The Rebbe Is Alive and Enduring!! The Na Nach (ננמ"ח) Hillula in the Presence of

Maariv and Preparation Lesson for the Night of the Hillula ○ Thousands of people in the giant Sukkah at the greatest Hillula of our Holy Rebbe in the world ○ A fiery lesson on the greatness of our Holy Rebbe ○ Completion of the Shas by our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a according to the study order he established ○ Singing and dancing until the first light of morning ○ A Chol HaMoed prayer lasting over three hours

Chol HaMoed Maariv prayer and preparation lesson for our Rebbe's Hillula

As every evening, on the night of our Holy Rebbe's Hillula, we were privileged to have a one-and-a-half-hour Maariv prayer, with our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a beginning the Arvit prayer at 19:40, accompanied for many long minutes by the singing of 'Or Zaruah Latzaddik'. Following this, the Maariv prayer proceeded with melodies and immense vitality for about twenty-five minutes. After Aleinu, he delivered a preparation lesson for our Rebbe's Hillula; here is a short excerpt:

"In another quarter of an hour, our Rebbe's seudah (meal) begins, and everyone can see our Rebbe face-to-face once a year; on the night of the 18th - Chai Tishrei. Today is the greatest day of the year, where it is possible to see our Rebbe literally! And everyone can receive a spark from our Rebbe. On the Yahrtzeit, the tzaddik ascends to entirely new levels, entirely new attainments. He bequeaths this to everyone who dances. Our Rebbe is alive and exists; our Rebbe is the only tzaddik who is alive and exists. All the other tzaddikim have already passed on, may we be spared, their grandchildren continue, their great-grandchildren continue. The Baal HaTanya writes to rise for Chatzot (midnight prayers), the Baal HaTanya—there is no one who rises for Chatzot. It is written explicitly in the Likkutei Amarim in the Tanya that the first thing is to rise for Chatzot, to be among the 'masters of accounting,' to sit on the ground, and to weep for a full hour. No one fulfills this; there is no one who fulfills this. But our Rebbe is alive and exists! Our Rebbe rises for Chatzot, sits on the ground, and weeps over the destruction. And we are waiting for our Rebbe to rise from the grave, which must happen this very year, that our Rebbe will rise from the grave!"

Afterward, he recited the fifteen 'Songs of Ascents' customary to say in memory of the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah, and then, as every evening, danced to our Rebbe's songs for over half an hour before returning to his holy home, telling everyone to go to the Hillula seudah now beginning in the large Sukkah on Ha'ach Street.

The giant Sukkah that accommodated thousands of participants at the greatest Hillula in the world

As our teacher the Rav shlit"a said, indeed, after the Maariv prayer, all our Shuvu Banim community members went together to the Hillula seudah in the giant Sukkah on Ha'ach Street in Musrara. The Sukkah, which was built with self-sacrifice by the union of Breslov Chassidim and cost a great fortune, was significantly enlarged compared to the Sukkahs that Shuvu Banim had known in the past at our Rebbe's Hillulas over the years. The Sukkah was divided into two: an area for the Hillula seudah and an area for dancing, with the massive space also being doubled for the women's section.

The Hillula of our Holy Rebbe - A fiery lesson on the greatness of our Holy Rebbe

Close to 23:00, our teacher the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a arrived at the Sukkah and was received with the singing of 'Or Zaruah Latzaddik'. After a few more minutes of dancing, the main address took place—the lesson of our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, delivered with fiery intensity. He began with the virtue of dancing and then spoke of the greatness of our Holy Rebbe and the path that every Breslov Chassid should yearn for, whether through hitbodedut, prayer, or the in-depth study of Gemara. It was nearly an hour of fiery words, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Here are several excerpts from the main lesson:

"The Rebbe said: if they heard one of my Torah lessons with its melody and dance, the entire world would be nullified. Because the whole point is the melody and the dance! Every Torah lesson has a 'melody and dance,' and one must not miss any Torah lesson. If a person were to hear one of our Rebbe's Torah lessons with its melody and dance, they would be nullified to the point of total self-effacement."

"Now is the Yahrtzeit of our Rebbe, and our Rebbe said: 'I yearned to bring the world to action'—all I wanted was for people to study Gemara. This is all of Breslov! What is Breslov? What is Shuvu Banim? To study Gemara! And after the Gemara, we dance for an hour; we study twenty hours of Gemara and after that, we dance for an hour. The Rebbe said: 'I yearned to bring the world to action.' The Rebbe brings down awesome fear and awesome melodies, but the main thing the Rebbe intended is for a person to know the entire Shas. Two thousand seven hundred pages—if he studies seven pages a day, that is a year."

"The Rebbe said: 'I can bring the world to teshuvah (repentance); in one second I can bring everyone to teshuvah, if I show what I know, what melodies I know, what wisdom I know, the whole world would return in teshuvah in a second. I just don't want to reveal myself.' After two hundred and twelve years (the gematria of 'Rabbi'), now the Rebbe is only revealing himself a tiny bit!"

Joyous dancing and awakening for five hours until the first light of morning and the completion of the Shas by our teacher the Rav shlit"a according to the study order

At the conclusion of the lesson, our teacher the Rav shlit"a began the melody of 'Adam Pitdah U'Bareket...'. After a few minutes, the dancing began with the singing of 'Ko Amar Hashem, Matza Chen BaMidbar' (Thus says Hashem, they found grace in the wilderness), and the thousands who arrived at the greatest Hillula in the world broke out into sweeping circles of immense joy that reached the heavens. All the while, our teacher the Rav shlit"a encouraged them with his holy hands and sacred movements to jump and dance. Whoever has not seen the joy of Shuvu Banim at our Rebbe's Hillula has never seen joy in their life! In the middle of the dancing, they began singing 'Lehitvada U'Lehigalot...'. Our teacher the Rav shlit"a delivered another lesson, telling the story of the evolution of this holy song, which was composed by the Maharam Shapiro of Lublin and passed on to the Breslov Chassidic gathering. Afterward, our teacher the Rav shlit"a performed the completion of the Shas according to the order he established to study every day—eight pages of Gemara—while connecting the end of Masechet Niddah to the theme of the Hillula, weaving in Midrashim and Chassidut at the completion of the Shas. He then recited the Kaddish for the completion.

After the completion, the dancing continued with immense renewal; there was not a hint of fatigue on the faces of the public. Throughout the night, thousands continued to stream into the giant Sukkah, joining the dance circles with joy. Long hours of dancing passed from song to song, and each time, with the renewal of our teacher the Rav in his holy movements, he revived the entire public, who continued to jump and dance in honor of our Holy Rebbe in the joy of the festival. At 4:50, our teacher the Rav shlit"a rose from his chair and danced together with his grandchildren. Despite the very late hour, anyone who saw him dancing and did not dance—it was impossible; on the contrary, everyone continued with immense joy and enthusiasm, dancing with even greater vigor.

Shacharit prayer, Hallel, Hoshanot, and Mussaf

The joyous dancing continued until 5:00 in the morning, at which point our teacher Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a announced that the Shacharit prayer would be held in the prayer hall plaza from the balcony. He left the Sukkah on Ha'ach Street and arrived at his holy home, saying that Shacharit would be in about half an hour. Indeed, at 5:30, our teacher the Rav shlit"a went out for the Shacharit prayer with Hallel and all the melodies with immense vitality, followed by Hoshanot, the Torah reading, and Mussaf, which alone lasted over half an hour! After the conclusion of the Mussaf prayer, our teacher the Rav delivered a lesson with further words on the greatness of our Holy Rebbe and the virtue of the day of the Hillula. At the end of the lesson, he began reciting the Tikkun HaKlali and entered his holy home singing 'Becha Rabbeinu Nagila...'. This was after a prayer lasting over three hours!

Thus, we were privileged to have over twelve hours of dancing, prayers, and lessons; we were privileged to have the true light of our Holy Rebbe's Hillula together with the tzaddik of the generation, our teacher the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a.

Fortunate are we that we were privileged to draw close to our Rebbe!!

Extensive coverage and a large photo gallery to follow...