Shuvu Banim Netivot — A Shiur in the Home of the gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer

Shiur for the "Shuvu Banim - Netivot" Community ○ Activities in the Southern City ○ Coverage of the Shiur

The residents of the southern city of Netivot have been blessed; in the center of the city, housed within a shelter, stands the glorious 'Shuvu Banim' synagogue, which brings hundreds of local Jews closer to their Father in Heaven, in the light of the 'flowing brook' of our holy Rebbe, may his merit protect us, and in the unique path of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a.

They have been blessed that the esteemed Rabbi Eitan Basel shlit"a serves as their extended hand—as an emissary of the tzaddik in the southern city—delivering shiurim to them from the books of our holy Rebbe and gathering words from the 'river of fire' that emanates from our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Since Rabbi Eitan Basel is privileged to spend much time at the gravesite of our holy Rebbe in the holy city of Uman, the community members found a technological solution to receive the regular shiurim from Rabbi Basel via telephone, from the heart of the holy city of Uman to the southern city of Netivot.

The community members were privileged this evening, the night of the 8th of Tammuz, to enter the residence of our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, for a special shiur that lasted nearly an hour from our teacher, the Rav shlit"a.

In the shiur, our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, spoke words of Aggadah regarding Esau and how he wept to receive a blessing from the tzaddik. Our teacher, the Rav, said: "In order to receive a blessing from the tzaddik, a person must shed oceans of tears." Afterward, he continued to speak about the virtue of the day of the 15th of Av and the virtue of dancing, as well as the sale of Joseph, and how Serach bat Asher sacrificed herself. Had Jacob known that they had sold Joseph, all the brothers would have died from Jacob's strict judgment, and for this reason, Joseph did not meet Jacob throughout all his years, except for twice. He also spoke about how Joseph felt in his heart toward Jacob for not burying Rachel, his mother, in the city, but rather on the way. But in truth, this was according to the Divine word so that they could come to pray there every day, unlike at the Tomb of Joseph located inside Shechem, which one can only enter with self-sacrifice. He also spoke of the miracles that occurred at the brooks of Arnon and how the test of the spies was to ascend to the foundation of the Father (Yesod Abba) for complete mercy, hinted at in the verses "from the entrance of Hamath" (Rechov Levo Chamat), which are the initials of Rachel, to elevate this to the aspect of "to scout the land" (Latur Et Haaretz), which are the initials of Leah.

Afterward, he spoke of the self-sacrifice of Miriam the Prophetess, in whose merit the entire nation of Israel was born—both by not listening to Pharaoh to strangle the infants at their birth, and by insisting that Amram return to Jochebed, at which point all of the nation of Israel returned to their wives. He spoke of the virtue of humility and lowliness, through which one merits all the Divine influences. Afterward, he spoke of insights from the weekly Torah portion regarding Balak and Balaam, who share the same gematria as 'Arod' (the wild donkey), which is the primordial serpent. Regarding this, it is written: "Woe to the Arod (serpent) when Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa encounters it"—the tzaddik can subdue all the serpents in the world! He spoke of the incident where Rav Acha bar Yaakov subdued the seven-headed serpent. Afterward, he spoke of the incident of the Concubine in Gibeah. At the conclusion of the shiur, our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, spoke of the virtue of traveling to the holy Patriarchs in Hebron and concluded with a fiery Kaddish and melodies.

After the conclusion of the shiur, the moved participants went out for the Maariv prayer, as they do every evening, in the courtyard of the prayer hall on Ido HaNavi Street, among a great crowd together with the tzaddik, our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a.