Knishta Chada Issue 48 Nisan 5776 "And We Considered Him Plagued, Smitten by God

Knishta Chada Issue 48

Nissan 5776

Under the leadership of the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a

"But we considered him stricken, smitten by Hashem, and afflicted."

Until that encounter, perhaps it was possible to remain on the sidelines. We knew that Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a is a foundational tzaddik of the world, holy and of high standing; nevertheless, we did not feel obligated to go out and proclaim this to the world. Until that random meeting with a kollel student from one of the famous yeshivas in Jerusalem. "Tell me, what is happening with the Rav?" he asked. At first, we thought to evade the question; after all, it is not within our power to rectify the entire world. But suddenly, a thought arose in our minds: have mercy on the man. After all, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes: "And one must pray very much to Hashem that one merits to draw close to the true tzaddik, for happy is he who merits to draw close to the true tzaddik during his lifetime; happy is he, happy is his portion, for afterwards [i.e., after death] it is very difficult to draw close. And one must increase prayer and supplications very much so that one merits to draw close to the true tzaddikim during his lifetime, for the 'Baal Davar' (the adversary) focuses his heart on this very much now, to confuse the world, for the Jewish people are now very close to the end." (Likutey Moharan 78, Part II).

Isaiah prophesies about the state of Hashem’s messenger on the eve of the Geulah (Isaiah 52-53), I began to answer him. "Behold, My servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so marred was his appearance more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men... He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one who hides his face from us; he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by Hashem, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and Hashem has laid on him the iniquity of us all." And the Radak explains: Despised - it goes without saying that we did not desire him, but he was even despised in our eyes. Rejected by men - he was less than human, for they would not associate with him. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief - the sorrows and the illness are the suffering of the exile, for he was known and accustomed to the yoke of exile passing over him. And as one who hides his face from us - we did not want to look at him out of the great loathing with which we loathed him, and we did not consider him anything. Surely our illnesses - and we considered him, while he was in exile, to be stricken, smitten by Hashem, and afflicted by the hand of Hashem for his own iniquity, and behold, we see that it is not for his iniquity, but for our iniquities, as it says: The chastisement for our peace was upon him - the afflictions that were meant to come upon us all came upon him. All we like sheep have gone astray - meaning, like sheep without a shepherd. From oppression and judgment - from the oppression of the exile where he was detained, and from the judgment of the captivity where they passed judgment upon him.

The words of the prophet are difficult; it is worth studying them inside. But it is even more difficult to understand how the very one sent to redeem Israel suffers such afflictions, and not only that, but many fail to identify that he is the messenger sent to redeem them, and he appears in their eyes as loathsome, to the point that they would be happy if judgment were passed upon him. Until the Midrash says (Yalkut Shimoni, Isaiah, Chapter 60): "Ephraim is a precious son to Me..." Why does it say "I will surely have mercy" (racham arachamenu) twice? Rather, "racham" (have mercy) when he was imprisoned, for every single day they would gnash their teeth, hint with their eyes, shake their heads, and sneer with their lips. "Arachamenu" (I will have mercy on him) when he emerges from prison, for not one kingdom or two kingdoms come against him, but one hundred and forty kingdoms surround him, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, says to him: "Ephraim, my righteous Mashiach, do not fear them, for all of these will die by the breath of your lips," as it is said: "And with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked." And the Midrash continues (ibid., Chapter 52) that the afflictions were divided into three parts: one taken by the Patriarchs of the world, one by the generation of the persecution, and one by King Mashiach. And why does King Mashiach suffer so much? It is connected to his love for Israel. Mashiach agrees to sacrifice his soul for the sake of the mission of the Geulah. The Holy One, Blessed be He, asks Mashiach: (ibid., Chapter 60) "Those whose iniquities are hidden with you, they are destined to put you under an iron yoke, and make you like this calf whose eyes have dimmed, and they will choke your spirit with the yoke, and for the iniquities of these, your tongue is destined to cleave to your palate. Is this your desire?" Mashiach said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: "Master of the World, with the joy of my heart and the gladness of my soul, I accept this upon myself, on the condition that not one person from Israel is lost."

Rabbi Yekutiel Fish from 'Sod HaChashmal' on the war of the Sitra Achra against the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

For us, the matters are clear; we know that the war of Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a is for the sake of the holy Shechinah and all the souls of Israel. These are the things that Rabbi Yekutiel Fish conveyed this week: "There is no doubt that the suffering that Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a endures is for all of us, for the Shechinah. It pained me greatly when I told one of the heads of the yeshivas about the situation of the Gaon Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and he responded dismissively, saying, 'What does that have to do with me? Who cares?!' I answered, 'Just because he is the leader of tens of thousands of families who are not from your circle, you will not pray, you will not feel pain, and you will treat it with dismissal? Where have we reached?!'

We see in the Gemara Gittin (57b) how great and grave the subject of the killing of Zechariah the Prophet is in Heaven, the suffering of a tzaddik of Israel. They slaughtered young men and maidens of Israel in order to quiet his blood, and still his blood bubbled. We see that the suffering of the tzaddik is beyond our understanding and is terrible and awful. The Sitra Achra fights with all its might to bend the stature of holiness, especially against such a tzaddik who has made many baalei teshuvah. And the Sitra Achra fights with such tzaddikim more than other tzaddikim, because it knows that if it can undermine their names, Heaven forbid, and tarnish them in the eyes of the world, then their words will not be heard and there will be no more baalei teshuvah.

Although we are in the month of Nissan, the month of the Geulah, we must participate in the suffering of the tzaddikim, which is literally participation in the suffering of the Shechinah.

(You can hear the conversation on the Sod HaChashmal line: 02-580-5801)

Rabbi Moshe Tzanani - The Sitra Achra knows that the entire Geulah is through our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, therefore it performs all these terrible trials.

Rabbi Moshe Tzanani, one of the most prominent and veteran students of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, responded to the stirrings of our hearts and illuminated with his words the reality regarding the situation of the Rav. "A general like this walks before us; the true tzaddik manages everything. When the people of Israel were about to enter the Land of Israel, the Holy One, Blessed be He, raised the entire nation up and humbled them before Moshe Rabbeinu. It is written in the Zohar: 'In the great and terrible wilderness which you saw,' that you saw the Sitra Achra bound before the camp of Israel. We have no concept of what the power of the tzaddik is; everything is like a child's game for him, everything is prepared, arranged, and planned before him. And when the Rav returned from the north, he asked someone who was with him how many moves ahead he had planned; that person answered two or three. The Rav shlit"a remarked to him: 'I planned three hundred moves ahead.'

The tzaddik manages everything, but we need to do our part, meaning, to fulfill what the Rav shlit"a commands us to do. Prayers, Tikkun HaKlali, for everything the Rav does is in order to sweeten judgments from upon the people of Israel. The Rav sacrifices his soul and body completely; we do not know what will be and how it will be, we only know that we are in good hands and everything will be the best that it can possibly be. In truth, the final Geulah will be through 'v'nahapoch hu' (it shall be turned around), everything will be turned from one extreme to another. Because we are in the final Geulah, this is the end; there has never been anything like this since the days of the world, all the trials and the terrible war that exists here. The Sitra Achra sees that this is the end, therefore it fights a terrible war, with the entire war finally focusing on the tzaddik. Today, what was under the surface is being revealed; the Sitra Achra knows that the entire Geulah is through our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, therefore it performs all these terrible trials. But, it will not help; the tzaddik rises higher and higher together with his people. For it is written that Haman the Wicked wanted to separate between Mordechai the Tzaddik and the people of Israel, and if, Heaven forbid, he had succeeded, a great Holocaust would have arrived - 'to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate,' this is the decree of destruction that was annulled. And why? Because the tzaddik, despite his great power, needs to receive his power from the people of Israel. That the people of Israel should be with him, believe in him, and listen to what he commands them. In the aspect of, 'Give strength to Hashem' (Psalms 68). Even though we are nothing compared to him, nevertheless he uses our efforts. As our Rebbe said: 'It is no wonder that the Baal Shem Tov merited such enormous levels; he had such terrible students.' Therefore, one needs to ask to be truly attached to the Rav shlit"a, just as the daughter of Rebbe Nachman dreamed after his passing that the Rebbe wanted to enter the synagogue, and there were circles upon circles of people who were bullyingly blocking his way. She saw that the holy Rebbe was advancing while in front of him was a man shouting at him, 'You are not passing!' The Rebbe advanced and he moved. Like this with all the rest until the Rebbe entered the synagogue and sat on the chair. So too in the final Geulah, when the entire Sitra Achra is noisy and raging – the Rebbe will finally sit on the chair, the tzaddik will sit on the chair. And there will be a complete Geulah and we will merit wonderful things.

(You can hear the conversation on the information line: 02-587-5777)

Rabbi Yehuda Asher Goldblum on the holy Da'at (consciousness) of our teacher, the Rav shlit"a.

We tend to attribute to the tzaddik traits that are familiar to us, and we forget that the tzaddik has nullified from himself every shred of fear, and that he is the messenger of Hashem on earth, for the return of creation to its source. Here are the sobering words of Rabbi Yehuda Asher Goldblum regarding the holy Da'at of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

"The way of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, is to always be calm and tranquil, and never to be in a panic or under pressure. For example, during the Gulf War, the Rav shlit"a said that it is indeed appropriate to say Psalms, but since people are entering a state of tension, one needs to sing and dance. On the journey of our holy Rebbe Nachman, Moharan of Breslov, to the Land of Israel, a terrible storm occurred and everyone was shouting, crying, and praying out of fear that the ship was about to sink in the sea. When the people on the ship saw that Rebbe Nachman was not shouting with them, they began to come to him with complaints and asked why he was not joining in the cry of the collective?! The Rebbe answered them: 'If you will be silent, the sea will also be silent.' The Rav shlit"a explained that they had entered into fear and lost their faith and trust. In such a situation, one should not pray and shout, but rather strengthen faith and trust, to know that Hashem rules the world and everything He does is for the best. This is how one sweetens the judgments, and this is the way of the Rav shlit"a."

Rabbi Goldblum, beyond being a veteran student of our teacher the Rav shlit"a, is also his son-in-law who merited to serve him much, continues and waters from what he drew from the Torah of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Berland shlit"a: "Even one who can pray and shout must combine this with faith and trust. The tzaddik is the one who rules the world and no one rules over him, and everything that happens is all for the best. The Rav shlit"a said that the world is composed of two states: 1. A state of miracles. 2. A state of preparation for miracles. Or there is both together. Therefore, one must always be with faith, trust, and joy while knowing clearly that Hashem rules the world. Whoever can also combine prayers, so that he himself will have a part in the miracles, how good and how pleasant; the main thing is that he should not lose the joy and the faith at any time."

(You can hear the conversation on the information line: 02-587-5777)

The Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi David Abuhatzeira shlit"a speaks about the greatness of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

A rare recording has reached our hands, which reveals to us a glimpse of the love of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi David Abuhatzeira for our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a. The words are poignant and clear and were said at a public reception at Rabbi David shlit"a's. Although for people who know the Rav these things are well known, but of course such a great tzaddik as Rabbi David shlit"a strengthens the feelings of the heart. When they told Rabbi David what our teacher the Rav shlit"a went through last week, Rabbi David expressed himself with the words: "Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a is an angel, he is not a human being, nothing will take hold of him."

We have merited that Hashem has planted for us in this generation a tremendous soul of such a tzaddik as the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Berland shlit"a, who publicizes and illuminates the light of Hashem in the way of our Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. May it be His will that it be fulfilled in us: "And they shall come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

(You can hear Rabbi David on the information line: 02-587-5777)

Nullification of Choice - The uncle who wanted to take his own life.

Recently, the unique story of the avrech Moshe Timsit shlit"a was revealed to our ears, a heartwarming moment regarding our teacher Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a. Moshe is an avrech in the Shuvu Banim yeshiva, the yeshiva of the Rav, and his story reveals another facet of the special way of our teacher the Rav shlit"a. "During the period that the Rav lived in Beitar, family members approached me and told me that my uncle was in real mental distress, a moment before he was about to take his own life," Moshe began his story. "We brought him to the Rav shlit"a without scheduling an appointment or coordinating in advance, in the aspect of 'Cast your burden upon Hashem.' During that period, the activity around the Rav was very turbulent, so it was not clear where the Rav was supposed to be. To our surprise and joy, just as we arrived at the Rav's house in Beitar, the Rav came out towards us. Everyone around was shouting to my uncle - 'Run to the Rav, this is your opportunity!' This was a man who at that time did not yet walk in the way of Torah and mitzvot, he had never seen the Rav and certainly was not familiar with the commotion that happens immediately upon the arrival of the Rav shlit"a. But something pulled him and he jumped towards the Rav. The Rav shlit"a stopped, looked at his face, entered the car, and drove away. At that moment, my uncle fell on his face and began to cry; it was a surprising sight. While we were trying to encourage my uncle, we saw the Rav's car turning around and returning towards us. The Rav got out of the car, turned directly to my uncle, took his hand, and brought him into his house. My uncle had never spoken with the Rav, but suddenly the Rav turned to him and said, 'Is there a Dr. Maimon here? I don't want to hear anything about taking one's own life. From now on you live here,' the Rav said to him while dancing with him. Afterwards, he wrapped him in a tallit and blessed him, and even gave him a phone number for a shidduch. Since then, a turnabout from one extreme to the other occurred in my uncle; he began to strengthen himself, to keep Shabbat, to put on tefillin, and to go to synagogues until everything passed as if it had never been."

(You can hear the story on the Shuvu Banim International line: 02-62-66-148)

Grandpa, what are they doing to you up there?!

We all love Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, believe in his mission and his great power, and are confident that in any problem we turn to him with, he will act for us for salvation. And indeed, many who have turned to the Rav shlit"a have seen great salvations to the point of changing the laws of nature. Suitable matches for those who have been waiting for long years. Viable offspring for couples who had almost lost hope, and there are even those who testify firsthand about actual resurrection of the dead. But, what happens when we come to the Rav and it does not happen with us exactly as we expected?!

Just before continuing, we must remember that we have no grasp of the essence of the tzaddik. We can tell stories of miracles, even ones that we experienced ourselves. Nevertheless, the grasp and the action of the tzaddik are far, far above our understanding.

On the 26th of the month of Adar II, the G-d-fearing woman, Lilach Leah bat Tzila a"h, passed away after much suffering, and she was only 37 years old. Lilach a"h merited, and on her deathbed, her family transferred a pidyon nefesh (redemption of the soul) for her, a thing that will certainly help her in the place where her soul is now. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov opens for us a small window into the hidden world of the tzaddik, the foundation of the world: "Sometimes, even when this tzaddik performs a pidyon, nevertheless it does not help, and this is because even above, they are very desirous of such a pidyon, for not every time does such a pidyon come to them from below that can sweeten all twenty-four courts of law at once, and therefore when this sweetening comes to them, they use it for the need of another matter." (Likutey Moharan 215).

The holy Moharan of Breslov teaches us that not only did the pidyon work wonders, but that above in Heaven they use it to do even more wonderful things. And surely we are happy for the tremendous merit, that a pidyon nefesh that we transferred to the tzaddik performed tremendous things, such that we do not always understand. But, if we admit a little of the truth, deep inside the question gnaws at us - but what about us? What about the righteous woman whose family transferred a pidyon and left behind three orphans? Although the situation was critical, still, what about her?!

The following story is one of many. Of course, we only know the outcome and not the way the tzaddik, the foundation of the world, acted it out internally; nevertheless, the soul is certainly impressed. Tomer Carmon, who at the time the story occurred was still a young avrech in Shuvu Banim, tells us about a collection of dreams that visited him during that period. "My grandfather who passed away came to me time after time in a dream, while looking terrible in his external appearance. Even though he looked like he was pleading for help, I did not know what to do with it. Only after he came for the third time did I have the wisdom to accept the advice of Rabbi Shimshon Wallach, a student of the Rav, and to turn to our teacher the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a on the matter. The Rav indeed said what to do, but with the burdens of time, the matter was forgotten by me, until my grandfather a"h came for the fourth time. 'I am in the garbage, deep inside the garbage, take me out of here! Give, give the pidyon that the Rav asks for, what are you waiting for?!' I arrived at the Rav shlit"a with my uncle Meir a"h (since then he has passed away), the Rav shlit"a raised his hands upwards and said – 'Now I am taking him out of there.' After two weeks, my mother shlit"a informed me of a dream she dreamed about her father, my grandfather. Father a"h came to me in a dream, he looked young as when he was twenty years old, clean, polished, and looked happy. His clothes were new and his hair was combed nicely and with a new car. I asked him, 'Father, can I come with you?' And he answered no, he smiled at me and drove away... I told my mother that this is certainly a sign from Heaven that the pidyon helped. Indeed, the pidyon of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a performs great salvations.

With Hashem's help, may these things be for the success of our teacher Rav Eliezer ben Atia shlit"a and for the elevation of the soul of Lilach Leah bat Tzila a"h and the grandfather Peretz ben Nechama a"h.

(You can hear the story on the Shuvu Banim International line: 02-62-66-148)

"If the Rav resembles an angel of Hashem – they should seek Torah from his mouth. And if not – they should not seek Torah from his mouth."

Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli said:

"...There are great tzaddikim in the world, who then is worthy according to Torah knowledge to be a Rav and leader? The Sages expound on the verse (Malachi 2): 'For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and they should seek Torah from his mouth, for he is an angel of Hashem of Hosts': If the Rav resembles an angel of Hashem of Hosts, they should seek Torah from his mouth, and if not, they should not seek Torah from his mouth."

Rabbi Zusha explained: "Does not everyone of us see an angel of Hashem and does not know if his Rav resembles an angel of Hashem, what then is the meaning of the words? Rather, the correct and true meaning of the words is that if a person sees that the actions of the tzaddik are puzzling and hidden from his understanding, like the way of an angel of Hashem, specifically from such a Rav one should seek Torah." (The Maggid of Mezeritch / A. Gorsman).

Words of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a for Passover

"He who keeps the commandment will know no evil thing" (Ecclesiastes 8:5). The Midrash says (Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8) 'He who keeps the commandment will know no evil thing' – this is Esther who was occupied with the commandment of burning chametz. When Mordechai arrived at Esther's house, it was already after sunset. The decree was on the 13th of Nissan; on the entire 13th they were occupied with writing and signing the decree until it was already carried out, it was already towards evening. And Mordechai began to shout great and bitter cries, he went through the whole city while Esther was occupied with the commandment of burning chametz. Esther said to him, 'Why are you shouting in the middle of burning chametz? Now I am cleaning the hundred rooms of the palace.' 'He who keeps the commandment will know no evil thing,' we will also intend to burn Haman, after that there will be the Seder night, we will drink four cups, and 'It is this that has stood for our forefathers in every generation,' they stand upon us to destroy us, we will wait for after Passover. Esther actually disagreed with Mordechai; the Midrash says Esther argued that we have time to start all the things even after Passover; now there will be the splitting of the Red Sea, the Song of the Sea, 'Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has cast into the sea,' we will intend at the splitting of the Red Sea on the seventh day of Passover to drown Pharaoh. We will destroy Haman through the tikkunim of the Seder night, we will intend in the Song of the Sea to drown Haman. The Midrash Rabbah says that here Mordechai understood more than Esther – 'And Mordechai passed by,' Mordechai said to her, 'This year there will be no Seder night, this year there will be no four cups, this year they will not eat the Afikoman.' Because the Afikoman truly hints at the matter of the splitting of the Red Sea, for the arrow (hetz) that we split the Afikoman into two is gematria 98, and twice arrow (hetz) – gematria 196, 'Yam Suf' (Red Sea). The Afikoman itself hints at the splitting of the Red Sea, that at the time that there was the splitting of the Red Sea, then at that moment all the waters of the world were split and the noise went from one end of the world to the other.

Reb Natan explains that the entire miracle was through the nullification that Esther had to Mordechai. Esther argued that it is possible to start all the efforts in a week's time, after all, the decree is for another 11 months, and Mordechai argued, 'There is no such thing, it is forbidden to wait one second, not only will there be no Seder night, there will be nothing! We need to annul the decree now.' No one will wait 11 months; when Hitler rose to power they began to kill Jews. When Hitler conquered Poland they already killed Jews in Ukraine, they did not wait for Hitler to come; they saw a Jew, they killed him, the Ukrainians themselves would enter and shoot Jews, the world is lawless! Mordechai says to her, 'Listen, it is not as you think, the situation is catastrophic, they are starting to kill Jews in the streets, the Midrash says that they began to kill Jews in the streets.'

Reb Natan explains that Esther, a G-d-fearing woman, was included from all the women in the world, just as Eve was included from all the righteous women until the end of all generations, and now she needs the miracle. The miracle could only be through the nullification of Esther to Mordechai, through her reaching such a nullification to Mordechai, not just nullification – 'If I perish, I perish.'"