Rav Berland is having emergency surgery, and needs your help and prayers

Sunday’s news that Rav Berland, shlita, is about to undergo serious, emergency surgery shook the Shuvu Banim community to its core. The surgery is scheduled for today, Monday, February 13, 2017, and a prayer rally is being organised for today, at 3pm, at Kever Rachel, a place where it’s known that the prayers of Am Yisrael are accepted on high.

Rav Berland’s increasingly serious health issues was one of the main reasons that his lawyers decided to enter a plea bargain, to avoid the 80-year-old Rav being incarcerated for a further two years, as the secular Israeli courts wrangled over his case.

Many onlookers have been stunned by the Israeli Government’s persecution of the elderly Tzaddik, which included blocking any move to have him released to house arrest, failing to ameliorate his conditions in prison, and trying to prevent the release of information about his failing health to his family and followers.

(See THIS VIDEO [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxGsQveq1Hc], by Rav Matityahu Glazerson, for more details about the deeper spiritual reasons for the ongoing persecution of Rav Berland by the Israeli government.)

Two years’ ago, the Rav underwent surgery in Holland where he was fitted with a pacemaker, after falling unconscious for more than an hour after developing a serious heart-condition. He also has a serious hernia that has been left untreated, and had surgery previously while incarcerated to remove a tumour.

Yet the Israeli courts have repeatedly refused to release Rav Berland to house arrest, repeatedly blocked the release of information about his increasingly precarious physical health, and refused to enable the Rav to receive the medical treatment he requires.

Now, Heaven has decreed that the Rav has to undergo another, serious surgery, and an urgent appeal has been launched to cover the very high costs of paying for the surgery privately.

The following is a translation of the interview with Barak Barber, the director of the ‘Ke’Ayal Tarog’ organisation of Rav Ofer Erez, which has taken on the task of raising the funds required to cover the Rav’s urgent surgery:

“After many different attempts, we finally managed to obtain the medical records of Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita,” explains R Barber. “The situation required a lot of effort, and many appeal to the courts [before they would release the information about the state of the Rav’s health in prison], but once we got a clear picture of what was happening, we could see that the Rav needed to undergo some immediate, complicated surgery.

“In addition to raising the necessary money [to cover the cost of the surgery], we also need an awful lot of prayers [for the Rav’s recovery].”

R Barber continues: “We had to hire a new lawyer to force the courts to release the information about the Rav’s health, and the legal hearings required an enormous outlay of money. On top of that, we’re also having to pay for the Rav’s surgery privately, and the whole bill is so far being footed by the ‘Ke’Ayal Ta’arog’ foundation, as we took upon ourselves the responsibility for helping the Rav in these private matters.”

R Barber explained: “We were really hoping that we wouldn’t have to turn to the community again to request donations, but we had no idea that we’d have to pay out this additional money to the lawyers and doctors. So I’m turning to the community with another heartfelt plea:

> “All of us understand how urgent the situation is, and I’m asking everyone to donate as much as they can give, as quickly as possible. Within two days, we have to pay across the money for Rav Berland’s, shlita, surgery and medical care.

“We’re going by what Rebbe Nachman advised his followers, that when you have to go to a doctor, you should go to the best doctors you can find. People don’t know this, but behind the scenes we’ve been fighting a tremendous, holy battle to ensure that Rav Berland, shlita, gets the very best medical treatment possible. As we know, good medical care is very expensive, and we currently need to find at least another 130,000 shekels, as quickly as possible, to avoid any delays in his treatment.”

Please do your part to help get Rav Berland the medical treatment he urgently needs!

YOU CAN DONATE IN TWO WAYS:

Either fill in the form below with your details, and then you'll be sent to a secure payment site, or if you prefer to donate over the phone, please call:

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Please also pray for the Rav's recovery and continued good health:

> Rav Eliezer ben Ettia

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