Listen: Fresh and Hot, Firsthand Testimony. A Moment with the Tzaddik is Worth the Entire World - The Righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Baruch Hashem, we are here in the Holy Land striving to awaken in prayers and cries for the salvation of the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, our salvation. After the days of the Passover holiday, a blessed initiative was even raised to turn the ancient custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays into a communal practice and to awaken together with the feeling of pain caused by the desecration of the honor of the Torah and kedushah (holiness). The situation of the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland is not a private or personal matter. Not of Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, who bears the sins of all of us. Not of the holy Shuvu Banim community, nor of the Breslov chassidut in general. For those who still do not understand, there is here a comprehensive war against any trace or scent of Torah and kedushah.

How can one pass a moment in the day without feeling the heart ache with the sufferings of Job when thinking of the holy Torah scroll that is in distress. This is the pain of the Shechinah, and we must take part in it. This is not the place to detail the extent of the self-sacrifice of the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland for every Jew. For decades, the rabbi shlit"a has turned himself into a doormat for the people of Israel, and people who elsewhere would have been cast out, with him received the treatment of a father as if they were his only son.

With all the pain, we are still together and trying to strengthen one another, yet there are those who remained in Johannesburg and with self-sacrifice are still waiting eagerly for the return of the rabbi shlit"a. Here are the words of Yosef Cohen, one of the members of the holy community who is there with them.

"We do not have Jerusalem, the Western Wall, or Rachel our Mother, but we strive to do our utmost in prayers and service of Hashem for the success of the rabbi shlit"a. On Friday after the morning prayer, we heard a rumor that it was possible to visit our teacher, the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a," Yosef Cohen begins his words. "It was hard for us to believe it, but nevertheless, we had to try. And indeed, after we arrived there, our teacher the rabbi shlit"a came out to us. The rabbi shlit"a sat down and immediately began to speak words of Torah with great strength, as if this was his most natural state, nothing had changed for him. The rabbi shlit"a did not speak any words in the form of 'help me,' but rather distributed holy tasks and missions for each of us.

"While anyone else would have asked for the help of a lawyer or some public figure, but not the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. The rabbi asked us to study Choshen Mishpat (laws of damages), to finish the entire Tehillim every day, to learn five verses each day from the Book of Ruth with the commentary of the Sulam. The rabbi spoke and swayed in his chair with tremendous strength. One of the friends who was there and saw this amazing sight asked the rabbi shlit"a to get us out of prison, the rabbi replied: 'One who has Choshen Mishpat in his heart is not in prison, one who has a room full of books is not in prison. When one sees the tzaddik, they immediately do teshuvah, therefore we were all with tears in our eyes. We asked the rabbi if we could recite the Shehechiyanu blessing and we all blessed together."

"The guard stands aside astonished and does not understand what is happening here. In other cases, the family and visitors come in the role of encouragers, hear complaints, and together they cry. And here he lingers to see the rabbi shlit"a swaying with strength and giving a Torah lesson. The rabbi shlit"a lacks the connection with the souls of Israel, the rabbi told us that he does not speak there with anyone. Beyond that, it is evident that the tzaddik is in great vitality and is attached all day to Hashem and the Torah. There is no change in the rabbi shlit"a, he enlivens people and does not stop for a moment from delving into the holy Torah. The rabbi shlit"a told us:

One moment with the tzaddik is worth the entire world, no matter if a person finishes the entire Shas, knows the whole Torah, if he cannot be with the tzaddik it is worth nothing.'

"The rabbi shlit"a has many books there and he asked us for a few additional books, those were all his material desires. The rabbi shlit"a is very strong, with tremendous strength, to the extent that it seems to me (I did not hear this from anyone and certainly not from the rabbi) that the rabbi shlit"a made a move where he could sit alone and study without interruption. Fortunate are we and how good is our portion that we have merited to know of this holy tzaddik who, wherever he is, is only interested in Hashem, His Torah, and the people of Israel."

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Courtesy of the information line 02-587-5777