Incredible: Rabbi Berland shlit"a Sent Me a Letter Miraculously

"My name is Ilan Tamir, I was born in Tiberias, grew up there, and today I live in Jerusalem. My story is from 20 years ago and it begins when someone invited me to accompany him to the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days)," Ilan Tamir opens his amazing story.

"On that day, there was some event and it wasn't possible to enter to see the Rav shlit"a, so I submitted a letter to him with an important question I had. When we left there, I unfortunately remembered that I forgot to write my details on the letter, and Rabbi Berland shlit"a, seemingly, didn't know me and wouldn't be able to locate me."

"One day my sister called me and told me she had a letter for me. It turns out that a childhood friend of mine from my school days in Tiberias was passing through the Geula neighborhood in Jerusalem and found a letter thrown on the ground with 'Ilan Tamir' written on it. He remembered that he knew someone named Ilan Tamir, but didn't know how to locate me. He told this to his sister from Jerusalem with whom he was staying, and she answered him that Ilan Tamir's sister also lives in Jerusalem and he could leave the letter with her."

"I arrived in Jerusalem to receive the letter, and to my amazement, I saw that on the letter I had written, there was a response from Rabbi Berland shlit"a. I went with the letter to Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a, who confirmed for me that it was indeed the handwriting of the Rav shlit"a; who knows better than him, as he is one of Rabbi Berland's veteran students."

"My question concerned my personal life, but Rabbi Berland shlit"a did not settle for just an answer; he added and wrote that I had been told by Rabbi Shalom Arush in the past what to do and I hadn't fulfilled his advice. I was surprised again, because I hadn't mentioned at all in my letter that I was connected to Rabbi Arush shlit"a."

"Rabbi Berland concluded in his response and said, 'Do what Rabbi Shalom told you and your problem will be solved quickly.' I actually did so, and the problem I had been struggling with for a long time was suddenly solved in 15 minutes. This was truly a great miracle for me; I couldn't believe it happened to me."

"In fact, my acquaintance with Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a was completely by chance. One day, while on a trip in the north, a good friend of mine named Ezra suggested I come and meet Rabbi Berland shlit"a. At that time, I was only at the beginning of my spiritual path and I said to him, 'Leave me alone, I've already seen rabbis in my life.' To my joy, he didn't give up and dragged me with him to see Rabbi Berland shlit"a while saying to me—'No, this Rav is a great Rav, he is the Rav of Rabbi Arush.'"

"We arrived; it was during the holiday of Succos (the Feast of Tabernacles) and the Rav shlit"a was just sitting in the Sukkah (booth) and eating small pieces of challah (Sabbath bread), but I froze in place. All the persuasions to leave and continue the trip were met with my silence. I couldn't stop looking at him—'Leave me alone,' I told them. 'It's the first time I've seen something like this.'"

"One day, my wife and I heard about the matter of the Pidyon Nefesh (soul redemption) with the Tzaddik (righteous person). I heard that Rabbi Berland said that even if he is not present and the Pidyon is sent to him, it already performs the action, even if the Pidyon has not yet reached him. And so, we took all the money we could withdraw from the bank—it was our last 500 shekels. We dropped the full amount into Rabbi Berland's mailbox and went on our way."

"Four days passed and suddenly we received a surprising letter at our home. It turns out that the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) penalized itself after it strangely became clear to them that my wife is both a mother of children and disabled. Thus, it turned out that we received seven times what we gave to Rabbi Berland for the Pidyon. It was truly a miracle; at the time of the Pidyon, we didn't think of such a possibility with the National Insurance at all, after all, we didn't know they were mistaken."

"It's hard to explain; a giant man of G-d is walking among our generation, we are merit to have such a Rav in our generation. I don't know how they can do this to the Rav! Until there is a Rav in this generation who is truly a man of G-d, apparently, it is something great that we have no way to explain. There is no doubt that Rabbi Berland shlit"a is a man of truth and nothing else."

"Rabbi Berland will return to the Land (of Israel) and everyone will understand the truth (the interview was conducted long before it was known that the Rav shlit"a would return to the Land). Even if they extradite the Rav shlit"a, he will arrive on a red carpet (as actually happened in the end, the Rav arrived at his home with a red carpet).

[caption id="attachment_7699" align="alignnone" width="960"] The red carpet that was spread in honor of the arrival of our teacher, Rabbi Berland shlit"a[/caption]

"In fact, everyone knows the truth, even the police know (that it is all a false libel). Just from what I know, Rabbi Berland shlit"a has everything in his Yeshiva (Torah academy), from musicians to pilots, and yes, even police officers.