New. Listen: A Powerful Lesson from Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - Motzaei Shabbat, Parshat Chukat 5777

"They run to Moshe (Moses) and scream 'water, water, water!' By screaming for water, you lost everything. There was a plan for the Resurrection of the Dead; there was a plan to bring down a Temple of fire; there was a plan by Moshe to bring down a Temple that would never be destroyed. The Tzaddik (righteous person) can build the Holy Temple in a single second; the Tzaddik can bring down a Temple of fire in a single second."

"The Megaleh Amukot (Section 87) says that Hashem (God) intended for Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our Teacher) to build the Holy Temple, and then it would never have been destroyed. True, it is written that Moshe died, but Moshe only died for a single second; in every prophecy, there is truth. However, words of prophecy do not override Halacha (Jewish law). Halacha is what Moshe says. Moshe said three words to the Jewish people: 'Enter the Land of Israel.'"

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"The Spies did not want to accept the words of Moshe Rabbeinu. Rabbi Shmuel, the son of the Mahar-chav (Rabbi Shmuel Vital, son of Rabbi Chaim Vital), says that the Spies suspected Yehoshua ben Nun (Joshua) of making 'deals' (schemes). They thought he wanted to seize the position of Gabbai (administrator/manager), that he wanted to distribute the water in the Land of Israel; they 'caught on' to all the schemes of Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua ben Nun."

"Rabbi Shmuel says that the Spies had a plan to kill Yehoshua. Because of the prophecy that Moshe would die and Yehoshua would replace him, the Spies said, 'We want Moshe to live; we are protecting the Tzaddik, unlike Yehoshua who wants Moshe to die.' However, Yehoshua did not sleep or eat for 40 days and 40 nights, so it was impossible to eliminate him."

"This is the explanation brought by Targum Yonatan, that Yehoshua received the letter 'Yud' from Sarai (Sarah), because without it, it is impossible to enter the Land of Israel (as Reb Noson explains in Likutey Halachot). When one goes to a shidduch (marriage match), one must buy a giant sword. We learn this from Sanhedrin (19b), that Paltiel ben Layish bought a giant sword and slept with it for nine years. This continued until David [King David] requested Michal back, for David was in Hebron for nine years and spent another two years being persecuted."

"All the persecutions that the Jewish people undergo are because we have not yet atoned for the persecutions of King David. Six hundred men fled with him; women in childbirth were terrified every moment with their babies. It is written in Berachot (6b) that the entire reward for prayer is the 'pressure' (the crowding and difficulty), because every prayer is a new wedding. This is the reward—that people step on your feet, and every second there are new shoves."

"It is not simple to receive the letter 'Yud' of Sarai; for that, one must wait 402 years. 400 years of Egypt—since the birth of Yitzchak (Isaac) was when Avraham (Abraham) was 100—plus the year of the Spies and one year before that. For 402 years, the 'Yud' prostrated itself before the Kisei HaKavod (Throne of Glory) and did not give up. A person must never give up. It waited 402 years, and Hashem did not place it in the name of any Tzaddik. Only Yehoshua received it, because Moshe saw Yehoshua's humility."

"For humility is when you know they are going to kill you—if you protect Moshe Rabbeinu, they will kill you. Yehoshua knew that if he protected Moshe Rabbeinu, they would kill him. Rabbi Shmuel, the son of the Mahar-chav, says that every single day Yehoshua knew they were going to kill him."