Ha’azinu: The Holy Service of the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a on Yom Kippur 30 Years Ago

"Thirty years ago they traveled with the Rav shlit"a to observe Yom Kippur in Meron. There they coordinated among themselves to arrange shifts at the holy gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, with the first shift remaining there immediately after the prayer and continuing until midnight, while the next shift would replace it at midnight and continue into the daytime avodah (service) of Yom Kippur."

"They began the Ma’ariv prayer when the Rav shlit"a asked them not to wait for him. Afterwards they continued with all the piyyutim and selichot, while throughout that entire time the Rav shlit"a stood in prayer with a tallit over his head. They were sure the Rav shlit"a was about to finish the prayer, and meanwhile they began dividing into shifts at the holy gravesite — the Rav shlit"a was still standing in the corner with a tallit over his head."

"Midnight arrived and the first shift went to sleep, and the Rav was still standing in the corner praying. This continued until morning, and afterwards they went on with the entire long order of the Yom Kippur prayers, which includes, among other things, Shacharit with Mussaf, Minchah, and Ne’ilah — all that time the Rav stood to the side with a tallit over his head and prayed."

"The time for Ma’ariv at the conclusion of Yom Kippur arrived. More than 25 hours had already passed without food, drink, or sleep, and the Rav shlit"a continued to stand and pray. The holy day ended; everyone boarded the bus. The driver pleaded with them that he had no time to wait and that they should go call the Rav shlit"a, because he was starting to drive and it didn’t matter to him if the Rav would remain in Meron. With holy awe, several people approached the Rav shlit"a and hinted to him that it was time to return. The Rav shlit"a roused himself from the prayer, boarded the bus, and made Havdalah."

"The entire way back, for about four hours, the Rav shlit"a spoke with the people words of encouragement. And when they arrived in Jerusalem, the Rav shlit"a was astonished: ‘You’re going to sleep? We have not done Hitbodedut for almost a whole day already!’ So they arranged cars and drove to a field, where they did Hitbodedut until morning; afterwards, mikveh and Shacharit prayer. When the prayer ended, the Rav shlit"a said that one must go from mitzvah to mitzvah, and therefore he began learning Tractate Sukkah. Only after all this did they see that the Rav shlit"a rested a little."

"How holy and awe-inspiring the Rav shlit"a was then! These were the avodot he performed thirty years ago. We cannot imagine what spiritual attainments the Rav shlit"a is at today — only to strengthen ourselves in emunah (faith) in the greatness of the tzaddik."