Four Years Since the Meron Tragedy (18th of Iyar, 5781), in an extraordinary personal story in light of all the holy victims of the Meron tragedy, Elad from Harish shares with us the terrifying moments in Meron and how he was saved from the jaws of death.

(Story courtesy of the Tzaddik Line - 02-532-6502)

"Elad from Harish, who was in the death corridor in Meron and was miraculously saved, Baruch Hashem, we are happy to speak with you, Baruch Hashem that you are alive.., you have a great miracle to tell us about:"

"The friend was afraid to enter the crowd, but I convinced him"

"We were about four or five friends who traveled together to Meron, in Meron we split up and each went his own way..., around 00:20 I met with one of the friends, relatively close to the area where the event occurred, to the corridor. We talked a friendly conversation with strengthening stories of tzaddikim, how much one needs to strengthen in emunah in tzaddikim, and while we were talking, we began to hear on the Toldot Aharon loudspeaker the song - 'And you shall say thus to the living'..., and the dancing begins."

"I told the friend, let's go dance, it's an important part of the celebration to dance and rejoice. And for some reason, he told me there are a lot of people there and he's afraid to go there. I didn't understand, I told him every year there are many people and every year everything is fine. I told him, don't worry, every year there are many people and you can dance, everything is good. I didn't understand that it was a completely different amount of people."

"The friend was convinced and we started to move towards Toldot Aharon to that area. We were a bit higher up..., as soon as we reached that passage, we pressed against the wall, we saw a large number of people trying to ascend to that area. At that moment we arrived, some were still trying to ascend and some were trying to descend, it was two-way. Really, within seconds, while we were trying to move forward in the crowd, suddenly guys came back saying they weren't letting people in."

[caption id="attachment_48203" align="alignnone" width="482"] The lighting ceremony in Meron[/caption]

"The way was blocked and we couldn't return"

"A bit of pushing began, people still had somewhere to push to. I told the friend, they say you can't pass, let's go back. We tried to go back and saw there was already a big crowd, everything happened really fast, meanwhile, more and more people were being squeezed in from the direction of the area, and the way from where we entered was closing, the public wasn't clearing from there, something was blocked, the public didn't leave and more people continued to enter that passage."

"It became an enormous pressure jam within seconds, we felt something bad was going to happen, people shouted - don't push, you feel it in the air, there was great pressure, it hadn't really started yet..., and while people were really being squeezed until you couldn't move even a centimeter, but still standing, it reached a point where because of the pressure, people didn't stop entering, but there was nowhere to exit."

[caption id="attachment_48202" align="alignnone" width="482"] The crowd in the death trap in Meron[/caption]

"It became a massive pressure jam, people started to collapse simply, to fall from the overload, because it was also a bit of a descent. People started to fall slowly, because there was nowhere to fly, nowhere to move, people collapsed where they stood. They fell to the ground, one fell on the other, one trampled the other, and that's also what happened to us."

"One falls on the other and screams 'I'm dying'"

"I was next to my friend, he fell first on the one in front of him, my friend fell on him, I fell on my friend in a complete collapse, on my stomach. More people fell on me, I don't know exactly how many, but I felt a lot of weight on my body. I felt great pressure, my leg twisted under a lot of pressure, but I was still okay, my head more or less had some room to breathe. We were closer more or less to the exit so somehow the head was more outward."

"Many screams and cries began, people started to be buried one under the other, children and adults really screaming. People started to panic, there was a feeling of very harsh judgment, that something very bad was happening here. We didn't yet understand how much, but that was the feeling in the air. People went into panic and pressure."

"They screamed, I'm dying, I can't breathe, people are suffocating - rescue! rescue! Many such screams. I couldn't at this stage see much of what was happening around me, because I myself was on the ground with my face towards the ground. I didn't see much, only heard. I only saw that in front people were trying to break through, there was like a metal wall covering some nook that was blocked. People tried to break it to allow people to crawl into that passage and relieve some of the pressure."

"For some reason, people couldn't get out. At some point, they opened it and some of the people on the outer line managed to escape through that crack. Some people escaped, but the large mass remained stuck and all the people were on top of each other, stuck in a way that couldn't move. It needed to be rescued, because everyone was entangled with each other."

"Meanwhile, rescue forces arrived trying to rescue, I also reached out my hand forward. Even before we started to fall, the feeling was like being led to gas chambers, that's how I felt anyway, a feeling of helplessness. A feeling that the evil inclination came to take some souls here and there's nothing to do about it, just uncontrollable, that was the feeling."

"All the time I asked Hashem to save me in the merit of Rav Berland"

"I always mumbled Shema Yisrael, and even then, before I fell and we understood the situation was severe, I asked - that Hashem save me in the merit of Rav Berland. That's what I mumbled - Shema Yisrael and that Hashem save me in the merit of Rav Berland."

"The leg twisted, at some point I felt severe pain, because the blood was blocked, the blood wasn't flowing well in the leg, it caused me very strong pain in the leg. After they opened that wall, a small passage was created for people to come and rescue. I stretched out my hand to one of them, he tried to pull me, but told me it's impossible, you're too deep inside and there's a lot of weight on you. I really felt it was impossible to pull me."

"I promised a redemption in the merit of Rav Berland"

"Meanwhile, the pain in the leg intensified greatly. At this stage, I already promised a redemption in the merit of Rav Berland, I started to shout several times - I volunteer a redemption in the merit of Rav Berland. The intention was, that I would give a sum of money to participate in the expenses of the trial and everything the Rav needs, for the prayer hall, that was my intention, to give it as a real redemption of the soul. By the way, many times I did this in small cases I had at home, when the children were sick, the wife."

"I always promised to give redemption for various things that Rav Berland needs, and indeed I always saw salvations - and this time too, at that moment I shouted - 'I give redemption, I give redemption', while saying this I felt they managed to pull people off me and pull me out."

"The friend had already accepted death but heard me and..."

"I said, a second before that he tried to pull me and told me he couldn't, and in the seconds I said I give redemption in the merit of Rav Berland, he really pulled me and also my friend who was below. Later, when I spoke with the friend, he told me something very beautiful. He went into more panic than I did, he started to cry, shouted for help and took it very hard, when we were on the ground he cried a lot and was very stressed."

"At some point he stopped crying and was very quiet, he told me afterward that he went into a kind of mental despair. He could only breathe and let it go, he understood it was something uncontrollable and there's nothing to do, he had to accept the decree. The moment he heard me saying I give redemption, he said it gave him life, like new life - and he said he also gives. At that moment when he heard me shout, I was really above his head. He said, 'I also give' and Baruch Hashem in those seconds when we both shouted it together they pulled us out, and Baruch Hashem we were saved from this disaster."

[caption id="attachment_48201" align="alignnone" width="482"] The deceased z"l in Meron[/caption]

"When we got out, we saw many youths lying down being resuscitated, there were many screams and a lot to rescue. We were among the first to be rescued..., and even those who rescued were not in good condition."

"I took with me to Meron 18 books of Rav Berland for distribution"

"A bit earlier than that, you could say it was something that sweetened the decree, I took with me to Meron the new books of Rav Berland. There is a new book of the Rav called 'Thanks and Gratitude'. I decided to take with me a package of about 18 books to distribute at the lighting of Anash for the merit of the many. I know it's very important to the Rav that these books reach every Jew, the Rav really talks about it a lot. Specifically, this book is written as a practical guide. There are many books, but this book is a practical guide, it's really halacha l'maaseh on how to act and how to operate - a wonderful book, I highly recommend strengthening and studying the books of Rav Berland."

"I took with me such a package and walked with it all over Meron. Anyone who knows, it's not simple in the crowd and pressure to move from place to place with such weight. It could be that this also stood in my merit, I don't know, I'm now thinking about all sorts of things that happened to me that night."

"Since Rav Berland took upon himself suffering to sweeten the coronavirus, my connection to him strengthened"

"I had trauma, I had anguish that accompanied me until recently..., like a heavy burden on the heart, like great sorrow that I can't explain, it was very hard for me to let go of it. In terms of memories, it started to fade for me, at first, I remembered more of the sights I saw..., now it's improving, I also pray and do a lot of Hitbodedut that all these feelings will turn for the good."

"We need to strengthen a lot in emunah and understand that even what we saw was - with great providence and great sweetness."

"I've been close to Breslov for about ten years. To Rav Berland..., you could say my connection to him tightened greatly in the last two years. Before that, I was more connected to the students of Rav Berland: Rav Ofer Erez, Rav Shalom Arush, I used to go a lot to hear them. Also, Rav Meir Shlomo z"l, I used to hear him a lot. I used to go a lot to hear Rav Tzanani..., I was very connected to the students of Rav Berland, but to the Rav himself, I wasn't so connected."

"In the last two years, since they started just talking about the coronavirus, and they said that Rav Berland took upon himself a lot of suffering to sweeten it, it really touched my heart, and at that time they started asking to read Tikkun HaKlali for him. I started reading Tikkun HaKlali for him and it really connected me to him. I started to feel a great light from the Rav, because I read Tikkun HaKlali for him, our connection strengthened and I started to see a lot of divine assistance in my service of Hashem from all directions, which I didn't have until now."

[caption id="attachment_39258" align="alignnone" width="640"] When Rav Berland was arrested - the whole world entered the coronavirus lockdown[/caption]

"From the day I started getting closer to Rav Berland, I set up a standing order from which I also saw many miracles and wonders. I continued to read more Tikkun HaKlali and receive more advice that the Rav says to do, listen to lessons, really enter more directly to the Rav, see what the Rav says to do, what his advice is..., the more I threw away my intellect and nullified myself to the Rav's knowledge, I started to feel real divine assistance in my service of Hashem. Personal things of mine as well as general, both in Torah study, in working on my character traits, in desires."

"I really felt a lot of divine assistance, I felt the Rav was taking me out of bad places I was in. Even today, the more I merit to get closer to the Rav, I can receive very good influences from the Rav."

"I always tried to serve Hashem and take things seriously, those who know me, but with the Rav, it's a completely different work, with the Rav you merit to receive powers beyond nature, you merit to reach works even if they are not at your level at all. The Rav really opens the way, the Rav gives you powers to do things beyond."

"This is from personal experience, the more I merit to get closer, to bring the Rav's advice to do them simply without thinking too much, without being clever - and we will merit to see a great light."