Last night, Wednesday, the night of the 25th of Av, Parshas Re'eh, a lesson (shiur) was held for a group of young men, students of the Chassid Rabbi Nachman Berland shlit"a, at the residence of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. Before you is a summary of the lesson:

The Rav began the lesson with the topic of the Haftarah (prophetic portion) "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest... and I will make your windows of rubies and your gates of carbuncles" and began calculating how much the gates of Jerusalem were worth. He spoke about the hostages and also about King David, who was held captive by the giant Ishbi-benob. He said to study the stories of the Gemara (Talmud) every day with one's wife—this is how there will be Shalom Bayis (marital harmony). He discussed the hiding of the Temple vessels beneath the Temple Mount and mentioned the Gemara where Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Akiva that if he had attended all the lessons, he would have sweetened everything (mitigated all harsh judgments). Moving from one topic to another, he cited the Sha'ar HaGilgulim (The Gate of Reincarnations) stating that Rabbi Akiva was a spark of Zimri, and Kozbi was reincarnated as the wife of the wicked Roman governor Turnusrufus. He also spoke about the calculation of the Geulah (Redemption) regarding the "two parts of an hour" mentioned in the Book of Daniel. Likewise, he spoke about the terrible massacre on Simchas Torah. During the talk, he spoke against smoking. He mentioned that on Yom Kippur, they go out in dances, as brought in the Jerusalem Talmud in Tractate Shabbat, stating that through a single thought of Teshuvah (repentance) by the women, all their sins are forgiven. He gave great encouragement regarding the study of Gemara and calculated that in twelve hours of study, a person speaks six million letters, which create six million angels. Afterward, he returned to speaking about the Haftarah of Re'eh, "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest... and I will make your windows of rubies," and finished the calculation of the value of the gates of Jerusalem, which were made of diamonds. Moving on, he dealt with the extraordinary size of the fruits of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) and how Zevulun, who travels throughout the world, is asked why the fruits of Eretz Yisrael are so superior; he explains that it is only in the merit of Torah study. Therefore, Zevulun is in the level of Keter (the Crown) because he brings the whole world back in Teshuvah (repentance). After nearly fifty minutes, the Rav shlit"a finished the lesson with Kaddish and went out for the Maariv (evening) prayer with a large multitude.