Rabbi David Abuchatzera: “He Brings Prisoners Out in Triumph”

"There is a very strange situation; ostensibly, we who come to visit the Rav shlit"a should be happy, while he, who is inside, should be depressed. But in reality, the situation is the opposite, because the Rav shlit"a always arrives with tallit and tefillin, to the point that you forget you are even in a prison. The Rav shlit"a is with books that 99.9% of the generation does not even know; he knows them by heart as if they were just simple stories. Even new books that were published and that we brought to him are familiar to him, and he quotes from them and offers insights on them." Experiences from the meeting of the grandson, Chaim Reicher, with the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

"You sit in front of the Rav shlit"a, who is already 80 years old, in the peak of trembling and fear; you see his holiness, the light he radiates, and you hear from him that everything is fine without any complaints: 'I am just learning here, no one is bothering me.'"

"What truly strengthens the Rav shlit"a is that people outside are praying for his success and continuing their service of Hashem. They continue to learn, to pray, and the community grows and prospers from day to day. I elaborated to the Rav shlit"a about the state of the community and the students outside, thousands of people who have only recently come and joined the veterans who remained loyal to the Rav shlit"a. Furthermore, I thank the Rav shlit"a for filtering out many people who were not worthy of being in this holy community and removing them."

"Thousands are drawing closer—Litvaks, Rabbis, Admorim with whom I speak and am in constant contact—those to whom a new world of great intellect, song, and melodies of true Breslov has opened. Not a Breslov that speaks about others, not a Breslov that says we are the best. Rebbe Nachman is prayers, it is Torah, it is melodies and hymns, it is accepting humiliations with love, etc.; all of this is seen to be fulfilled in the Rav shlit"a. I do not know if they saw things like the Rav shlit"a in previous generations; there is nothing like it, the peak of vitality and holiness. I asked him when I was with him in private if it is possible to help with anything at all, and the Rav shlit"a answered me that I should add another hour of learning a day, not any other request."

"We sat with the Rav shlit"a and for 25 minutes we sang the same song with tears of deveikut (cleaving) and joy. The prison warden says he does not understand what is happening there; how, when the Rav shlit"a begins to pray, the whole prison falls silent. At 5:00 in the morning, the Rav is singing and no one complains that they are being disturbed. I heard that all the prisons are requesting that the Rav shlit"a come to them and bring the prisoners to teshuvah (repentance)."

"There were ten of us there together with the Rav shlit"a and the other grandsons, and I said to the Rav that there are ten Jews here together, but the Rav answered me that there are always ten here—you do not know what souls are here, souls that for years upon years have been waiting for their tikkun (rectification). And these things should awaken and shake us who are so sunken in this world, because the Rav is entirely immersed in the service of Hashem."

"The tzaddik can never be locked away, like Yosef the Tzaddik, who achieved all his great spiritual attainments precisely in prison. We are standing next to a holy and awesome tzaddik who is willing to accept such humiliations upon himself. Great Rabbis speak to me personally, saying they have an explicit instruction not to come out publicly in his defense, except for a few to whom he permitted it because of the desecration of Hashem's name. The Rav shlit"a must accept these humiliations in order to sweeten and draw all of the Jewish people closer."

"I told the Rav shlit"a that people are talking about him and asked if we should act against it, but the Rav shlit"a answered that we should do nothing, only pray, learn, dance, and rejoice. The Rav shlit"a already told me part of the secrets that are forbidden to tell, why things happened, how the Rav filtered the type of people drawing close to him from all those who sought money, pride, status, and honor. Which Rabbi or Admor has such students who, after five years of suffering, still sacrifice themselves? One sees that there are people here who have absorbed and learned the path from the Rav shlit"a. And whoever was not pleased, and whoever will not be pleased, is welcome to leave; there are enough close followers, thousands of new ones, and there are hidden matters that we do not understand."

"In the half hour that I spoke with the Rav shlit"a, he quoted eighty different sources; Torah scholars feel like zero next to him. I have no doubt that Avigdor Feldman, one of the greatest lawyers in the country, felt like an ignoramus next to him. The Rav shlit"a has mastery over everything: how to build airplanes, he even sat with the Druze and told them about their holiday. Everything comes from his holiness, from his love for Israel, from the fact that he forgives everyone with a whole heart."

"The Rav shlit"a has a very severe herniated disc, and his leg with plates is also in a severe condition, but when we sang with him and began to dance, the Rav, at eighty years old, made a bridge in front of us and the grandsons passed under him. One sees that he is enlivened by the Torah and holiness and is repulsed by any talk of money and the affairs of this world."

"14 years ago, I entered the Rav's house alone when no one but him was home, and I heard the tape recorder playing with melodies and the Rav dancing for several hours. Afterwards, I asked the Rabbanit and she told me that she had gone to the Western Wall two hours earlier, and the Rav had been dancing ever since."

"Dozens of times I have found the Rav with hands and feet outstretched with tears to Hashem Yitbarach; I would stand next to him for four or five hours and hear his weeping during the Mincha prayer. It is impossible to speak about these things because it only diminishes his greatness. One sees the Rav's people, how they pray, how they feel a taste in the service of Hashem. Breslov does not want to be like everyone else; they want to be with our Rebbe, with the attainments, to pass this on to the next generation, at least to talk about it. The thing that brings the most joy to the Rav shlit"a is that one more Jew is strengthening himself, learning, and guarding his eyes."

"We were afterwards in Meron and met there the Admor Rabbi David Abuhatzeira, who said to me about the Rav shlit"a: 'He brings out those who are bound into prosperity,' with the help of Hashem, he will soon be released; right now he will go out."

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