"King David Did Not Waste a Single Second of His Life"

On Sunday, Parshat Chayei Sarah 5779, as part of his holy journeys and self-sacrifice for the people of Israel, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a arrived to offer condolences at a house of mourning. The Rav shlit"a poured out words of comfort upon the heads of the family members until their souls were restored to them; these are his words.

"The soul is here and it sees us. It sees how we come to comfort it and share in its sorrow, because on one hand, it is already good for it; it is in a world that is entirely good, it has finished its tikkun (rectification) in this world. But, on the other hand, we want it to be with us, and these are two opposite things; after all, the soul has finished its tikkun (rectification), it has already gone to its world."

"King David lived for 70 years, but they say it is like a thousand years, because in his life, David did not sleep; he was awake at nights, he lived three times as much as everyone else. For, a person sleeps for a third, eats for a third, and barely an hour or two remains for him, but David did not waste a single second. The 70 years of David are like 210 and like a thousand. 'For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes' (Psalms 90:4). 'For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked' (ibid. 84:11), one day with You is better for me than a thousand with someone else. You had such a tzaddik of a father, such a tzaddik of a husband, whose one day was like a thousand years."

Photo gallery from the house of mourning of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

[gallery link="file" size="full" ids="13949,13950,13951,13952,13953,13954,13955,13956,13957,13958"]

Photography courtesy of Shahar Eliyahu