Entering Lebanon and Gaza—the situation is worsening. We must complete three

Presented here are the words of Rabbi Berland shlit"a about the “Swords of Iron” war, as delivered last night, the night of 26 Tishrei, after Ma’ariv:

Please note: the words were lightly edited for readability. Certainly, if any error is found, it should be attributed to the writer and not, G-d forbid, to The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

‏"Every parent must watch over his child—this comes before everything, before Ma’ariv, before prayer. Every parent, instead of going to pray, should first make sure he is guarding his child. This is before everything.

Now they are entering Lebanon; all the soldiers are in terrible danger. [For each person] here there are brothers and sisters, cousins, grandfathers and grandmothers—everyone is being drafted into the army now. And each person must make sure to complete three Books of Tehillim every day. The situation is only getting more severe, and every girl must be careful not to shorten her dress! Every centimeter she shortens—an entire platoon is killed. Every sleeve she rolls up—another soldier is killed. Every see-through garment—an entire battalion is killed.

Our body is a “snake-body”—it is not the body with which Hashem created us: “And Hashem G-d made for Adam and his wife garments of skin” (Bereishis 3:21). Hashem took the skin of the snake and clothed Adam and Chavah with it. Every boy and every girl—every sensation he has, every feeling, every sense—these are the senses of the snake! Everything a girl feels—these are the senses of the snake! This does not come from the true body. The true body we will receive only at Techiyas HaMeisim. Until Techiyas HaMeisim, each person must cover his body with every covering—how much less to make it stand out. Because when one makes it stand out, he is making the snake stand out; he is not making the body stand out—he is found in a snake-body.

Every boy and every girl need to burn these clothes. And it is forbidden for boys to go with short pants—under no circumstances! Every garment—every pair of short pants—more soldiers are killed.

Watch the replay of Rabbi Berland shlit"a’s stirring words:

Now they are beginning to enter Gaza. We don’t know—Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world: narrow alleyways only a meter wide. We don’t know how the soldiers will enter and leave safely. They are preparing for thousands of fatalities—and this depends only on the girls going with more tznius: with long dresses, sleeves, not see-through clothing, and not clothing that clings to the body. Because it is forbidden to make the body stand out. The body is a snake-body; it is not the body with which Hashem created us. This is after the sin of the Tree of Knowledge: “And Hashem G-d made for Adam and his wife garments of skin”—He gave them the skin of the snake. And we need one hundred and twenty years to contend with the skin of the snake! From the day a person is born until he passes away—after one hundred and twenty—he must contend with the snake-body!

And now entire communities have been wiped out—literally wiped out.. The community of Be’eri was completely wiped out; in every house there are ten dead. They still have not counted all the dead. In every house there is a grandfather and grandmother, a father and mother, five children, six children—that is exactly ten souls. Every house—hundreds of houses—filled with the dead. The terrorists went in and went out.

There is no government. The moment it is in the hands of secular people, there is no protection. There is no army in the south; there are no soldiers in the south. All the soldiers—the few soldiers [who were there]—were killed. Not a trace of them remained. The government abandoned all of Am Yisrael! This is a government for Arabs—a government that only protects the Arabs. Even though the nations have already begun to come to their senses and understood that it is not the Jews who are the murderers, but the Arabs—until today they said the Jews are the murderers. Biden said the Jews are the murderers; now he turned around and said he will defend the Jews to his last drop of blood. But that is only outward talk—tomorrow everyone will turn around. And it is only tznius and Tehillim!

For every boy is obligated to complete three Books of Tehillim every day until the end of the war! From age seven it’s not a problem—it’s only a matter of… Instead of throwing stones, instead of playing with nonsense—no looking at the internet! No looking at iPhones! Each person should break his iPhone! All those terrible images are snake-bodies—bodies of immorality. This brings all the disasters—this whole great disaster.

Because masses of people did not fast on Yom Kippur, thinking Yom Kippur is just something someone invented, not knowing it is literal: “Who will live and who will die; who in his time and who not in his time; who will be tranquil and who will be tormented”! One hundred and thirty captives—we don’t know if they won’t be cut into pieces. Every second is danger to life. Captivity is worse than death—worse!!

And this is only if the girls will go at the peak of holiness, at the peak of tznius. And every girl must complete one Book of Tehillim every day until the end of the war. And boys should complete three Books of Tehillim, and also nine pages of Gemara—ten pages of Gemara—over the course of twelve hours, from eight to eight. It is forbidden to get up later than six! 6:35–6:37 today is already sunrise. By seven they are already eating breakfast and beginning to learn. Today we began Ma’ariv at nine—that’s thirteen hours, fourteen hours in which it’s possible to learn ten pages easily. All the pages are simple words; they are simple halachos.

Like the Gemara says, “Eilu Metzi’os”: at the end the Gemara says it is not speaking about a “finding” at all. Who “found” this—did someone invent it? Maybe Shuvu Banim invented it… “Eilu Metzi’os”—a simple person lives in Komemiyus; he finished Vasikin; he went [to the field to work until sunset]. In the summer [sunset] is seven minutes to eight; at ten to eight they announce on the radio for everyone to come; about twenty men come with paper kippahs; the tractors drive five minutes—five kilometers; everyone gathers, prays, learns Daf Yomi—everything in the field—complete secular people—and Ma’ariv. Now will he gather the tomatoes, the eggplants, the cucumbers that remained for him…?! He says, ‘Yalla, that’s tomorrow.’ Tomorrow he already abandons it. That is not a “finding.” They are not speaking about a “finding” at all. People don’t understand what they learn; they read the Gemaras and don’t understand. The Gemara turns everything over—everything upside down, upside down, upside down, upside down, upside down! A person must understand what he reads. If not, then he just read Likkutei Tefillos—that is not Gemara! Gemara is to overturn the mind every moment! On every Mishnah the Gemara overturns it: “Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it” (Avos 5:22). Every halachah is turned over a thousand times; from every direction they clarify it.

Hilchos Shabbos—now we are already on Motza’ei Shabbos; it is Rosh Chodesh. One must learn the halachos of Motza’ei Shabbos: that it is forbidden to eat a kezayis after sunset. Each person must see to it that by 5:30 there will already be Minchah, so that at six they wash hands; until 6:15 one must finish the first kezayis. It is possible to eat other things, but not a kezayis. After that one enters into a doubt regarding the blessings of Ya’aleh VeYavo. And whoever eats a kezayis after sunset must also say Ya’aleh VeYavo, as the Taz rules. A person must know all the halachos—know the entire Mishnah Berurah by heart. Every day one must learn an hour of Mishnah Berurah. It is possible to complete ten pages of Gemara, and an hour of Mishnah Berurah, and three Books of Tehillim.

Now, “It is a time of trouble for Yaakov” (Yirmiyahu 30:7). People are going to defend the homeland, to defend Am Yisrael; they are giving over their lives. They do not know if they will return safely. Therefore each person must—every boy should complete three Books of Tehillim, and every girl should complete at least one Book of Tehillim. If she completes three Books of Tehillim, that is even better!

Like the girls did in Johannesburg: every day I received all the notes from all the girls. There were girls who completed three books, four books in a day, five books in a day—and that is how The Rav was released. Otherwise, The Rav would have remained in Johannesburg for life. In the merit of the girls who said Tehillim for The Rav—and every day submitted the notes, passing along the notes of how many Books of Tehillim each girl said. Some said three, some said four, some said five. I remember the notes until today. All the girls who were there in Johannesburg—who saved The Rav with their Tehillim—did not stop saying Tehillim until The Rav was completely released and arrived in Eretz Yisrael safely.

So everything depends on the prayers of women. Everything depends on the prayers of women. In the merit of righteous women we went out of Mitzrayim, and in the merit of righteous women there will be the complete Geulah speedily in our days, Amen!"‏.