"For this our heart was faint..." • The Historic Chatzos Gathering of Thousands

On Thursday, Parshat Matot-Masei, the 28th of Tammuz, early Erev Rosh Chodesh Av (the eve of the new month of Av), a historic 'Chatzos' (Midnight Lamentation) gathering took place, the likes of which has not been seen for over twenty years, with the participation of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Following the tremendous success of recent conferences, the Union of Avreichim (young married Torah scholars) of the "Shuvu Banim Nechamat Zion" institutions—under the management of the esteemed Avreich R' Shmuel Isaac Rubinstein and the director of the institutions, Rabbi Natan Chananya—decided this time to hold a 'Chatzos' (Midnight Lamentation) gathering the likes of which has not been seen in our holy community in recent years. The gathering took place, as mentioned, on Erev Rosh Chodesh Av, with the participation of over a thousand precious Avreichim of our holy community. The time for the gathering was set for midday (Chatzos Hayom), the time when our people and all the Jewish diaspora customarily recite Tikkun Rachel (the lamentation for the Divine Presence) during the days of Bein HaMetzarim (the Three Weeks of mourning for the Temple). At midday, they began playing melodies of emotion and awakening, which brought the large crowd into the atmosphere of the Three Weeks: "Have mercy in Your kindness upon Your people, our Rock..." During the stirring singing, about half an hour after midday, our teacher the Rav shlit"a entered the hall of our study hall, which was packed, as mentioned, with over a thousand "Avreichi Mashi" (elite Torah scholars) whose holy faces radiated grace, purity, and depth. After the singing concluded, our teacher the Rav shlit"a began the recitation of Chatzos in order, with melodies that were stirring and heart-rending—first with the order of Vidui (confession prayer) and then with "Mizmor L'Asaph" (Psalm 79). How can we describe or depict what occurred when they reached the words, "Let the vengeance for the spilled blood of Your servants be known among the nations..."? Our teacher the Rav shlit"a was entirely seized by a spirit of fire, his holy face turned red, and his hands were raised high for fifty whole minutes! He repeated the words, "Vengeance for the blood, vengeance for the blood, oh, vengeance for the spilled blood of Your servants...!!!" It is impossible to describe the intensity; how can a page contain such stormy emotions? The cries were heard from afar: "Vengeance for the bloooood..." oh, "Vengeance for the bloooood...!" At that hour, the Rav appeared like a prayer leader of celestial form, crying out and pleading, raising his hands to heaven, clapping his hands to achieve Hamtakas HaDinim (the sweetening of harsh judgments), requesting and pleading with tears over the troubles of the Jewish people, over the terrible murders occurring daily, over the horrific and strange killings that the Jewish people undergo in every generation, as all the nations of the world set upon the Jewish people like a sheep among seventy wolves seeking to destroy her and leave no remnant or survivor, may Hashem protect us! Only after nearly a full hour did our teacher the Rav shlit"a signal with his holy hands and continue the order of Chatzos with the Rav's well-known melody of awakening, which causes everyone who hears it to shed more than a tear or two over the destruction of the Temple, over the exile of the Shechinah (Divine Presence), and over the concealment of the Tzaddik in this world. After more than an hour and a half, they concluded the midday Chatzos for the days of the Three Weeks with the singing of "Ki MiTzion Teitzei Torah" (For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah), which is said at the end of the fifth Kinah (lamentation) in Tikkun Rachel. Our teacher the Rav shlit"a prolonged this singing for about twenty minutes, and then signaled with his hand, and the entire crowd fell silent. A silence fell as he opened his holy mouth with words of the "Living God," like hewn flames of fire emerging from the mouth of the Almighty. Before you is a summary of the topics mentioned by the Rav shlit"a during the lesson:

There is Torah 85 in Likutey Moharan; everyone needs to study Likutey Moharan. I was against Breslov; the Rebbetzin forced me to study the Sippurei Maasiot (Rabbi Nachman’s Stories). King David fought with lions. Jacob also fought with lions for twenty years—"stolen by day, stolen by night." The whole war was to bring down Bibi (Netanyahu). They took everyone's weapons. So what did Rebbe Nachman come here to teach us—how to conquer countries? They entered Bethel through the city of Luz. When a person studies Likutey Moharan, it is an atomic bomb; if a person wants to understand one Torah, he needs to know the entire Shas (Talmud). Thus, the secret of Luz is the Resurrection of the Dead, because in the city of Luz, people never died, and it was impossible to enter the city; then one person went out and showed with a twist of his mouth where the entrance was. So the entire work is to connect Rachel and Leah; Mashiach will come from Migdal Eder = Rachel and Leah. "Upon Edom I will cast my shoe"—this is to connect the shoe of Leah with the crown of Rachel. This entire Torah includes all of the Etz Chaim (Kabbalistic work) and the entire Shas. During the days of the Three Weeks, one can accomplish everything. When there is a connection between Rachel and Leah, the complete Geulah (Redemption) will occur speedily in our days, Amen.

After about half an hour of holy words, our teacher the Rav shlit"a recited Kaddish and turned to go up to his holy home. All the Avreichim left with deep impressions, understanding well the greatness of these days in which "all her pursuers overtook her" (a reference to the intensity of the Three Weeks). They plead for the time when "You shall return to Zion in mercy," and spoke to one another with immense excitement about the powerful, historic gathering, the likes of which has not been seen for over twenty years.