Harsh Words from R' Nachman Berland on the Dire Conditions of His Father

R' Nachman Berland, son of our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, in a difficult conversation regarding the harsh conditions in which his father, our teacher the Rav shlit"a, is being held. R' Nachman spoke before the large crowd that arrived at the prayer and outcry rally held at the Bar Ilan intersection in Jerusalem for the release of our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a. Although a decision has since been made to transfer the Rav shlit"a to an alternative location, the situation is still far from satisfactory, and the treatment of the Rav remains harsh, astonishing, and outrageous.

"What can we say and what can we speak? The Rav is completely isolated. I had a conversation this week with the lawyer, and she said that the Rav's isolation is very, very difficult, very difficult. It is hard to see this; the conditions there are disgraceful. He has no possibility of recovering at all."

"We have no comprehension of the heroism required of the Rav shlit"a"

"The Rav has been at Hadassah for two months, almost three months since Chol HaMoed Sukkot; we are almost at the end of Tevet. In effect, for three months, the Rav has not been recovering fully due to the isolation and the medical situation; it is impossible to heal him in any way."

"They do not let him see people; his mood is not even a factor, it is... very difficult. I do not want to say what the lawyer says at all; it is very, very difficult. The family is with the Rav... they barely let us see him once a week, and most of the time they postpone it with various excuses."

"The Rav shlit"a does not see anyone. He has a phone for maybe half an hour during the day, speaking a word here, a word there. As much as we know our Rav, we truly have no comprehension at all of the heroism involved, of the strength involved, but it is our duty to do everything possible, primarily through prayer, primarily what the Rav shlit"a speaks about."

"Here we appeal to all parties. The most shocking thing is that they already succeeded, with Hashem's help, in convincing those who pull the strings in the cases. They saw that there is nothing, and they truly wanted to release the Rav shlit"a already; they wanted to release him—the Rav was already supposed to be out. The Rav told me several times, 'I will be home tomorrow.' He said he would light Chanukah candles, and after that, he said on the Tenth of Tevet, 'I will be with you at a large gathering.'"

"The Rav's lawyer says: There is a law for everyone, and there is a Berland law"

"Unfortunately, they are holding him for no reason—for no cause. Anyone who knows the case knows that it is a tremendous struggle to even raise such a thing. The lawyer says, 'There is a Berland case here; everything is permitted.' They have broken all the rules of procedure entirely."

"We appeal here in the name of the holy community to the entire holy public: everyone who has the ability, everyone who has friends—the cry reaches the heavens. Today is the birthday of the Rav shlit"a, at age 83, already entering age 84, and he has many more years to lead the holy community, to lead the entire holy public."

"We are all praying all the time that Hashem will truly grant those who need to decide the ability to show some humanity, the simplest kind—the biggest murderers, the biggest terrorists do not have such isolation; they have better conditions than what the Rav went through in Ramle, than what he went through in Tzalmon."

"The Rav is going through very difficult things, very difficult. It is our duty to always continue to pray, to continue to cry out. Anyone who has a certain connection... anyone who has influence in any place, it is our duty to act, just as it is written about Yaakov who came before Esav with a gift, prayer, and war; truly, one must act in all ways."

"War means—the essence of the war is in prayer, that is the essence of the war. War means prayer, not Heaven forbid war in the literal sense. War has a dual meaning: prayer from the depths of the heart to awaken the abundant mercies of Heaven. With Hashem's help, may we merit to see the Rav shlit"a released... with Hashem's help."