"There is no Mitzvah greater than Pidyon Shvuyim" - The Fund to Save our Teacher

Fund to Save our Teacher, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Under the leadership of Rabbi Ofer Erez shlit"a

"Redeeming captives takes precedence over sustaining the poor and clothing them, and there is no mitzvah greater than Pidyon Shvuyim (redemption of captives)." – Rambam

"Our Sages tell us, 'One who opens a door for his fellow, [the fellow] owes him his life.' How many hearts has our Teacher the Rav shlit"a opened to bring them back in teshuvah (repentance) and draw Jews close to Hashem! He sacrificed his soul for every Jew. I have known the Rav for 40 years and I know how much self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh) he has to help the Nation of Israel. So now that he is in trouble, we are obligated to remember 'he owes him his life.' Anyone who can help influence others to donate—there is no greater mitzvah than this.

And with Hashem's help, the Rav will return to lead the community, to give classes, to magnify Torah and glorify it, and with Hashem's help to prepare us all so that we may merit, with Hashem's help, the complete Geulah (Redemption) soon. This is the goal." - HaGaon Rabbi Y.D. Grossman shlit"a, Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek and Head of Migdal Ohr Institutions

"Even if we were speaking of the simplest Jew in the world, the mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyim (redemption of captives) is very, very huge. How much more so when it concerns my master, teacher, and Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer ben Ettia shlit"a. Anyone who has traveled or will ever travel to Uman—it is all in his merit. I am a witness to this unequivocally; he opened the way to Uman clearly, literally with self-sacrifice (mesiras nefesh). One day I will recount the things I saw with my own eyes—actual self-sacrifice. Therefore, we need to help by donating to Pidyon Shvuyim. After all, we are speaking here of a great tzaddik who took suffering upon himself for our sake, and there is also the matter of gratitude (hakaras hatov) here, for we reached Uman in his merit. And not only that, but he opened up all the matters of Rebbe Nachman with self-sacrifice.

And whoever cannot donate a large sum should at least donate 99 shekels for every soul in his family. I myself went through and collected from my students in the Yeshiva. And I ask everyone personally to transfer the money for Pidyon Shvuyim for our Teacher, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. This is a huge mitzvah and we must not miss it. The expenses are truly great and I ask everyone to participate in this great mitzvah". - Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a, Head of Chut Shel Chessed Institutions

"When King David fled from Absalom, all the people who were with him helped him simply and with self-sacrifice. Even though King David was on such spiritual levels that he could seemingly manage on his own, this is our work—we are obligated to help.

Everyone feels that the Rav's entire reality and everything he is going through is in a very, very spiritual and very high place, and this is the truth. Beyond that, we simply need 'to make Your way known on earth,' to do everything in our power to help the Rav; this is certainly our obligation.

It is true that the Rav copes with supreme heroism that is almost hard to grasp with the human intellect—how the Rav holds on through all these terrible sufferings—but our obligation is to help him; there is no question about it.

There is a story that once they tried to harm Rebbe Nachman, and at a certain hour, the people of our community left the place and relied on Rebbe Nachman's merit. And even though there were miracles and Rebbe Nachman was saved, Rebbe Nachman was later exacting with them and told them explicitly, 'You need to do your part and not rely on my merits; you should have stayed and protected me.' Our obligation is simply to help the Rav." - Rabbi Ofer Erez shlit"a

You can hear the words of the aforementioned Rabbis and other Rabbis on the information line

Every donor will receive a personal blessing and a Pidyon Nefesh from our Teacher, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

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