Shocking. Listen: The Heart is Bleeding. Words of Rabbi Yekutiel P. shlit"a on

"Mo'adim L'Simcha, the night after the first day of Passover 5776. There are things we anticipated and hoped for, and we are still waiting and hoping that others will say them, but since we have not yet heard that others are saying them, I will say them for the time being. B"H, we were all privileged to celebrate the holiday of Passover with joy, each in his own place and each in his own domain. However, one must know that the heart is bleeding, that one of the tzaddikim of the generation, one of the greatest of Israel, famous for decades, has been sent and thrown into a prison in South Africa into a two-meter cell without a bathroom for several days now. We do not know when he will leave there; he is suffering terrible afflictions, and at his age, which is approaching eighty, this situation constitutes a danger and a matter of life and death, and no one is speaking. The heart aches for this. After I said a few good words on his behalf, I was stunned by the messages I received; everyone had already judged him, everyone already knows what he is guilty of and what he did, Hashem should protect and save us.

After I heard that the Gaon and Kabbalist Rabbi Morgenstern shlit"a said that he investigated this matter himself and inquired into the smallest details, and everything is a lie, a falsehood, and a vile fabrication. Such things are also heard from Rabbi David Abuhatzeira from Nahariya, that everything is a vile fabrication, and likewise, we hear from the great tzaddik Rabbi Chaim Stern, as well as Rabbi Arush shlit"a, and other tzaddikim. And everyone has already judged and already knows, and everything is based on one person who climbed up to the third floor from the outside and claims he saw what he saw. This entire climbing incident testifies to something very dubious. And we suspect and believe—I am not involved in the details of the matter and it does not interest me—we have a clear Halacha. It is forbidden to accept lashon hara (evil speech) about any Jew, and certainly not about the tzaddik of the generation. And especially since it is written: if you see a tzaddik who committed a transgression, do not harbor thoughts against him, for he surely repented at night. And especially such a tzaddik, one of the famous first-tier tzaddikim of the generation, and we are silent. One must know that this is the sorrow of the Shechinah, and we are obligated to participate in the sorrow of the tzaddik. To say Tehillim for the success of Rabbi Eliezer Berland ben Atia shlit"a, to learn for his success, and even to think about and participate in his sorrow. To know that this is the sorrow of the Shechinah, such a person who took upon himself the afflictions of shame as the tzaddikim of the generation said about him. And this does not mean that we should agree with this and fuel the fire; we must protest.

The Rishon LeZion Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu zt"l already said before his passing that Mashiach should have come several years ago, but he was supposed to come through judgment. He said that three tzaddikim took upon themselves afflictions in order to delay the Geulah by several years and to sweeten it. He mentioned two of them; one of them is Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a and the second is Rabbi Dov Kook shlit"a. One hint is his name—Berland, which means 'Land of the Bear' (Eretz HaDov). We see that in recent years the Persians are threatening us with terrible threats, and for several years now we have been surrounded by nuclear threats. And it is known that the root from which the Persian nation draws its strength is the bear, and that their prince in heaven, according to the Gemara, is called Dubi-el, and according to the Gra, also that of the Russian nation. And they draw from a tzaddik, and there is no doubt that Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a is one of them. We see that in recent years he has been suffering such afflictions, exile, and terrible shame. And anyone who does not connect these things is a fool, that there is a tzaddik who himself is stopping the disaster and who himself is stopping the atomic bombs, just as he himself speaks about it. Indeed, no one is listening, but one can see with one's eyes that the name Eliezer is a name of kindness (chesed), which helps. Just as he said on the night of Ta'anit Esther: 'Go and hold a prayer assembly for the cessation of the Intifada,' they went and did so, and immediately the Intifada stopped. After half a year where there was not a day without killings, can one stand before this matter? Can one be silent in the face of everything they are saying?! Woe to us from the Day of Judgment, woe to us from the day of rebuke.

I repeat and say clear things that I heard from Rabbi Gubo Yisrael Meir shlit"a, who is a chavrusa and very close to Rabbi Morgenstern shlit"a, who investigated all the people who complained. Afterward, he sat down over all the material one by one and saw that everything is a lie and a falsehood, and according to the law of the Torah, it has no validity and it is forbidden to believe anything. Maran the Gaon and Kabbalist Rabbi Morgenstern also published a letter in which he wrote that even if Rabbi Berland shlit"a were to write a letter and incriminate himself, it is forbidden to believe him, because one must know his way of serving Hashem, that he draws upon himself humiliations, afflictions, and incomprehensible things, all for the sake of the people of Israel. And it is known that twenty-five years ago he told his wife that he was going to establish institutions for twenty-five years and afterward he would dismantle everything, and he asked her if she agreed to this. And also many years ago he said about himself that a difficult decree of exile was hanging over him and he even composed a prayer for this so that they would pray for him. Even now, it is known that he told those close to him, 'On Passover, I will be in prison.' There is an avrech who testified before one of the tzaddikim that Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a himself gave him a large sum of money to go and publicize corruption and lies about him that he supposedly committed. That avrech did not agree, and Rabbi Berland shlit"a told him that he would have afflictions; the avrech said he did not care, that whatever happens, he would not do it. We see from here that there is a great tzaddik here who is taking matters upon himself and no one understands what is happening here. G-d forbid, it is forbidden to think anything about him.

Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a testified that he began to take actions before the Rabbinical Court on behalf of the Rabbi shlit"a, but he immediately received a message from the Rabbi himself to cease doing so. And we remember that before his departure into exile, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a said that he was now going out for three years of exile and afterward there would be, B"H, the complete Geulah. And we see that things are reaching a point that has not existed until now. We are waiting for the beginning of the Geulah, to see the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland healthy, alive, and whole, here, happy with us at the coming of our righteous Mashiach, speedily in our days, amen."