The Jew Who Entered the Fire Because of a Dream • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon

Before you is a summary of the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days) – yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Tuesday night, the 15th of Sivan, Parshas (Torah portion) Behaaloscha:

“When you pass through the waters, I am with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be scorched, and the flame shall not burn you” (Isaiah 43:2). When they went into exile after the Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was burned—Tisha B'Av (the fast of the ninth of Av) is only three months away. On the 18th of Sivan, the entire floor in Baghdad collapsed, except for the area beneath the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, zt"l); everyone fled, but the Ben Ish Chai was saved. A spring opened up there, and everyone who drank from the spring of the Tzaddik was healed. However, when the gentiles also began coming there to drink and bathe, and it turned into a place of pritzus (immodesty), he prayed that the spring would dry up, a miracle occurred, and it dried up.

There was a certain man who dreamed of two instances of the word "Ki" (when/because) and three instances of the word "Lo" (not/no) [referring to the verse in Isaiah]. They had arrived after the exile to a place in North Africa—Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia. The King there said to them, "How do I know that you are Jews? So what if you are circumcised? Today there are two billion Muslims who circumcise themselves. Even the royal house in London circumcises themselves." He said to them, "I saw in the Book of Daniel that Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya jumped into the fire; we can test if you are truly Jews—I will throw you into the fire." They asked him, "Give us thirty days." Every day, everyone came and shared their dreams. On the thirtieth day, someone arrived and said he dreamed of two "Ki"s and three "Lo"s. He then entered the fire, and Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) entered with him. Then the Rav performed a She’elas Chalom (a spiritual inquiry through a dream) and asked to be told the deeper meaning, and then they composed the prayer "VeHu Rachum" (And He, the Merciful One).

In the past, everyone was surrounded by fire. Every woman was surrounded by fire, like Devorah the Prophetess who was always surrounded by fire, called "Eshes Lapidos" (Woman of Torches). Every woman knew how to turn metal into gold. However, the Chovos HaLevavos (Duties of the Heart) says this is nonsense, but the Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman of Breslov) revealed that it is indeed possible to do so in the 13th Tale (The Seven Beggars). The secret of breaking down atoms was discovered by Marie Curie—that one can take protons and accelerate them, and then the neutrons turn into protons. Today, sixteen-year-old children know how to assemble an atomic bomb. Trump told them [the Iranians] not to enrich uranium, so they told Trump, "You don't want there to be an atom?" For them, the main thing is to create an atom to destroy the People of Israel.

Regarding Miriam, it is written "Yarok Yarok" (spat, spat) [Numbers 12:14]; twice this word equals the numerical value of Keser (Crown). This is because Adam HaRishon (the First Man), for one hundred and thirty years, did nothing. He should have danced with the youth, given them lessons, and handed out candies, but he did not do so. Consequently, people served idols and the world was destroyed. The next time the world is destined to be destroyed will be in the year 6093, as the Ozorov Rebbe says.

Now is the moment of the Geulah (Redemption). Twice the value of "Koach" (strength, 28x28) is 784, which is the current year [5784/תשפ"ד]. Now is Isru Chag (the day after the festival) in the merit of everyone rising for Chatzos (the Midnight Lamentation). Now, for two months, the time for Chatzos does not change. The girls say Tehillim (Psalms), the boys learn ten pages of Gemara (Talmud), and every man learns with his wife the laws of "Unloading and Loading" (referring to the laws of helping others with their burdens).