Shocking. "Will Hashem Not Demand Justice for Their Insult?" – Unbridled Persecution Against the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Friday night, a family on the border of the Mea Shearim and Beis Yisrael neighborhoods in Jerusalem, the Holy City. All the members of the household have already finished Kabbalas Shabbos (the service welcoming the Sabbath) and the Maariv (evening) prayer of the Holy Shabbos, and they are all gathering around the Shabbos table to recite Kiddush (sanctification) over the wine and to delight in the holiness of the Shabbos and its gifts.

The minutes pass, and what seemed like a slight delay begins to stress the parents. "Where is Yossele?" (a pseudonym) the mother of the family asks her husband. "Didn't he come back with you from the prayer service?"

"He wanted to return with his chaburah (group of friends), and we agreed that he would arrive immediately," her husband answers her.

"Well, we are going out to look for him; the matter is definitely worrying, it's not like Yossele to be late."

The aforementioned story occurred last Friday night, Parshas Vayeishev 5777 (2016), a Chassidic family in the heart of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jerusalem, while the sounds of Shabbos zemiros (songs) had long been echoing from all around after the courses of the holy meal had concluded. Yossele finally arrived; he was an hour and a half late, something completely uncharacteristic of him and which caused great concern among his parents and family members. "Where were you?" everyone burst out with the obvious question as soon as his face crossed the threshold of the house.

And he, with a face flushed with emotion and eyes moist from crying, approached his parents' ears, whispering a secret to them so that his younger siblings would not hear and would not have to be soiled by the "mud" that had already been thrown at him.

"Abba and Ima (Father and Mother), do you see this?" Yossele says, slightly opening the pocket of his Shabbos suit and showing his parents a bundle of papers, crammed and crumpled.

"What is this?" the parents ask, their faces contorted in lack of understanding.

"I was returning with the chaburah (group) from the synagogue and I saw some of the sons of ---- distributing this filth in the street. I know you don't allow me to look at these things, but we had no choice; they spread such filth against our master and teacher, the Rav shlit"a (may he live long and good days), that we had to collect it all and throw it in the trash."

This is the reality today for many good people of our nation, the House of Israel—those whose only "sin" is that they want to draw closer to the path of Yisrael Saba (the traditional path of our forefathers), to holiness and purity, to the service of Hashem (God) clean of any blemish. Those who want to walk in the path of Emunah (faith) as our holy ancestors bequeathed to us, in the path of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. Those who identified a deep truth in the holy Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and who for years upon years have been in his proximity, drinking in Torah and Yirah (fear of Heaven) from the wellspring that only fills more and more. Those who see truth, truth, truth upon themselves and their surroundings—an island of beauty within a world found under a flood of heresy and lies.

Today, those same families are persecuted without any restraint, as booklets and flyers full of filth and words of contempt are distributed in the city streets and no one speaks out. Yossele, a boy who only a few weeks ago celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, and whose only desire is to ascend the levels of Torah and Yirah (fear of Heaven), finds himself wildly and unbridledly persecuted along with the members of his community, while those evil people do not stop for a moment to consider what damage they are causing with their terrible actions.

Will Hashem (the Blessed One) not demand justice for their insult—for those who could have ascended higher but fell due to the hardships of the war that they could not withstand?

For anyone with a drop of truth in their soul sees that the persecution against Rabbi Berland shlit"a and his community is based on destructive jealousy and narrow, barbaric interests. As the Tzaddik and Kabbalist, Rabbi Mordechai Menzer shlit"a said, anyone who encounters them sees that they are not looking to build anything, but only to destroy in a fit of rage saturated with instincts of revenge and blood. As Rabbi Yaakov Shkenazi shlit"a said: they violate the laws of the Torah without blinking an eye, lying, recording without permission, and editing the words of the Gedolei Yisrael (great Torah leaders of Israel). All means are open and permitted in their lust for murder. "Beware of this murderous fire of Machlokes (discord)," the Gaavad (Head of the Rabbinical Court) of Makowa shlit"a already warned them; "it is forbidden to listen to them," said the Slonimer Rebbe.

"And you shall eradicate the evil from your midst," ruled Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach shlit"a in his instruction to destroy all their words of incitement and blasphemy. These people stir up strife and destruction within the people of Israel, revealed Rabbi Dov Kook shlit"a of Tiberias. "The lowest of creatures," insolent and brazen, the Admor (Chassidic leader), Rabbi David Abuhatzeira shlit"a, called them. And many others whom you can meet on our site and even hear from personally.

Many others think this way and have even revealed it to us personally, but unfortunately, they still do not see the terrible damage being caused and are afraid to enter the mouths of those wicked people. They know that those people will use lies and deceptive tricks to achieve their goal—destruction.

In the coming days, with Hashem's help, we are going to expose some of the terrible lies behind their claims. In the meantime, we hope that the light of Chanukah, the light of the True Tzaddik, will prevail over the "lights of the fire." The fire of Machlokes (discord) and Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) will be transformed into "lights of radiance"—a light that will illuminate the souls of Israel and bring the Geulah (Redemption) closer with mercy, just as the Rav shlit"a wants and sacrifices his life for.