Rare and Moving: Rav Shalom Arush Tells About His Journey to Judaism and Rabbi

Rav Yitzchak Witzindler reminds Rav Shalom Arush shlit"a of forgotten memories; he asks him if he remembers how he and Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a used to study chavrusa in Likutey Moharan with great intensity. Thus begins the fascinating and rare conversation of Rav Shalom Arush shlit"a, in which he recounts the journey of his drawing close to Judaism, to Rebbe Nachman, and especially to the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a. These are his words.

"I remember how I entered the room of our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a, and you (Rav Arush) were sitting on one side, and Rav Berland on the other, and you were roaring the Likutey Tefilot. You didn't see the people around you, and Rav Berland didn't see either; it lasted for several hours, do you remember that?" asks Rav Witzindler to Rav Arush. "I remember it, but I don't remember that you saw me," answers Rav Shalom Arush.

"My drawing close was at the end of 5734; every place I arrived led straight to Breslov. At first, I had an awakening from within myself to start speaking with Hashem. It was truly an immense gift. Many questions arose within me: What is this world? Why must we eventually die? And this brought me to look at life, and in general, why live at all."

"Because my drawing close was through prayer, I therefore prayed about everything that stood before me. At that time, there was a problem for my sister with her son, and they referred her to Rav Shlomo Mann from Givat Shaul. She told me that she had reached a Rav who drew her very close; I took his details from her and went to him. At the meeting, he told me that I needed to buy the book 'Hishtapchut HaNefesh' (Outpouring of the Soul). I went to look for the book in bookstores in Tel Aviv; I thought naively that if Rav Mann told me, then everyone must know the book, but no one knew the book."

"At Rav Shlomo Mann's, I met a Chabad Chassidah who introduced me to Rav Yitzchak Ginsburgh from Chabad, and he studied the books of our Rebbe Nachman of Breslov with me. It didn't matter which path I took; in the end, I drew close to Rebbe Nachman. There I met Moshe Shvili, who wanted to introduce me to a special Rav, in his words, and therefore he used the phrase - 'This is a Rav that even if you arrive at his place in the middle of the night and tell him - "Come," he will go with you.' Shvili did not know how to explain to me that it was a matter of a Rav who is completely nullified."

"I arrived at this Rav, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and as soon as I arrived, the Rav said to me, 'Come, let's go.' We got into the car (I didn't understand how Rav Berland even knew I had a car) and we drove to an orange grove where Rav Berland said Tikkun Chatzot with great light. I didn't know what Tikkun Chatzot was, but I was happy about the hour of hitbodedut that came afterwards. The Rav didn't speak to me at all; Rav Berland shlit"a has Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration), he immediately took me to do hitbodedut and made me very happy that there are Jews who do what I do. To see that there are Jews who speak with Hashem without a book is a thing that drew me very, very close."

"Since then, I started coming to Rav Berland's house often, even though I still didn't look like the other Jews, but rather with very long hair."