Lecture from Tzalmon - The Righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a "A Person

A lesson delivered by the holy Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a on Tuesday, Parshat Emor 5780, 11th of Iyar, the 26th day of the Omer, from Tzalmon prison.

"Now it is Hod she-be-Netzach... The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 52b) says that until the Golden Calf was made, the foreign worships were not considered as such—all the idols of flies, cockroaches, lizards, and frogs. This was the idolatry of the Egyptians, of fertility. A woman who had not been blessed with children would bring an offering, slaughter a lamb, or even her own son in honor of the frog, and she would be blessed with children. This misled her into thinking that the slaughter of the child in honor of the idol helped her to be blessed with children."

"Now we are in Hod she-be-Netzach, and anyone who passes away today enters Gan Eden immediately, within a thousandth of a second, like the son of Rebbe Mordechai of Chernobyl (Rabbi Mordechai Twersky was the second Admor of the Chernobyl Chassidut), who was the greatest tzaddik of the generation."

"'Heichal HaBracha' writes about Sarah who laughed; this is the proof that Sarah was a student of 'Shuvu Banim.' From here, the opponents and the dissenters proved (Rav Berland laughs at all the false accusations they try to attribute to him and his community), why did she have to argue with Hashem, why did she laugh? But Sarah said, 'I did not laugh.' Where did she learn to argue with Hashem? It is all from 'Shuvu Banim'."

"Therefore, they say about this Rabbi that he only teaches people to be insolent; look, even Sarah was insolent."

"Now we will count the Sefirat HaOmer, and afterwards we will say a few words in honor of Hod she-be-Netzach and Netzach she-be-Netzach, at which time, if we had merited it, there would already be the resurrection of the dead."

"Hod belongs to Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai; the entire work is to connect Rebbe Shimon to Rebbe Nachman. 'Har Bashan'—Bashan is Shimon-Nachman, and 'Bashan' is Nachman ben Simcha. Tzalmon... here is Mount Sinai, here they planted the Eshel."

"Tzalmon is the aspect of Mount Sinai; it is the middle bar corresponding to Yaakov Avinu, 68 cubits, 60 + 8 = 68 cubits. From here they took the Eshel and planted it in Egypt. Why is it written that Yaakov planted the Eshel? To show the children who were destined to leave the exile. The children said to the elders, 'What do you mean Geulah? You are eternal slaves,' like the black people who were eternal slaves for 400 years, taken to America, to England. In England, they abolished slavery before they abolished it in America; they forbade bringing slaves, but those born there continued to be slaves. Abraham Lincoln, who died on April 15th, abolished slavery; they shot him because he freed 120,000 colored people."

"...One must connect the heels (akeiv) of Leah with the crown of Rachel. What is it that was written about Chanoch, that he used to sew shoes? That he would connect the sole of Leah with the crown of Rachel. From the sole of Leah, the crown of Rachel is made. And this is, 'And it shall come to pass, if you hearken (eikev tishme'un)' (Deuteronomy 7:12). The Arizal says that these are the heels of Leah; the heels of the Imma Ila'ah (Binah) reach opposite the eyes of the Zeir Anpin, because the heels enter the head of the Zeir Anpin, into the head of Rachel. A person comes into the world only to be consistent (akeiv), that is his purpose: to be walked upon, to be trampled, to be a threshold to be trodden upon."