation. He also thanked the head of the association who works behind the scenes to advance the yeshivah, R’ Adi Mintz, may he live long. And at the very end, he thanked the glory and splendor—the precious bochurim who sit and learn, immersed in Torah all year with tremendous perseverance, with grace, humility, and modesty. He concluded that we should see blessing in our labor and soon merit redemption and the coming of Mashiach, amen.

Afterward, the orchestra played several especially stirring emotional songs about love of Torah and its importance, as all the bochurim sang together: “Place in our hearts to understand, to comprehend, to listen, to learn and to teach…” and our teacher shlit"a, with his holy motions, aroused the entire public more and more with the moving song.

The central address, hewing flames of fire, by our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a

At 20:00, the central address—our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a began delivering a lesson that hewed flames of fire, as our teacher shlit"a opened his address on the greatness of the staff who give their lives day and night so that the bochurim can sit and learn. From the chronicles regarding the story of Achav and Eliyahu HaNavi, and afterward, for thirty-five minutes, our teacher spoke about the greatness, importance, and obligation of learning Gemara specifically with in-depth analysis. Our teacher shlit"a read from Torah 105 in Likkutei Moharan the words of our holy Rebbe: that when learning Torah one must understand one thing from another—and through this, said our teacher, it is possible to reach all levels. One can attain kavanah in prayer through Torah, as Rebbe Nachman writes in Torah 1. teshuvah (repentance) comes through Torah; humility and lowliness are attained through Torah; holy thoughts and a purified mind can be attained only through in-depth Torah study specifically!

And likewise, when one wants to win the terrible war against the yetzer hara, it is impossible except through Torah study—and here our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a began speaking fiery words at length against the danger of the internet. For many minutes our teacher shlit"a spoke about the severity of the matter and the terrible dangers that exist there. In the end he said that it is impossible to be saved from it and to guard one’s eyes except through Torah study. And our teacher said to the bochurim: “This is the goal of the yeshivah—to build that every bochur reaches the sharpest mind. I want there to be such an intellect here as has never existed in the world!!!”

Afterward he returned and connected this matter to the matter of Eliyahu in the time of Achav, as the Chiddushei HaRim says—that he could not kill Izevel because she would clap with her hands and stamp with her feet; and our holy Rebbe says that all of this is merited through Torah study: to reach the level of Eliyahu HaNavi is only through a person having a sharp mind. The Rebbe says in Torah 62 that “it is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind in Torah,” and he concluded with the blessing: “That everyone should merit this mind, amen!” Then, in a rare moment, our teacher shlit"a began to sing in his pure voice: “It is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind always!!!” and all the hundreds of participants sang together with our teacher shlit"a with fiery passion and great enthusiasm!!!

Distribution of certificates signed by our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a to those tested on hundreds of pages of Gemara by heart

Afterward, to the sound of the orchestra, the moment arrived—the distribution of certificates and stipends to hundreds of examinees, the precious bochurim in the ‘Netzor Torati’ program, who merited to fulfill the words of our holy Rebbe as our teacher shlit"a instills in us: to know the Torah that one learns!!!

First came the bochurim who were tested on four hundred pages by heart!!! When our teacher shlit"a heard the number of pages of Gemara on which the young bochurim were tested, those with a keen eye could see our teacher shlit"a shedding tears of emotion… Ah… how important to our teacher is the advancement of the bochurim and their immersion in Torah, and how much nachat and great delight is brought about in Heaven by these holy bochurim.

The precious bochurim passed one by one and received from the holy hands of our teacher a certificate bearing the signature of his holy hand. Afterward, the bochurim who were tested on two hundred pages came to receive their certificates from our teacher, and likewise those tested on one hundred and twenty pages, and those tested on eighty pages—each one receiving a certificate from our teacher shlit"a, who greeted each bochur personally with a shining countenance and handed him the certificate with love, as though he were his only son.

After the distribution of certificates, at 20:55 our teacher shlit"a departed from the Kvod HaTorah gathering—‘Netzor Torati’—to the sound of the orchestra, in honor of the Torah and in honor of the one who transmits Torah in our generation—our teacher shlit"a.

All the words of our teacher, the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

First, we give thanks to Rav Mendelzon and to Rav Ashlag, who spoke in praise of the yeshivah and in praise of the rabbis who give their lives day and night so that the yeshivah will be most splendid. The entire goal is that this yeshivah should be the flag of Jerusalem and the flag of the People of Israel.

Now will be the yahrtzeit of the Chiddushei HaRim, and he asks a tremendous question in Parshat Pinchas. He asks: How is it that Eliyahu HaNavi is afraid of Izevel? Did Eliyahu suddenly become fearful? After all, he slaughtered four hundred and fifty prophets of the Baal, and he slaughtered four hundred prophets of the Asherah before the eyes of all the People of Israel and before the eyes of King Achav. And now Izevel says to him: “I will make your life like one of them.” “Do you know what crime you committed? You slaughtered men innocent of wrongdoing—upright men, tzaddikim.” She did nothing to him; she only said: either you run away or I… Yet she too is in terrible fear of him, because just as he slaughtered the four hundred and fifty prophets of the Baal and the four hundred prophets of the Asherah, he could slaughter her as well. With a glance of the eye he could slaughter her, and she knows this.

As it is written in Chapter 1 of II Kings, that King Achazyah fell and broke all his bones—and where did he travel? To Ekron. There is a golden fly there that weighs forty tons, and they kiss the fly and bring it incense and bring it some offering. Sometimes they even brought as an offering their own children, and then the fly would have mercy on them and send them complete healing. Each person had a “pocket fly,” so the Gemara says in Shabbat 83b. You need to know the entire Shas by heart—this is the goal of the yeshivah.

Our Rebbe’s first teaching is Torah study. The first teaching in Likkutei Moharan—Rabbi Natan did not hear this from our Rebbe, but he placed it as the first teaching because without Torah study it is impossible to accomplish anything. All the grace of Israel, all the success of Israel, is Torah study—and even prayer is not accepted. The Rebbe says: prayer is not accepted if a person does not know the entire Shas by heart. This is what R’ Chaikel requested at the tziyun, because for this a person comes into the world: for without learning Shas he has no tzelem Elokim; without learning Shas he is simply an animal.

All intellect is received from Torah study that is learned in depth. And therefore the first teaching is: “Happy are those of perfect way, who walk in the Torah of Hashem” (Psalms 119). What is “wholeness”? Who is called a “whole” person? One who learns Torah day and night. There are twenty-four hours: eighteen hours he learns, and after that he still has hours to sleep, to eat, and to rest. Know that through Torah all prayers and all requests that we ask and pray are accepted. There is no other way and no other counsel. A person sees that his prayer was not accepted because you do not learn Torah; you do not delve into Torah. One hour is not enough—learn eight hours, and teach another sixteen hours, so that not a single hour remains idle.

All prayers and all requests are accepted only through Torah study. And everything a person sees—that his prayer was not accepted—is simply because he does not learn; he has no appreciation for the value of Torah. He does not understand that the first thing is the value of Torah, as the Rebbe brings in Torah 9. But it is impossible to pray except when one learns Torah—meaning, Torah study is according to how one’s prayer is. As Rav Mendelzon explained, the entire matter is prayer, and the entire goal is to reach prayer. To have kavanah in one blessing is harder than finishing the entire Shas, but it is impossible to have kavanah in any blessing until one finishes the entire Shas; and even if a person tries, he does not have the mochin.

For there are three cavities of the skull of the brain—Chochmah, Binah, Da’at—and these are filled only through Torah study. The Rebbe says: even if a person bangs his head against the wall all day, he will not succeed. A person sees that he has thoughts that are not good, and he does not want these thoughts, and he tries to bang his head against the wall—it will not help. The Rebbe says: even if a person bangs his head against the wall all day, it will not help him, because he is obligated to fill the mind with Torah study—with Shas, with the poskim, and with halacha.

The Rebbe says that the main thing is to learn for halacha, and “know what to answer the heretic”… to sharpen the mind. People think that Breslov means to sing in the streets and dance on the trucks. Now we passed and saw people singing in the streets—Baruch Hashem, yishar koach, and it is very beautiful—but who said that this is our Rebbe’s will? Our Rebbe wants you to sit and learn Torah and know the Shas by heart! And our Rebbe says—not just to learn, but to sharpen the mind so that it will be a sharp mind. A person must reach a level where he has a sharp mind and a quick mind, so that the mind understands the entire Shas and all the sugyot. Therefore there is here a staff of rabbis who devote themselves twenty-four hours so that each and every one can truly sharpen his mind and understand what he learns. For to read Shas without understanding—then it is better to say Tehillim. The Rebbe says that each person must see that his mind will be quick and sharp, and to sharpen the mind—because this is the goal of a human being: to sharpen his mind so that he can truly be received into wisdom and knowledge.

And therefore the Rebbe says that all teshuvah (repentance) depends only on Torah study. The Rebbe brings in Torah 105 that all teshuvah depends only on Torah study—because through Torah study he connects the parts of the mind. For without Torah study there is no mind at all. A person who does not learn Torah has no mind at all—no mind whatsoever. The mind he was born with is not a mind; it is the mind of a cat, the mind of a dog. For even a dog is cautious, and even a dog has a sense of smell to recognize its master, and if they give it shoes to smell then it knows where a person fled and escaped. Hashem gave it all kinds of special senses—but what is the difference between it and a regular dog?

So the Rebbe says that a person is obligated to sharpen the mind and see that he has a quick and sharp mind, and only then can he reach humility and only then can he reach lowliness. Without this he cannot reach any humility and any lowliness, because a person holds of himself; and he must go through conception, and after conception birth, and after that mochin—and in order to reach complete teshuvah (repentance) he must connect all the letters in the Gemara.

All the letters are one unit. All the letters of the 2,700 pages that one must learn are all one unit—all the letters. It is forbidden to give up on even one letter. All the letters and all the combinations correspond to endless worlds that are in Heaven, which must be connected. Then a new creation is formed, and then the da’at is complete, and then he merits that mercy is awakened in the world. He cannot bring down mercy except by sharpening the mind; he cannot arouse mercy from Hashem…

A person needs a kosher wife, and afterward there are births and children, and that the wife should be healthy. And one must bring ten children who are Torah scholars into the world—not just souls that will suddenly slip and cut off their peyot; then we gained nothing, and that was not the goal. It is impossible to bring children—only with the mind, because children come from the mind. Children are part of the mind, and only if the mind is filled with Torah [will the children be tzaddikim]—and not just Torah: the Rebbe says to sharpen the mind. He must fill the mind so that he has a quick and sharp mind, the Rebbe says—a quick and sharp mind, so that the mind can understand, in every place, the most difficult and deepest sugyot.

And the main thing, our Rebbe says, is to learn with depth—endless depth—so that a person can delve into Torah study, and through Torah study he can reach connecting all the worlds. Then he begins to have kavanah in prayer, to connect the letters in prayer—because to say the same prayer three times a day for one hundred and twenty years is the hardest thing of all, and it is only if one has the strongest mochin. Therefore a person must have a quick and sharp mind, and only through a quick and sharp mind can he connect the letters of prayer and reach the letters of prayer. Therefore our Rebbe says in Torah 105 that a person must reach the level of having the quickest mind; and when he learns Torah… the Rebbe explains everything. Now we read from Torah 105: “And when one learns Torah, three things are also needed within him”—three things he needs when he learns Torah: to ignore everything and enter into the learning and forget the entire world.

Of course there should not be iPhones and internet and smartphones and all kinds of curses that are not written in the Torah, and all kinds of names of the sitra achra. This is the calf of our generation. Today there is no idolatry, but there is the smartphone and iPhones and internet—and whoever holds such a device certainly stumbles; there is no question. He stumbles in a million forbidden things every day and in terrible abominations. And it is as if he commits the sin, because thoughts of sin are harder than the sin. For on a sin a person does teshuvah (repentance), but on thoughts of sin he does not do teshuvah (repentance). When he holds an iPhone or smartphone or some internet, he does not do teshuvah (repentance) for it, and he does not even know that one must do teshuvah (repentance). And he sinks and sinks and sinks into a million gates of impurity—not fifty gates of impurity; a million gates of impurity—before Mashiach, each person must go through this thing.

The Rebbe says: it is impossible… until a person passes through all types of sitra achra in the world, he cannot see Mashiach. And today, in this generation, there are such forces of sitra achra as there were not in the generation of the Flood and not in any generation. For in the generation of the Flood, Noach built a city, and Metushelach built a city. Chanoch ascended with his body to Heaven, but before that he built a city: “And she bore Chanoch, and he was building a city, and he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Chanoch” (Genesis 4:17). They built a city with great walls, and some Cushites brought the food, so a person went out of the city [and there they were guarded from the vanities of this world]. But today, everyone has in his pocket not only one iPhone but five iPhones, and he can see at once five sights of impurity—impurities such as were not seen in any generation. The greatest wicked people did not see such sights of impurity as they cause children, girls, and young youth to stumble with today. Children at age ten already see such impurity that there is no reason for them to be religious—there is no reason.

Because until a person receives intellect, the yetzer hara rules over him: “The inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21)—from the moment he is shaken out from his mother’s womb. The yetzer hara precedes the yetzer tov by thirteen years, and afterward it already becomes the “owner,” and a person reaches age twenty and the yetzer hara rules him; he cannot free himself from it.

A person must know that the first thing is to throw away all the iPhones and all the smartphones and the new technology that renews itself every day. They call it a geometric progression—there is a progression, and a geometric progression that multiplies itself and jumps endlessly; the sitra achra jumps endlessly.

The Rebbe says: “When he sits to learn, and gives his thought and heart to the Torah, and becomes hidden within it”—he must understand what he learns, the Rebbe says, and he must innovate chiddushim, “for the Torah is called poor in its place and rich in another place”. And every moment he must innovate more and more chiddushim, and write chiddushim.

Behold, Baruch Hashem, now they brought Rav Guy from Holon, and he brought a book of chiddushim—even though he lives in Holon, he does not open his eyes.

Moshe Rabbeinu grew up in Pharaoh’s house and he did not open his eyes. We are inside Pharaoh’s house today; today it is worse than Pharaoh’s house. In Pharaoh’s house they did not see such forbidden sights as every boy and every girl sees here. Every boy and every girl, and everyone has the devices of impurity—the smartphone and the iPhones and the other terrible devices—and he does not know how to get rid of it. It is written: bound to him like a dog. And therefore Yosef is called the tzaddik because he guarded his eyes, and in his life he never lifted his eyes. For one hundred and ten years he did not lift his eyes, and therefore a golden chain was on his neck, because he strengthened the neck; and the second chariot—because he never lifted his eyes.

The goal of a person is to reach a quick and sharp mind—to have the quickest mind in the world, the sharpest mind in the world. And this is the goal of this yeshivah: that every bochur reaches the sharpest intellect. The Rebbe said: I want you to have such an intellect as has never existed in the world. The Rebbe sent us such rabbis—unique individuals—who are ready to invest their entire lives, their families, and everything they have, so that the most wonderful bochurim will grow here—such wonderful bochurim as have not existed since the creation of the world. The Rebbe said: I want you to be people with such an intellect as has not existed since the creation of the world. And all of this can be attained. A bochur is still “tamim”—even if it happened here and there that he slipped—but he is still tamim, and the simplicity remains, and in one second he can throw away all the impure devices.

And the whole matter, as the Chiddushei HaRim explains: he asks the simplest question—whom is Eliyahu afraid of? Of whom? Of Izevel—the dog. He calls her a dog. Of what—one dog? What is she, in the end, more than a dog? “Izevel daughter of Etbaal king of Sidon” (I Kings 16:31). She is not even a true convert, because [she converted] only in order to marry Achav, so she said she was Jewish, but she never intended to be Jewish. She causes Achav to sin, as it is written: “There was none like Achav, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of Hashem, whom Izevel his wife incited” (I Kings 21:25). The Torah teaches merit regarding Achav—that he submitted to his wife, and instead of him ruling her, she ruled him. So on the one hand it shows his foolishness and weakness; [on the other hand it is a merit for him, that he did not do it of his own will, only that he could not rule her].

The Gemara says that Achav never in his life had a thought of sin. Achav came from the tribe of Ephraim, and the tribe of Ephraim did not have thoughts of sin: “A fruitful son is Yosef, a fruitful son by the eye” (Genesis 49:22). The entire tribe of Yosef, until the destruction, had no thoughts of sin. And this was Achav—he never in his life had any thought of sin. The Gemara says in Sanhedrin: Achav was half guilty, half meritorious—only because of Navot [our sins tipped the scale to guilt]. With Navot, there he stumbled because of Izevel, because Izevel said to him: What, you don’t know how to make a judgment? What are you afraid of? Here, I will write about him that he blessed Elokim [meaning, cursed], God forbid. We see that everyone kept the Torah; even with idolatry they kept the Torah. “He blessed Elokim,” and if he blessed Elokim then immediately he is liable to stoning—and it was false testimony. Everyone must learn at least one chapter of Nach each day and know the simple stories.

We return to the story of Achazyah who fell from the second floor, because there was no electricity, there was no light, and until he would search for the candles and the matches—the matches in another room and the candles in another room—like what is written regarding Ashmedai, chief of the demons, that before the Flood, when a child was born the mother would say to him: the matches are in this room and the candles are in that room and the scissors are in a third room, because you also need scissors. Before birth you must prepare scissors first, and after that you must prepare candles, and women gave birth by candlelight. It is impossible to understand this at all—how can one give birth by candlelight? But that is how it was.

What do you do when the candles are in another room and the matches are in another room, and the mother tells the child who was just born: run—go right, left, forward, back; you will reach a room and there feel the walls on the right side; in the bottom drawer on the left side you will find scissors. Now go to the room opposite and feel the walls and find some dresser, and there feel the drawers, and in the bottom drawer you will find matches. Now go there to the kitchen—where is the kitchen? He doesn’t know, because he was just born. Go right, left, forward, back, and again right and again left, and there you will reach some door—open it, that is the kitchen. And there feel where the sink is; he feels, and it is dark, he sees nothing, he was born only a minute ago. There you will find the candles, and connect the three things together—the candles with the matches and the scissors. And if you connect them together, then you can detach and you can be independent and you can be a “buddy.” All this is Midrash Rabbah, Parshat Noach.

That child, after he found the matches… after he already found the matches, found the candles, and found the scissors—he meets Ashmedai, because then there were demons; today there are no demons. He meets him and must fight the demon. And the babies were such heroes: he is only five minutes old and he fights the demon, and he fights him until morning. Now it is twelve at night and morning will only be at six-thirty or seven. He fights him for seven hours, and each tries to knock down the other—the demon the baby and the baby the demon. And he was born only five minutes ago, and now he will be seven hours old. Then the demon says to the baby: dawn has already risen—release me and let me go. And thus, with difficulty, he manages to escape from this baby.

We are speaking about the fact that once there was no electricity like today, when it is simple: a person gets up and presses the switch; or he sleeps with the light on; or he presses the switch—not immediately does he find the switch, but he feels a bit and finds the switch, and immediately he has light, and “let there be light.” People would simply fall from the second floor to the first floor, and this happened to several tzaddikim, and it happened to the king (Achazyah) himself—he fell from the second floor to the first floor and all his bones were shattered. So to whom does he send? He sends to Baal Zevuv in Ekron, and there he brings incense, and he slaughters his son; and if he has two sons, he slaughters two sons—so long as he will be healed from having all his bones shattered.

And then Eliyahu goes out to the highway, and there he sees a chariot all of gold with four horses racing from Shomron to Ekron—it is three or four hours; on foot it is a week, but in a chariot with four horses it is three or four hours. He stands and stops the horses… there sit four attendants of the king, and he stops them and says: about-face, please turn around—the road is blocked; I blocked your road. Everyone is frightened; they see a man entirely shining like the sun, a man entirely shining with precious light, and he shines on them like a spotlight. Everyone is frightened; they turn the wagon around and immediately travel to the king and tell the king: some man stopped us and told us to return immediately, and said that you will die. He said to tell you that you will die. [King Achazyah said:] What, I will die? I will kill him! I want to see who is stronger—me or him! Immediately bring him! What does he look like? With curls down to his waist—Eliyahu HaNavi had curls down to his waist, not like you. There was no one to arrange his peyot, and he was a nazir from the day he was born, and he walked with a leather jacket, not like us. Oy—he said—this is Eliyahu HaNavi! Immediately bring him!

Fine. Immediately they call to him: Eliyahu, Eliyahu—man of Elokim, the king requests that you come down. Dina d’malchuta dina; honor of the kingdom—come. He said: What, I am a man of Elokim? Let fire come down and burn you—and they all went up in flames. Fifty upright, simple, tzaddikim, holy and pure men were burned—evaporated with their officer. The king was a Breslover; he once learned in Shuvu Banim, and he said: I do not despair; I will now send him another group with another fifty soldiers and another officer. And he shouts to him to come down: Eliyahu, come down; the king requests that you come down. And he burns him too—fire comes down from Heaven, and they too turn to vapor. The king was a true Breslover—not like you, who fall into despair each time. Then the third group came, and the officer knelt on his knees and pleaded, cried, shed tears: Eliyahu, have mercy on me; it’s not my fault, it’s not me, it’s the king. If I don’t bring you, the king will kill me. Have mercy on me and on these poor soldiers—these are simple soldiers; they keep Shabbat and even eat kosher—why do this to them? An angel came and said: Fine—go with him. And he comes to the king. The king says: You said I will die? Certainly you will die! And how you will die! Today you will die!

Such a person—what is he afraid of Izevel for? Afraid of some dog? In Parshat Pinchas, the Chiddushei HaRim asks—now is the yahrtzeit—what, he is afraid of some dog? Who is this woman at all—“Izevel daughter of Etbaal king of Sidon,” an idol worshipper who killed all the prophets—what fear does he have of her? What does the Chiddushei HaRim say? He brings Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer: that the dogs ate [her body] except for the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet, because she would clap her hands and jump with her feet, and in that merit the dogs did not eat her hands or her feet.

But our holy Rebbe says that everything is through Torah study. To reach the level of Eliyahu HaNavi is only through a person having a quick and sharp mind and sharpening the intellect. The Rebbe says in Torah 62 that he is obligated to sharpen the mind; therefore we will now sing “It is a great mitzvah,” and we will read the Rebbe’s words about sharpening the mind.

And know—the Rebbe says: “What Hashem limited for the human intellect to be able to understand” “is a great mitzvah to sharpen the mind”. And this is only here in Chochmah V’Da’at, in the merit of Rav Ashlag and Rav Mendelzon and all the holy rabbis who are here, who give themselves day and night for the yeshivah. A bochur must know that until age twenty he does not take his head out of the Gemara for even a second; when the first child, second, third comes—we will see further—but in the meantime he has no reason at all to take his head out of the Gemara. The goal of this yeshivah is to reach the sharpest intellect that ever was since the Six Days of Creation, as the Rebbe says: I want you to have such an intellect, and I guide you with such Torah and send you rabbis and send you everything, so that you will have the sharpest, quickest, most agile mind—such an intellect as has not existed since the creation of the world. And now everyone will merit this new intellect.