"There Have Never Been Stringencies Like Those Against Rav Berland"

HaRav Ofer Erez shlit"a on the importance of continuing to participate in the heavy maintenance expenses of our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a. For, although 1.2 million shekels were donated for the redemption (pidyon) which were deposited directly to the court, there is still a heavy fine imposed on the Rav shlit"a. Beyond that, every month we must reach a sum of hundreds of thousands of shekels that go toward security expenses, as well as various expenses such as medical accompaniment for our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a.

These are the holy words of Rav Ofer Erez shlit"a to the Breslov hotline (*9148)

"There have never been court severities toward a person like with Rav Berland"

"There was a very difficult and complex conduct against the prosecution and the courts. I met with many lawyers just in the last month who said they do not remember such severities as the way they behaved with our teacher Rav Berland."

"Yesterday we reached an agreement that the court agreed to release our teacher the Rav to house arrest. But, the Supreme and District Courts set very, very difficult conditions for the house arrest. Both in terms of the conditions that restrict the Rav, and in terms of the financial burdens they imposed on us. That is to say, all this is in addition to the guarantees we gave them so that the Rav, supposedly, would not flee."

"The court agreed to lower the cash money that needs to be deposited, because the demand was to deposit 2.5 million in cash; the court agreed to lower it to 1.2 million in cash, meaning without this deposit the Rav is not released. And also, the court obligated us to fund a security company 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we are also obligated to pay them in advance. It is not that the security company asked, but the court determined it so that there would be no side where the security company would stop working with us. Every two months we need to pay them in advance, and these are very large sums. Work was done to find the cheapest company, and it is still very expensive."

"The medical condition of the Rav shlit"a requires constant medical accompaniment"

"B"H, the prayers help, but the medical condition of the Rav requires that there be a nurse with him every day who helps and assists medically. And also doctors who will arrive with high frequency and examine the entire medical condition of the Rav; all this requires a great deal of money."

"It is not easy, but from Heaven we are privileged with the rare mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim (redemption of captives). Currently, we are managing an entire campaign to ease the conditions of the Rav. Beyond the matter of money, the restrictions imposed on the Rav are a novelty; the lawyers told me that it is a novel thing to impose so many restrictions on the Rav."

"But, the very fact that our teacher the Rav is leaving the house of imprisonment to an apartment and we will be able to take care of him medically, the Rav will have his books, his study and his prayer without them sitting on his head like they did in the last months - this is a very great thing."

"We hope that we will be able to greatly ease the conditions of the Rav's arrest. I cannot say how the process will progress, but I rely a lot on our prayers; there is Siyata Dishmaya (Divine assistance) in all the moves. It is clear to everyone that everything must be done in order to ease this, but no one can say exactly what will be."

"The money does not go for the benefit of the court, or in the end it will return to the Rav, or they will take it for the benefit of the fine, because besides all the moves they also imposed a high fine on the Rav."

"There is a rare mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim here"

"A half-shekel can be given to any important mitzvah. I had a conversation with one of the veteran students of the Rav who said, 'I do not know if Heaven is not orchestrating all this so that we will have the merit to sacrifice our lives (mesirut nefesh) for the connection and bonding with the Rav - there is a rare mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim here.'"

"Literally, the Rav is a captive, and also the way they treat him. I do not want to go into details, but the Rav is 83 years old and suffers from so many illnesses. It is not at all conceivable that the Rav would be in such conditions, but we understand that there is a very difficult spiritual war here."

"One must be very careful about the release conditions, since quite a few factors are looking for how to sabotage the alternative and return the Rav to the house of imprisonment. One must know that the moment the Rav leaves, they will watch him with ten eyes, just to see one mistake in order to return the Rav to the house of imprisonment."

"After all, one must remember that there is a Creator of the world and there is none else besides Him, but to know 'in the land of your ways,' everyone who is involved in this does so with very great mesirut nefesh - one must know how to appreciate and respect."

"The campaign for the Rav is complex and has many fronts"

"Sometimes questions and difficulties arise, but the questions arise because one does not know all the details. There is an unusually complex campaign here, and it is very extraordinary. This is not a normal legal move; on all fronts it is extraordinary."

"The two most covered trials in the last year are those of the Prime Minister and the Rav; they talk about it all the time. We believe that the very fact that we remain together, trying to strengthen ourselves in prayers, the matter of the 7 general Tikkuns - 'hold yourselves together, pull me to you,' as Rebbe Nachman said."

"I saw clearly that whoever is now connecting with the Rav, trying to help in what he can, to hold together in the assemblies..., in all the efforts. To try to fix things that we need to fix within ourselves, we all need to do teshuvah - the emphasis on love of friends - I believe that Hashem will perform miracles for us. There is none else besides Him, there is no obstacle before Hashem."

"We spoke that everyone will try to bring at least two thousand shekels, but we know that there are people who are truly struggling, for whom a thousand shekels will be like two thousand. This is a rare mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim in its importance and stature; the more one increases, the more praiseworthy it is."

"20 years ago there was a case of financial need in the community, and they said, 'Let's have one wealthy person bring all the money,' the Rav said, 'I want from everyone.' The Rav had this intention."

"I must say, it is not 1.2 million, we sat and did the math..."

Donation for pidyon shvuyim to save Rav Berland - Click here

The expenses for our teacher Rav Berland shlit"a reach more than two hundred thousand every month