"Every Place Where Rabbi Eliezer Set His Eyes Was Burned!"

Can we dismiss even this as “just coincidence”?! As part of the holy study of Daf Yomi in the Babylonian Talmud (23 Cheshvan 5777), the well-known sugya called “The Oven of Achnai” was learned. We will not go into its details; we will only mention that the sugya describes the dispute of the Sages against Rabbi Eliezer HaGadol. One can look it up there (Bavli, Bava Metzia 59b).

After the Sages rose up against Rabbi Eliezer, the holy Gemara relates: “Every place where Rabbi Eliezer set his eyes was burned!” It is easy to connect the words of the Gemara to the words of the holy Tzaddik and mekubal, Rabbi Dov Kook of Tiberias.

And the pieces slowly begin to fit together: the media celebrated the Rav shlit"a’s words that he said in court—that in the period of the Tanach, he would have been liable to be burned. People pounced on this as though they had found great spoil, and rushed to dance on the blood of the Tzaddik. But today, the meaning of these words is becoming clear. In court they asked the Rav shlit"a what he had to say. The Rav quoted the verse about Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Yehudah: “Take her out and let her be burned”—and said: In the time of the Tanach, I would have been liable to be burned.

In retrospect, it became clear that the Rav shlit"a was, in truth, accepting upon himself to be burned in place of the Jewish people—just as the Midrash says that it is better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace than to embarrass his fellow in public. Yes, there are fires. From Heaven they are showing us how deep the judgment is that is caused by disgracing the Tzaddik. Even more, they are showing us so that we will understand how much the Rav sweetens judgments from upon us. For if the Rav shlit"a had not accepted upon himself all the persecutions and humiliations, the entire country would have gone up in flames.

Immediately after the Rav shlit"a said his words, a fire broke out throughout the entire country. That is all the Rav shlit"a said—just one sentence. We have reliable testimony from the mouth of Aharon Schwartz, who sat next to the Rav shlit"a in court and wrote down the Rav’s words exactly.

Today they are saying that there are already 250 fire outbreaks in the country.

May it be Hashem’s will that all decrees be sweetened from upon the Jewish people, and that we merit very soon the complete Geulah—just as the Rav wants: a Geulah with mercy, in which everyone is redeemed.