Special Prayer for the 17th of Tammuz

PRAYER FROM OUR TEACHER, THE GAON AND TZADDIK, RAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT"A FOR THE FAST DAY OF THE 17TH OF TAMMUZ

Master of the Universe, Almighty, on the 17th of Tammuz, the day when the Kingdom of Atzilut is revealed through the tikkun of the five things.

The first thing, as it is said: “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf... and he cast the tablets out of his hands.” And it is written that in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was breached. Then the king went out from between the two walls, and he went by the way of the plain, and they overtook him in the plains of Jericho. They spoke judgment with him, and they slaughtered his sons before his eyes, and they blinded the eyes of Zedekiah. And then He called a solemn assembly against me. Jehoiachin went up to the roof of the Temple and threw the keys upward, and a hand emerged and received them.

And the tribe of Benjamin was wiped out, and only 600 men remained, among them Saul.

And the daily offering (Tamid) was abolished.

And Turnus Rufus burned the Torah.

And Manasseh set up an idol in the Temple, for Manasseh would slaughter 1,000 men per day for 22 years.

And now, on the 17th of Tammuz, when the Kingdom of Hashem, the Kingdom of Atzilut, is revealed eye-to-eye through the opening of 480,000 gates of Gehenna, they bring out the wicked who caused the destruction of the Holy Temple twenty-one days before Tisha B'Av. Hashem annuls from those wicked ones the judgment of “their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched” twenty-one days before Tisha B'Av, and immediately they see the face of the Shechinah. And the tzaddikim who never sinned, and to whom endless sins they did not commit were attributed, receive their reward on that day twofold, in the secret of “for you have been punished twofold.”

Whereas those who have done teshuvah (repentance), who broke their hearts before Hashem, may He be blessed, for every single sin, will merit to revive the dead, as it is said: “And when the wicked man turns from his wickedness and does justice and charity, upon them he shall live.” It does not say “in them” but “upon them,” teaching that upon them he shall live eternal life, like Serach the daughter of Asher and Bityah the daughter of Pharaoh, who live forever, with the tzaddikim, the pious, the perfect, and the upright, the doers of kindness, the masters of charity, the masters of faith, and the masters of Torah. And not only that, but they elevate them and seat them in the Heavenly Yeshiva, and they hear Torah directly from the mouth of Hashem.

For on the 17th of Tammuz, all sins are forgiven for anyone who does teshuvah with a whole heart. And then all the barren are blessed with children, for then they emerge from one place to a higher place, and all the worlds ascend to the Kingdom of Atzilut, to the place where the Ark and Korach were flying in the air. Therefore, immediately after Korach comes Chukat-Balak - the 17th of Tammuz, when the tikkun of the letter 'Kuf' is completed, which descends into the depths of Gehenna and brings out from there the souls of the wicked who will do teshuvah for having caused the destruction through their evil deeds, whether it be desecration of the Sabbath, forbidden relationships, bloodshed, or other transgressions.

And because they accepted upon themselves the judgment of Gehenna with love, all their sins were atoned for, and they merit on the 17th of Tammuz to ascend and hear Torah from the mouth of Hashem in His glory and essence. And therefore it is said of them “he shall surely live,” for anyone who does teshuvah on the 17th of Tammuz merits to bring out tens of thousands of souls from the judgment of Gehenna, whether they be masters of charity, masters of faith, or masters of Torah, and he elevates them and seats them in the Heavenly Yeshiva, and they hear Torah from the mouth of Hashem, after he has rectified all three 'Kuf's' whose “feet go down to death.”

For the moment a person accepts the judgment of Gehenna with love, he immediately leaves there and merits to sit in the Heavenly Yeshiva. And Gabriel and Michael go and open 480,000 gates of Gehenna and bring out from there the wicked who did true teshuvah and justified the judgment of Gehenna upon themselves. For through the sin of Adam the First, the five types of Nephilim, Gibborim, Anakim, Rephaim, and Amalekites were mixed into Israel. And this is why we read in Parashat Chukat about the King of Arad, who is the king of all the 'Arodim' (vipers), of whom it is said, “Woe to the man who encounters an Arod, and woe to the Arod that encounters Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa.” For from the bones of Balaam came all the Arodim in the world, because he separated between Rachel and Leah, and the heels of Leah emerged from the crown of Rachel, for Balaam-Balak = Rachel-Leah = Arod-Arad. And therefore, only Mashiach, who is called 'Migdal Eder' (“And he came to Migdal Eder” [Targum]), can rectify all the Arodim, the Amalekites, the Nephilim, the Gibborim, and the Rephaim, who are Sichon and Og and their cohorts, who came to the daughters of man and defiled them with their impurities. And that is why the Holy Temple was destroyed. Moses was not wary of them, and therefore they have no rectification, neither in the days of Mashiach nor in the resurrection of the dead. They descend for generations to Sheol and Abaddon, and they never leave there, for there is teshuvah for everything except for the Amalekites, Anakim, Rephaim, Nephilim, and Gibborim who cast their terror in the land of the living, such as Jeroboam and his cohorts. Of them it is said, “Brimstone and salt, a burning of all its land.” For Hashem wanted to find merit for Jeroboam, and He grabbed his garment and said to him, “I, you, and the son of Jesse will stroll in the Garden of Eden,” but Jeroboam rejected the offer of Hashem, for he was of the Nephilim whom nothing in the world could bring to teshuvah, and they are judged for generations, and they do not succeed in clinging to Michael and Gabriel who try to bring them out of Gehenna.

For the Geulah (Redemption) will be on the 17th of Tammuz, in the secret of “for a time, times, and half a time,” which is the secret of Tisha B'Av, and the 17th of Tammuz, about which Gabriel prophesied, “the linen garments.” And therefore, on Yom Kippur, one enters the Holy of Holies only in linen garments. And through this, one elevates all the souls of the wicked made of flax. And therefore Cain offered flax, but his mistake was that he did not mix it with wool, the secret of the 'ten types of melody,' through which alone there will be the resurrection of the dead.