The Hair-Raising Story of Gabriel Dadon, the Escape from the Notorious Prison - 'Los Tekos' - One of the Most Dangerous Prisons in the World.

"No one knows who Rav Berland is - there is no comprehension of him, he is an angel of Hashem."

Among the many miracle stories associated with the name of the holy Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, the story of the young man Ronen Dvash who managed to escape from one of the toughest prisons in the world - 'Arthur Road' in Mumbai, India, thanks to Rabbi Berland shlit"a, became very famous. Recently, a story that was known only to a small circle was published, the terrible escape story of Gabriel Dadon.

Before Gabi begins to testify about what happened to him, the young man Nachman Levy tells at the beginning about the past of the hero of the story, Gabi Dadon: "This is a person who everyone who was in his presence felt fear and tremor. He would sit as a judge in arbitration between criminals from the underworld and decide between them. He was indeed a good friend, but when he was not a friend it became a big problem for everyone around him. Today, after he returned to teshuvah, we know him in the world of Torah, but we prefer not to know him in another world."

"I returned to teshuvah together with my wife about a year after our marriage," Gabi Dadon begins his story.

On Getting Close to Rav Berland

"I purchased two pairs of tefillin from the religious council, of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam. I dreamed a dream in which I saw someone with a tallit whose head tefillin was slightly to the side, he moved his hand in front of my face and three pillars of fire appeared. I did not know who it was or the meaning of the dream."

"At that time there were lessons by Rav Berland in Eilat, I entered that lesson. Immediately upon entering I said to my friend, 'This rabbi (Rav Berland) is the one who came to me in the dream'. I understood the meaning of the dream after I checked the tefillin, both the head tefillin of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam were invalid."

"Another story I had with Rav Berland was when my mother was dying in the hospital, I told my brother I wanted to enter Rav Berland personally. He told me it was difficult at the moment, but I traveled nonetheless with self-sacrifice. I entered with my father and brother-in-law, Rav Berland immediately began telling us a story: A child is lost on Shabbat, what do you do, is it allowed to call the police or not? The rabbi concluded his words with the words, 'In the end, the child returns'."

"Shabbat, a few months later, after my mother passed away, I came again to Rav Berland and with me came the brother of the downstairs neighbor who tells the rabbi, my daughter Miriam was kidnapped. She was on the swing, someone picked her up and ran with her. I ran up the stairs with the words running through my head: 'Is it allowed to call the police or not?' It turned out that the whole matter was a misunderstanding, but the words Rav Berland said to me months before were like a prophecy about what was to happen."

The Capture Story of Gabi Dadon

"I traveled to bring drugs from Venezuela, I was caught there and sentenced to ten years. In prison, in an act of defiance, they shaved my beard and sidelocks on Shabbat. They told me, if you don't sit, we will make you sit by force. This prison, 'Los Tekos', if I didn't have emunah in Hashem I wouldn't have survived there. There is no reality to survive there without Hashem, I found myself every day reading three books of Psalms, and all the bosses and the prison loved me. There, there is no questioning the bosses, everyone is a murderer, I was in a relatively good wing for people with money, but there are wings where there is nothing to eat. Those who die in this prison are dragged by their feet and you hear their heads bouncing on the stairs, no one investigates who murdered them, there is no law and no judge."

"Rav Berland called me in prison twice. My wife would send pidyonot to Rav Berland, and he told her that I am like Yosef the tzaddik and the wonder that I was released on Parshat Miketz - I felt that Rav Berland was with me all the time, he would also tell me this."

"The rabbi would tell everyone about Gabriel Dadon in Venezuela, but I was embarrassed about it. Someone asked the rabbi why do you always talk about him, after all, the man went to bring drugs?"

"Rav Berland replied: Who else could I send there? Only him! Only Gabriel could survive there, only he could go there."

"Suddenly someone from the prison tells me: There are a few books in Hebrew here, I think it's from your religion. It was a set of Zohar books, there I studied all the Zohar. Hashem gives grace and kindness, I kept kosher there, I did things with self-sacrifice."

Gabriel continues to describe the harsh and complex prison life, the interaction with underworld figures, and the way he managed to survive there. Then he returned to tell about the connection with Rav Berland and his path to salvation.

"One day Rav Berland told my wife that she no longer needs to send pidyonot, she told the rabbi: there is a plan to escape with a fake passport."

"Rav Berland: But make sure he arrives with an Israeli passport."

"My wife: But rabbi, we paid a lot of money for a fake passport!"

"Rav Berland insists: Yes, but it should be good, make sure he arrives with an Israeli passport - and that's exactly what happened!"

And Rav Berland continued: "I will disrupt all their computers, everything will be disrupted there, don't worry he will arrive here safely."

"My wife: Rabbi, I want you to tell me exactly when Gabriel will come. Bring him to me on the phone, the rabbi told me: Within 30 days you will be home, on the second night of Chanukah."

"I bribed a doctor to forge documents stating I needed to go to the hospital, and for the doctor to testify in court that I needed hospitalization. On the day of the trial, I was informed there was no trial because of the Christian holiday. Even on such difficult days, I would lift my eyes to the heavens and say, Father thank you, I accept it with love and it is deserved and even more. At six in the evening, I bribed a guard to let me out to talk to my lawyer."

"The lawyer tells me about a miracle: It's good we didn't go to trial today, because we couldn't use the bribed doctor, the judge brought his own expert. When I entered the trial with the kippah the judge asked me if I was Jewish. I replied yes and he said he also has Jewish roots. The judge's secretary also asked the same question and said, you know I'm in the process of converting? Wait, I'll talk to the judge!"

"In the trial, I said I am terminally ill and the whole family came from Israel to say goodbye to me, please let me die with dignity. The doctor also testified that if I stayed in prison I would die. The doctor went for consultation and meanwhile everyone told me there is no chance this judge will release me. And here he returns and informs me he releases me for hospitalization without guard, without escort, without anything."

"One from the community took a hotel room in Venezuela in his name, so they couldn't locate me. I waited there for two days, we traveled 12 hours to the Colombian border, but there it was difficult for me to speak Spanish at a level suitable for someone with a Venezuelan passport. With great providence, I crossed the border, but in Colombia, they told me my passport was old and I needed to return to Venezuela and get a new passport. With what I had, I could fly to Bogota, the capital of Colombia. I called a rabbi who permitted me to fly two hours before Shabbat due to the life-threatening situation I was in."

"Unfortunately, the same officer who told me I needed to replace the passport was now at the airport. He saw me, snatched my ticket, and told me to get out of there. The one with me told me let's get out of here, but I boldly entered his room and pulled out a bundle of dollars that looked like hundreds, but were much less. He took them and told me: Try to leave Colombia through Bogota, and if you can't, come back here and I'll get you out - he knew my passport was fake."

"I arrived in Bogota, some people with Jerusalem kippot and black suits were waiting for me and took me to a hotel just before Shabbat. I contacted the Israeli consulate, they told me to come even without an ID, but when I arrived they gave me trouble. Finally, Guy Nir, the head of investigations for South America, came down to me and said: You enter with a fake ID to an Israeli consulate? I replied I had no other choice. He played a trick on me and wrote on the passport, to Spain and Israel only. In fact, these countries don't have to extradite you, you serve the prison sentence there."

"Somehow I found myself sitting on a plane, looking for a stamp on the passport and couldn't find it. In such a case, if I had arrived in Spain they would ask me where I came from and where is the stamp?"

"We landed in Spain, all the passengers were directed to the signing counters, some Israelis I knew in Colombia passed through and I went with them. Every moment I waited for a voice to tell me to stop, but fortunately, it didn't come - I continued on the flight to the land."

"In the land, I was sure there would be a big mess, but they only asked me how many years I hadn't been in the land, I answered three - they signed me and on the second night of Chanukah I was home, exactly as Rav Berland said!"

"I went through a series of miracles and great providences. I am the only one among 300 prisoners who was brought before a judge. Suddenly the secretary converts, the judge discovers his Jewish roots, everything turned for the good. It worked as Rav Berland said: it is like Yosef, "And they brought him hastily out of the dungeon" (Genesis 41:14)."

"No one knows who Rav Berland is - there is no comprehension of him, he is an angel of Hashem."