Listen: Merciful and Compassionate Father, Release the Shechinah from the House of Captivity. The Righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a Atones for the Sins of Israel

Nachman Shitrit, the personal assistant of our teacher, the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, was detained for questioning at the gates of the prison in South Africa when he arrived to bring the rabbi food and medicine, and was released after several hours of interrogation.

"I arrived at 10 in the morning at the prison gates to bring the rabbi food and medicine that he must take," Shitrit recounts the difficult experience he went through. "Without this, the rabbi's medical condition could be not good. Of course, I presented the guards with an ID and a court-approved document allowing me to bring food and medicine to the rabbi shlit"a. Suddenly, without any reason, they violently attacked me as if I were a thief. They claimed the document was invalid even though it is indeed fully valid, signed by senior officials. The guards persisted, grabbed me, took me to an interrogation room, and began questioning me with strange questions, simply driving me crazy. They accused me, 'You are not supposed to come and give the rabbi food, there is no difference between an 80-year-old man and a young person, everyone will eat the same food, "beware - we better not see you here again"! they said."

"I answered them: 'At least give the rabbi the medicine he needs for his health,' they refused and only approved a dosage sufficient for the rabbi until Thursday. They added that if there is a court hearing on Thursday regarding the rabbi, they will consider what next. And all this despite the document, it's simply absurd and insane. Even the food that does manage to get to the rabbi," adds the assistant, "the black prisoners snatch the food from his hand and give him prison food. The rabbi tells them it's not kosher, he is surrounded by dangerous people. The blacks and the guards constantly mock me and lie to me that the rabbi receives the entire package of food and medicine I send him."

"Finally, I was released after hours of torture and interrogation, and the rabbi only received the medicine, I fear for his well-being. I don't know what he will eat. Alongside Shitrit is also Natan Bazenson, the rabbi's attendant, who stayed in the car. "He told me," says Shitrit, "that they came to search for more people in the car, but luckily he managed to escape, thus saving himself from the guards. The guard told me during the interrogation 'we will break you until you despair and stop coming to give the rabbi food', he added.

It is told about the Rebbe of Ruzhin who sat in prison, and for a period, the prison guard would see the Rebbe going through the wall to immerse in the nearby spring and returning to the cell. The Gentile guard asked the Rebbe if you are such a tzaddik who can go out like this, then why do you return here?! The tzaddik answered him, "Fool that you are, I return because it is the decree of the King that I must be here!!!" This is not the first time Nachman Shitrit, the rabbi's assistant, has been arrested. Moreover, in the previous instance, Natan Bazenson, the attendant of our teacher, the righteous Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, was also taken for questioning. These are two God-fearing Jews whose only 'offense' is their self-sacrifice for the success of the tzaddik, the foundation of the world. There is no doubt that the rabbi shlit"a is fighting great battles in the heavens, and what we see here is a manifestation that appears in the form of guards and hardened prisoners. However, we must not, under any circumstances, accept these matters with indifference and as mere spectators in an interesting drama. We must protest, cry out, and ask Hashem to release the Shechinah from the house of captivity.

Conversation of Nachman Shitrit before the arrest courtesy of the information line 025875777