Sheva Berachos for the Great-Granddaughter of the holy gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a ○ A fiery, flame-like shiur at the gathering ○ Sheva Berachos and dancing

On Monday night, the eve of 12 Elul, before the Maariv prayer, the final Sheva Berachos celebration was held for the great-granddaughter of The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a—daughter of his firstborn grandson, the chassidic Rav R’ Nachman Zucker shlit"a, son-in-law of the mashpia, the chassidic Rav R’ Yehoshua Dov Rubinstein shlit"a—who married the chassidic Rav R’ Nachman Goldshmidt shlit"a, one of the esteemed members of our community in the city of Beit Shemesh.

The gathering began about half an hour before sunset in his holy residence. After some time, The Rav shlit"a himself entered to take part in the joy of the Sheva Berachos, to the sound of the singing, “Kol rinah v’yeshuah b’ohalei tzaddikim” (“The voice of joy and salvation is in the tents of the righteous”). After he sat down in his holy chair, he began delivering words of the Living G-d for more than half an hour. Below is a brief summary of some of his wondrous and lofty words: He opened the shiur with the Gemara in Pesachim 119b, which teaches that in the future there will be the Seudas HaLivyasan (the feast of the Leviathan). When it comes time for Birchas HaMazon, they will ask the three Avos to lead the zimun. Avraham will say, “I cannot,” because he brought forth Yishmael. Then they will come to Yitzchak, and he too will say that he cannot, since he brought forth Esav. Within these words, The Rav moved to speak about the match of Yitzchak and Rivkah, and about how Eliezer saw “v’chadah al shichmah” (“and her pitcher was on her shoulder”)—an allusion in initials to “Esav,” meaning that Esav would come forth from her. Because of this, Eliezer cried out to Hashem. The Rav brought the words of Rebbe Nachman in Torah 46, who teaches that “kushya” (a question/difficulty) is an acronym for “Shema Hashem koli ekra” (“Hear, Hashem, my voice when I call”): when a person has a kushya, he must cry out to Hashem. That is what Eliezer did. The Rav also brought the Imrei Noam, who says that the word “macharish” (“he remained silent”) has the gematria of “Yaakov Esav.” Therefore, when he was silent, he merited to see that Esav is only the klipah—the outer husk—around Yaakov.

After that, they came to Yaakov and asked him as well to lead the zimun, and he said that he could not, because he married two sisters. The Rav then discussed the question raised by the Ketzos HaChoshen: How did David marry two sisters? And how did he betroth Meirav—after all, Golyas himself is worth nothing, as it says, “Hen goyim k’mar midli…” (“Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket…”). He answered in the name of the Maharit that David betrothed her with the value of the blow itself: Shaul would have hired someone to strike that blow, and with that monetary value David betrothed her. Afterwards, The Rav moved to the question of how David betrothed Michal—can one betroth with one hundred foreskins? He answered that they could be given to dogs. He connected this to the secret in Shlomo’s statement, “My father is lying in the sun, and the dogs of my father’s house are hungry,” explaining that David subdued the klipah of “kelev” (dog). After the shiur concluded, The Rav shlit"a began saying “Shir HaMa’alos,” and right before the zimun he delivered an additional teaching: from the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, who says that the joy of Sheva Berachos is greater than Yom Kippur. Afterwards, he honored the father of the kallah, the chassidic Rav R’ Nachman Goldshmidt shlit"a, to lead the zimun together with the piyyut “Davai haser v’gam charon” (“Remove sorrow and also wrath”). After Birchas HaMazon, The Rav shlit"a was honored to recite all of the Sheva Berachos. At the end of the meal, The Rav shlit"a rose from his place, and to the sound of the orchestra he began to dance with all those gathered who merited to participate in the joy of the Sheva Berachos. For close to a quarter of an hour, The Rav shlit"a danced around his pure table. Afterwards, he immediately went out to the Maariv prayer of Monday night (the eve of Tuesday), still wearing his festive garments.

From here we send blessings of Mazal Tov to The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, on the marriage of his great-granddaughter. May he continue to see generations upon generations—upright and blessed—building an everlasting edifice, with healthy children and radiant light, together with the coming of the righteous Redeemer and our King at our head, speedily in our days, Amen!

Below is a stunning photo gallery from the Sheva Berachos gathering in the residence of the holy gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a: