The holy words of our teacher, the honorable holy tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, delivered on Sunday, 12 Adar I 5782, after the evening prayer

“Then, in ‘And you shall command’ (Ve’atah Tetzaveh), nothing is written about it—someone removed this from the Chumash, because the Rambam says that Moshe remained intellect alone. כך it is written in the Rambam, Hilchot…, that Moshe Rabbeinu remained intellect alone; he completely stripped off the body. The moment he entered the cave, there was already no body at all. It is impossible to enter the cave with the body, because it was a rock closed on all sides.”

“‘Nikrat HaTzur’—some say ‘Tikrat HaTzur’ and some say ‘Likrat HaTzur’; there are several versions… One must say ‘Nikrat.’ I had an argument with several people, and whoever isn’t sure should look in the parsha… Each person can choose his own version; it’s according to choice—there is no religious coercion; each person should choose.”

“In any case, this is the cave that Hashem created on Friday at twilight. It is written on 54b in Pesachim and in Pirkei Avot—twice it is written—that Nikrat is something that it is impossible to enter, and whoever enters there, the body is completely burned. Immediately he ascended with horses of fire and a chariot of fire; he merited to ascend in a chariot of fire because ‘the man Mordechai’—this is Moshe Rabbeinu himself.”

“Moshe Rabbeinu himself descends in every single generation; therefore in the parsha he is already not mentioned, because he descends anew in every generation. Therefore it is written ‘and the man Mordechai,’ ‘and the man Moshe,’ ‘Moshe, the man of God.’”

“For the king said to Queen Esther: You don’t understand my guarding of the eyes; now I have seen you—there is none like you in the whole world. Any vows a woman vows—he says to her, ‘There is none like you! What beauty you have! Such an important woman!’ He needs to tell her: there is none like you in the world. If he tells her, ‘There is none like you in the world,’ then it is considered that he has fulfilled the vow.”

“One must say—to one’s wife: ‘Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all’—every day to say this! Whoever does not say this every day should not get married! Whoever does not know how to say this—then in the end there will be divorce one way or another.”

“A person must tell his wife every day; that is what is written in the Zohar on page 49—that whoever does not know how to say this every day to his wife, or to hint to her—‘Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all’—you surpass them all. Because every woman is something unique, something new, a new creation—there is not, there was not, and there will not be anyone like her! Every woman is something entirely new. She educates the children, and all the children receive the intellect of the mother.”

“Therefore, ‘From Hashem is a wise wife’ (with a left shin), so that she should not be a ‘mashkelet’ (with a right shin). If a person marries because of blemishes of the covenant and desires, in the end it will be divorce. Any place where there is desire, in the end there is divorce. This is a verse in Mishlei; I did not write this verse—18:1: ‘For desire, one who separates seeks.’ If a person marries for lusts, then in the end the whole story is finished! He must know that one does not get married for desires.”

“So now Achashverosh certainly knew how to say the right words: ‘a woman of valor,’ ‘you surpass them all,’ you are my eyes, you are my heart, you are my life—but he says: law is law. Now they want to conquer 127 provinces; now Putin wants to conquer Ukraine—law is law; it is impossible to annul a law. Should everyone come and say, ‘I want to annul the law’?! What is this, a children’s game?!”

“It is forbidden—law is law. What does Esther say to him? With me there is no such thing; with me you are worth nothing, and the law is worth nothing.”

“And Esther continued and spoke before the king, and fell before his feet, and wept, and pleaded with him.” (Rav and the people sing)