R' Shmuel Tzchik zt"l on Rav Berland shlit"a

In honor of the 17th of Adar 5779 - 20 years since the passing of R' Shmuel Chechik zt"l, one of the greatest of An"sh (members of our group) of Breslov Chassidim of the previous generation, we bring before you the testimony of Rabbi Aharon Lebel shlit"a. These words were published on the Global Breslov Hotline (the full interview is at number 9148*, extension 11), where R' Lebel recounts a rare statement he heard firsthand from Rabbi Chechik zt"l regarding our teacher, the great tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Before the interview, one must remember that these words of praise regarding Rav Berland are spoken by Rabbi Chechik zt"l, who was a descendant of a lineage of exalted servants of Hashem who were in the city of Uman, and who later established the honor of Breslov Chassidut in the Holy Land.

"Rabbi Shmuel Chechik zt"l would say that he had never seen a servant of Hashem like Rav Berland shlit"a," recounts Rabbi Aharon Lebel regarding the words he heard from R' Chechik zt"l. "We once spoke about the servants of Hashem; we said that Rebbe Hirsch Leib was one of the great servants in Uman, but when he arrived in the Holy Land, he was already old and was not such a servant. But like R' Leizer (Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a), there was no such servant."

"Rabbi Chechik was once in Kishinev (later in his words, he corrects himself and says it was in Bucharest) at the time when Rav Leizer returned from Romania and we were not allowed to travel (this refers to the first trips to Uman during the period of the Iron Curtain of Russia, when An"sh left Israel with self-sacrifice and did not know at all if they would succeed in penetrating the Iron Curtain and reaching Uman). Rav Berland was awake all night on the way back. He was awake with self-sacrifice and arranged the travel tickets for everyone. Afterward, Rav Berland recited the order of Tikkun Chatzot slowly, word by word, until the morning. This was in Bucharest; the morning arrived, and instead of resting his head on one of the benches to nap a little, Rav Berland continued and recited the 'Modeh Ani' prayer in the same way, again, word by word. Rabbi Chechik said, 'Such a service of Hashem I have never seen.'"