Ha’azinu: “You must understand that the Sitra Achra cannot tolerate that there is such a Rav” — Rabbi Shmuel Stern cries out against those who speak about the holy Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland, with arrogance and contempt

The Rosh Yeshivah of Nachalei Netzach, the gaon Rabbi Shmuel Stern—one of the senior Breslov rabbis—speaks out sharply against the words of one of the mashpi’im in Breslov, who opened his mouth with brazenness and publicly spoke empty, worthless talk. Behind Rabbi Stern himself stands an entire community of ba’alei teshuvah and institutions, including Talmudei Torah and yeshivos. And now he is shaken—like all of us—to hear how far the filth has spread.

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“Be astonished, O heavens—what people are saying! This is not the spirit and not the path of Breslov: disputes. There is so much good to speak about, and not to enter into all kinds of not-good things—Hashem should have mercy. As Rebbe Nachman writes, that Avshalom had an evil eye—these are terrifying matters. They argued against Rebbe Nachman without end as well, and Rebbe Nachman said about those who oppose him that they painted for themselves an image, and it is that image they oppose. It is not truly about Rebbe Nachman—only about the image they draw as ‘Rebbe Nachman.’ The same here: they have painted for themselves an image that is absolutely not Rabbi Berland. The Rav brought close thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of people. For decades—fifty years, even more—Rabbi Berland has been drawing people near, strengthening them, and bringing them back in teshuvah.”

“Thousands of people passed by the Rav, were strengthened through him, and received their entire Yiddishkeit from him. Even those who oppose him studied by him, received from him in avodas Hashem, and were strengthened through him. Who gave them permission to speak?”

“Rabbi Nosson said, ‘I cannot say pshat about a Jew’—so to say pshat about a great person?! A person who is an outstanding talmid chacham among the greatest—then to say that he is this and that, and all kinds of evil expressions: ‘we heard this from here,’ ‘we heard that from there’… Hashem should have mercy, Hashem should have mercy. We have known the Rav for years upon years: the Rav has complete mastery over all the hidden treasures of Torah, and this comes from toil in Torah. The Rav immerses himself in Torah almost twenty-four hours a day, ever since he came to maturity. He is constantly laboring in Torah—everyone knows this—and no one can argue with the fact that the Rav does not move away from the sefarim; the Rav does not move away from tefillos.”

“The Rav is a ba’al tzedakah—there are not many ba’alei tzedakah like this in the generation. The Rav is known for his compassion—how much he would help everyone, and distribute tzedakah to every needy person who came to him.”

“I remember that decades ago, one of the Breslov mashpi’im wrote the Rav a letter with all kinds of claims against him, and the Rav answered him in a letter: ‘Everything you say about me is true.’ Because it is known that this is the Rav’s way: whatever people say about him, he says, ‘It’s true,’ and he adds even more and more… The Rav always sought bizyonos—this is his entire path: always to seek yet another humiliation, and another humiliation.”

“Baruch Hashem, for so many years we heard so many shiurim from the Rav, and everything was only awesome chizukim in avodas Hashem. You must understand that the Sitra Achra cannot tolerate that there is such a Rav. I was now in the USA and I saw a synagogue called ‘Vasikin.’ They have the first Vasikin minyan that was opened in America. I looked into it and heard that the Rav was there thirty years ago, and then he founded that minyan.”

“My friends, I do not understand—where are all the zechuyos of the Rav? Where are all the souls the Rav brought close? Where is the Torah of the Rav? How are people not trembling? In Breslov they did not speak against anyone! How are people not trembling??? If it were their friend, they would judge him favorably. So about such a great Rav, who brought so many close?!”

“They say they are worried about our souls. Baruch Hashem, we are going in the path of Torah that was transmitted to us from generation to generation: Torah, tefillah, halachah. We learn in order to teach and rule. There is a yeshivah ketanah—wonderful bochurim, without iPhones. So what is all this fury about?”

“Be astonished, O heavens—how people speak about an eighty-year-old man who sits in prison: an outstanding talmid chacham, a Sefer Torah! I learned with the Rav many hours alone at night; we saw his greatness already years ago. Twenty-five years ago we saw that the Rav is expert in all the hidden treasures of Torah—in the entire PaRDeS. Whether in Gemara—the Rav knows Shas by heart; the Zohar as well. On one occasion I came with some chiddush in the Zohar; immediately the Rav opened that place in the Zohar for me and showed it to me—and it is not a famous Zohar. About whom are they speaking? Who learns so much? Even today the Rav sits and learns all day—he does not move away from the sefer, even in prison. Who can speak about a person who does not move away from Torah?”

“Judge favorably—this is the way of Rebbe Nachman; this is Torah: Azamra! One must be silent. Rebbe Nachman taught that in a dispute, one keeps quiet. Hashem should help that we merit together that the disputes cease, and there will be peace in the world, and that those who fear Hashem will be honored—as Rebbe Nachman writes, that through honoring those who fear Hashem, there will be peace in the world. Through this we will merit the complete Geulah, speedily in our days, Amen.

The interview is by Dudu, courtesy of the information line: 02-800-8800; from the USA: 18456400007; from England: 442038073333

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