Revealed for the First Time

Recently, the greatest Torah leaders from across the entire spectrum have issued a holy call to the people of Israel in the Holy Land and in the Diaspora. In all cases, the nature of the call was identical, expressed as a request for the public to participate in the writing of Torah scrolls by purchasing letters. Here is one example among many.

"In these days when the coronavirus is spreading throughout the world (Heaven forbid), we wish to write a special Torah scroll to be called 'Ilan DeChayei' (Tree of Life), which will be dedicated to the healing and salvation of all the people of Israel and the world. In the merit of a symbolic donation of only 18 shekels, each and every one of you can purchase a letter for yourself in the Torah scroll and also join in the general mitzvah of writing the special Torah scroll—'Ilan DeChayei'—to stop the coronavirus."

In another instance, the giant of Charedi music, the singer Avraham Fried, mobilized to appeal to the public to take part in a new initiative that has arisen in these days, against the backdrop of the 'coronavirus' plague afflicting the Land of Israel and the entire world—again: "Purchasing letters in a Torah scroll, which has the power to help prevent the spread of the plague and stop it, and brings about the unity of Israel."

Surprisingly, in a video published by Fried, he relates "that this is not a new idea, but rather an ancient initiative of the holy Baal Shem Tov: 'There was a plague during the time of the Baal Shem Tov, Heaven forbid, in Medzhybizh and its surroundings, and they asked him (the Baal Shem Tov): "Rebbe, what should be done? How can the situation be saved?" The Baal Shem Tov suggested writing a Torah scroll, and of course, it helped, and the plague was stopped.'"

Amidst the publication of the various calls to participate in purchasing letters in the Torah scroll, a rare letter written by the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a has been revealed for the first time. Rav Berland sent this letter in the year 5758 to his dear friend, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Yoram Abergel zt"l (then shlit"a, of course). This is its chilling content, as even then, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rav Berland mentioned in the letter the segulah (remedy) of the Baal Shem Tov for sweetening the plague.

22 Shevat 5758

"To the Honorable Gaon Rabbi Yoram Abergel, my beloved friend who is entrenched in every region of my heart, whom I long to see every single day, peace and blessing and all good forever."

"In these turbulent days when the viper—whose name in gematria equals Amalek, and whose name also equals Amalek—threatens our brothers, the Children of Israel, throughout the entire Land of Israel, and especially the inhabitants of the holy city of Tel Aviv, and he said that he has enough bacteria for all the inhabitants of Tel Aviv, Heaven forbid, and of course all the cities of Israel are in danger, including Be'er Sheva, Ashdod, Dimona—the nuclear reactor, all of which are within range of the missiles, and especially Be'er Sheva, which is not far from the nuclear reactor. And now, it is a duty upon the men of the Sanhedrin of the generation, among whom is counted our holy Rebbe Yoram Abergel, to go out and measure first before everyone else. All the more so, it is the duty of the great men of the generation, the men of the Sanhedrin of the generation, to do everything in their power to prevent even one death, Heaven forbid, as the Holy Torah said in Parashat Yitro, 'and many of them fall' (Exodus 19:21). Rashi says: 'Whatever falls from them, even if it is a single individual, is considered many to Me.' Thus, Heaven forbid, if from all the war even one Jew should fall, Heaven forbid, and even if only from the fear of the sirens or the Patriots one person should die, Heaven forbid—all the more so since in the previous war, just from the noise and thunder of the Patriots, about two hundred people suffered strokes—then it is certainly a duty upon all the men of the Sanhedrin of the generation, among them our Rebbe Yoram Abergel, to do everything in their power to spread now the teachings of our Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who promised that anyone who believes in his merit will certainly have nothing happen to him. And as our holy Rebbe wrote in Torah 48, Part II: 'Know that a person must pass over a very, very narrow bridge, and the rule and the main thing is not to be afraid at all.'"

"Therefore, we have come in this letter to your special, high, and exalted honor, that now, three hundred years since the Baal Shem Tov, it is a tremendous and special merit for anyone who merits to purchase a letter for each member of his family; he will certainly be saved from the missiles, the sirens, the Patriots, and the terrorists who lie in wait for us every day, both spiritually and physically."

"And therefore, it is a duty upon each and every one in these turbulent days to purchase a letter for all members of his family, his sons and his daughters, for every son and every daughter, for his wife, for his relatives, for his parents, for his brothers, for his uncles and aunts, like Rahab who gathered two hundred families into her dwelling and they were all saved. So too, each person, in order to save all his family members, relatives, and friends, should purchase for them all a letter in a Torah scroll being written for the elevation of the soul of the Baal Shem Tov. And likewise, there is an obligation to arouse all his acquaintances, friends, and neighbors to purchase a letter for the Torah scroll being written in the name of the Baal Shem Tov."

"And I myself purchased first a letter for the Torah scroll being written in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, and my wife purchased one immediately after me. And therefore, it is guaranteed now that anyone who cares for his life, the lives of his sons and daughters, the lives of his relatives and friends, it is his duty to protect them all from the terrible war that is liable to occur over our heads. And perhaps in the merit that we will purchase these letters immediately now and arouse everyone to purchase these letters, we will succeed, in the merit of the Baal Shem Tov and in the merit of Rebbe Nachman ben Simcha ben Feiga, to prevent the war entirely and to remove the missiles from the hand of that wicked one without a war."

In the merit of our holy Rebbe, and with the blessing of the Holy Torah,

Eliezer Berland.

The original copy of the letter from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a to the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Yoram Abergel zt"l