Back to all articles →

"The King is Calling You to Come Live in His Palace - in Jerusalem!" • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

עורך ראשי
"The King is Calling You to Come Live in His Palace - in Jerusalem!" • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Presented before you is a summary of topics from 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, Thursday night, the 17th of Teves, Parshas Shemos:

Everyone is registering for Emunas Tzion; there are two hours left until Chatzos (midnight). The girls are reciting Tehillim (Psalms) and Likutey Halachos (the collection of laws by Reb Noson of Breslov). Every girl needs to register for the Emunas Tzion seminar and become a principal; therefore, it is written in the Talmud, Tractate Bava Batra, that when a son is born, one receives a hundred, but when a daughter is born, one receives two hundred, because the daughter is twice as much as the mother. It is written in the book Or L'Meir that 5784 (2023-2024) is the year of Mashiach's (the Messiah's) arrival—power (Koach, numerical value 28) times power (Koach, 28). If he doesn't arrive in 5784, 5785 is also good. On Sunday, we travel to Tiberias for the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of the Rambam (Maimonides), and afterwards to the inauguration of Trump. And why is the inauguration on the 20th and not the 24th, the yahrtzeit of the Baal HaTanya (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi)? Because he holds like the Rambam that it is necessary to destroy the entire city [of the enemy]. The book Sefer HaKarnayim writes that anyone who is born or passes away in the month of Teves is a "son of the World to Come." The yahrtzeit of Rabbi Naftali Katz is also on the 24th of Teves. On that same day [historically], there was an earthquake where all the houses were destroyed except for the synagogue of the Bas Ayin (Rabbi Avraham Dov of Avritch). Tzfat was destroyed; the Chasam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer) said that this was because they lived in Tzfat and not in Jerusalem. "Blessed be Hashem from Zion, Who dwells in Jerusalem"—everything is found here: the Kotel (Western Wall), Kever Rachel (Rachel's Tomb), and from here we go out to Hebron. It is written in Bava Batra that when a son is born, one receives a hundred, but when a daughter is born, one receives two hundred, because the daughter is twice as much as the mother. For the son is Binah (Understanding) of Ban (a Kabbalistic name of God), and the daughter is Chochmah (Wisdom) of Ban. It is written in Chapter 2 of Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer that anyone who lives in Jerusalem is under the Throne of Glory; whoever lives in Jerusalem is in the King's palace. The King is calling you to live in Jerusalem. Whoever lives outside of Jerusalem is liable for death. All of Jerusalem is considered Talpiyot (the hill to which all mouths turn), through which all prayers pass. This is why there are so many casualties, because people do not live in Jerusalem. On Sunday, the war will end. It is [unacceptable] that Hamas is allowed to fire missiles at us while we are forbidden to respond, and they only return the bodies of hostages to us. Every girl will be a seminar principal, so there will be no girls in captivity; the presence of girls in the army only causes spiritual stumbling. No soldier should be killed; it is written in Parshas Matos that for every soldier, someone is praying, and not a single soldier was killed. The girls are twice as much as the boys; the boys just throw stones all day. They threw stones at Diklot from the Cheder (school) of Rabbi Yehuda Nesi'ah. He is buried on Mount Canaan; from there we travel to Choni HaMa'agel. And then to Tiberias, to the Rambam, to Rabbi Chiyya. Whoever goes to Rabbi Chiyya lives forever. All the High Priests, 300 in number, would receive gold chains during the Second Temple period because they would pass away in the Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies) on Yom Kippur; there were only four who came out alive. So the Chasam Sofer says that Jerusalem is the Gate of Heaven; Jerusalem has been completely forgotten. The governor would put all the Sages in prison; the Radbaz (Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra) dug in Jerusalem and found a treasure; they wanted to put him in prison, so he fled to Tzfat. Also, the holy Shelah (Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz) was in Jerusalem and they put him in prison. But an ordinary person needs to live in Jerusalem. It is written in the Ya'avetz (Rabbi Jacob Emden) that even in this time, there is a mitzvah (commandment) to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In 5674 (1914)—Arad is the gematria (numerical value) of Rachel and Leah. If a man comes home and says good words to his wife, and he has two hours until Chatzos (midnight) and learns with his wife, then this is the union of Rachel and Leah. If a person does not learn and does not guard his eyes, at that moment an entire building falls. On Monday, an entire building fell, all of them yeshiva students; this is all because they haven't yet broken their Xiaomi [smartphones]. They see abominable sights; the body of a woman is like the body of a snake until the Resurrection of the Dead. It is written that even at Sarah Imeinu (our mother Sarah), it was forbidden to look. The Arabs know this; we were in the Negev, and they were all covered. Every girl must register tonight for Emunas Tzion so that they don't close it; it all belongs to the Rav. If they close it, everyone will become secular. Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, after his wife and daughters died, said that one must ascend to Jerusalem, and they all ascended to Jerusalem.

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Receive Torah articles and inspiration directly in your inbox