"For in Every Generation the Tzaddikim Grow Twice as Great"

On the 19th of Kislev 5778, December 7, 2017, HaGaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a arrived in Bat Yam and delivered a lesson to those drawing closer to Judaism. "Parshas Vayeshev: The brothers sell Joseph because they do not fathom the depth of his mind," opens Rabbi Berland shlit"a in his holy class. "Now is Parshas Vayeshev, afterwards Vayigash, and after that Vayechi. 'And Jacob lived' (Vayechi) is like 'The Life of Sarah' (Chayei Sarah), because Tzaddikim never die; they live among us. They have not left us and will not leave us. The Tzaddikim continue to live within us—Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, and so on."

"'And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother' (Genesis 24:67). The meaning is that Isaac still remained with Sarah. A person at age 18 needs to marry the daughter of Tzaddikim, because if we hadn't sinned, we would have been born brother and sister. A wife is an angel, not a human being; it is a mistake to think one marries the woman's body—one marries only the woman's soul. It is forbidden to marry [for the sake of] the body; 'Cursed is he who lies with an animal'—the body is merely an animal. One must not focus on the body; husband and wife are one soul."

"Sisera's power was in the temple [of the head], and Og King of Bashan's power was in the ankle. A person comes into the world to fight and defeat the kelipos (husks/impure forces), and the two hardest kelipos are Sichon King of the Amorites and Og King of Bashan. Deborah was greater than Moses, because Moses drowned 600 iron chariots, while Deborah [defeated] 900. For in every generation, the Tzaddikim grow twice as great. The fact that we see a 'decline of the generations' applies to the [general] souls, but the Tzaddikim double their strength."

"In the time of the Rambam (Maimonides), the Western Wall was not yet [revealed]; Suleiman the Magnificent (Nov 6, 1494 [estimated] − Sept 1566) discovered it. Back then, they prayed at the Gate of Mercy. For only the Western Wall was not destroyed, as the Jews built it, in contrast to the rest of the Temple, where King Solomon used non-Jews for its construction."

"They sold Joseph for shoes. It is written that Chanoch used to sew shoes. The Simple One in [Rebbe Nachman's] stories also sewed shoes. The work of the Tzaddikim is to sew shoes so that the Shechinah (Divine Presence) can descend below ten handbreadths. The entire work of the Tzaddikim is to bring the Shechinah down below ten handbreadths, to be careful with all the souls. We are forbidden to use anything that exists in the world; it is permitted only for spiritual purposes. If a person imports things from China, it is only to support Yeshivas with all the money. We have no authorization to use them [for ourselves], 'but only to look at them' (a reference to the Chanukah lights)."