This world is filled with pursuits of materialism, honor, and fleeting pleasures. Yet amidst all this hustle, there is an inner diamond waiting to be uncovered. The teachings of our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, focus on a deep understanding of the meaning of life, the connection between the body and the neshamah (soul), and the need to rise above the physical world to find our true neshamah.

What is the path to achieving the correct rectification?

Is our neshamah ready to ascend?

These are the holy words of our teacher, the esteemed Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a:

"And he led the flock behind the wilderness"

"There is a diamond inside a box, and there is one who spends all day polishing the box, shining the box all day, caring for it. But what about the diamond! The main thing is the diamond! The main thing is the neshamah!"

"The Torah tells us about Moshe Rabbeinu who went to tend his flock behind the wilderness, what is behind the wilderness? What does it mean "and he went behind the wilderness"? Did Moshe go to seek better pasture? A more superior pasture? Rabbi Avraham ben HaRambam says - Moshe went to seek a wilderness beyond a wilderness, he was not satisfied with just any wilderness, he sought a wilderness so far from all other wildernesses, a wilderness where no one passes through, where no foot treads, only there could he reach his perfection, to truly cleave to Hashem, to know that there is none besides Him, to know he has no connection to this world, no connection to anything, and to reach the ultimate nullification."

"A person must be detached from all materialism, to know there is no materialism, there is no world at all, this world is a dream, an illusion. The holy Zohar says (in Parshat Shelach) - in the future, there will be no trace left of this world, nothing! Not even a thread of hair, nothing! No houses! No possessions! No problems! No troubles! Nothing will remain of this world! As long as a person still has a memory of this world, he cannot come to his rectification, only if he is afflicted and purified from the desires and illusions of this world, until he forgets everything, that he has no memory of this world! A person cannot enter the World to Come if he has anything from the body, anything from this world. Because in the World to Come there are no houses, no food, nothing, everything is completely different, the body becomes a neshamah, no point will remain of this world."

"It is told about R' Shimshon from "the forest" - who was a Breslov chassid who served Hashem day and night with great strength and enthusiasm, who suddenly passed away, and came in a dream to R' Avraham Berenyu, Rebbe Nachman's grandson, and told him the entire order of his passing "R' Natan came to me and took me to the holy Rebbe, the Rebbe said to me - who says you are a Breslov chassid? You were in Uman, you ascended to the grave, you had self-sacrifice? That's all true, but being a Breslov chassid is not so simple, it doesn't come easily, I have a ledger, let's check the records, the Rebbe took the ledger and said, "It's okay, you are listed in my ledger as a Breslov chassid, but you still have a scent of this world!""

"As long as a person has any point from this world, any connection to this world, any scent of materialism, of desire of the world, he cannot reach his place in heaven "Two angels came and took me to the River of Fire – a river of fire, and immersed me, what can I say about the magnitude of the suffering and pain that were in this immersion, they were beyond measure, there are no such sufferings in the whole world, yet also the magnitude of the pleasure that comes after the immersion is beyond measure - after the immersion R' Natan returned with me to the Rebbe zt"l, the Rebbe responded to me and said you still feel the world in you, go immerse again" because there must be no emunah (faith) in this world! No connection to the world! No belonging to the world! Until a person removes from himself all the scent of the world, all the impurity of this world, he cannot enter the World to Come "and R' Natan returned with me to immerse again, when I returned to the Rebbe, the Rebbe said to me: indeed you have been purified"."

"We want eternal life, the body is just a box, the body is just a box for the neshamah, why did Hashem create us with a body? It's only so that the neshamah does not ascend above before its time, the neshamah has nothing to do here in this world, it always wants to return above to its root, it has no connection to this world - eating again, drinking again, it's already tiresome!. A person must eat because otherwise the neshamah will flee, the moment he does not eat the neshamah will depart and return to its root."

"The neshamah does not want to be here! 120 years is already the peak for it! It has no more strength! It already asks to leave here, it already wants to leave here, up to 120 years it still holds on, but it only holds on through food, therefore one must care for the needs of the body. But truly the body is just a box for the neshamah, it's like there is a diamond inside a box, and there is one who all day cares for the box, polishes the box - you polish the box all day, care for it, that's very nice, but what about the diamond! The main thing is the diamond!, the main thing is the neshamah! Polish the diamond!! Refine the diamond!! You are a divine entity! Why are you polishing the box?! For what!? So that it will have a shine? You polish it all day, in the end, it won't even have a shine from all the polishing, because nothing will remain of this body, of this box. This box covers something, there is a diamond inside!"

"Seek the diamond. Every person has two paths as it is written - "See, I have set before you life and good, death and evil"... "and you shall choose life" Do we need to tell a person not to choose death? It is written "Life..and good.. death and evil" Who is foolish and chooses evil? Who chooses death? But it is a sign that here in this world everything is confused, everything is upside down, death appears as life, materialism and desires appear to a person as good life, and life - prayer and Torah and kedushah appear as death, and therefore the Torah says be careful!! It could be that what you think is life - is actually death, be careful! You could die "and you shall choose life" choose Torah, kedushah, purity."

"Each and every one has long, long battles, there were so many who entered kedushah and the service of Hashem, and there were many who could not withstand the tests, could not hold on. The moment bad thoughts, desires come, a person simply breaks, he says maybe this battle is not for me, what do you have another way?! "And you shall choose life" there is good and there is evil...there is no middle! There is no such thing as this is not for me, if you do not choose life you choose death! You could deteriorate! You could leave the Torah and fail in forbidden sights etc. therefore you must choose life."

"Because truly if a person wants to draw close to Hashem if only he wants, then nothing stands in the way of the will, nothing will stand in the way of the divine will, what a person wants he will achieve, as R' Natan brings in Likutei Halachot – that people who wanted to become wealthy would travel to diamond mines, travel distances within jungles among Indians within deserts, and most people would be killed on the way, they traveled with self-sacrifice to earn a kilo of gold, a kilo of diamonds. So for Hashem, for kedushah, a person will not make self-sacrifice!? Learn from the sitra achra! See how people strive in the sitra achra, people in universities sit at night, study all night, do not sleep for a few things of vanity, of a fleeting world, so we for the Holy One, blessed be He, will not learn Torah? Will not strive?"