Listen: Exclusive. Everyone Calls Him the Holy Man - Rabbi Katz

"Due to my position as prison chaplain in Johannesburg, I met the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a several times," begins Rabbi Shabtai Katz in his words to the 'Shuvu Banim International' editorial team in a unique interview we conducted with him. "Rav Berland is imprisoned under terrible conditions – yet he is happy all the time." According to him, the prison cell where the Rav is located is very small, the size of 3 beds, without flooring, with a toilet corner without a permanent partition but rather a blanket, a very small table, and a crate for books in the corner of the room. Visitors bring in and take out books for the Rav during every visit.

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It is wintertime; at night the temperatures drop even below zero and the cold penetrates the cell from the massive prison facility, where thousands of prisoners are housed. He did not notice if the Rav had a heater, but he saw how the Rav warms himself through movement and the study of Torah. "I do not know what the Rav's prayer times are because he is always happy and adorned with tallit and tefillin, always holding holy books in his hand."

Rabbi Katz relates that the guards and police officers in the facility, as well as the prisoners themselves, call the Rav "The Holy Man," and they are constantly coming to him to receive blessings and to consult regarding problems in their personal lives. The prisoners behave with reverence toward the Rav and are constantly trying to look after him and ask what he needs.

He is amazed at how the Rav is always in a positive frame of mind, not sad or complaining like the other prisoners, and is constantly repeating that it will be good and everything is fine and everyone is helping him, and finally he has the opportunity to practice hitbodedut (seclusion) as he had always wanted.

He repeated the Rav's message to his community: "The Rav is with us always, physically and spiritually, and we must strengthen ourselves in faith and trust in Hashem that everything that happens – everything is for the best."

You can listen to the full interview as well as other hot materials regarding the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland on the hotline - 077-22-66-423