"They Locked Rav Berland Inside the Cell and Found Him Outside"

"Shortly before the holiday of Shavuot, two of my family members who live in a moshav in the north were arrested following a family dispute over an inheritance. The older brother was attacked and his brother rushed to defend him; they were taken to the hospital for medical treatment, where a police van was waiting for them to take them to detention at Tzalmon Prison."

"At Tzalmon was the holy tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and the older brother was initially in the same cell with the Rav shlit"a. Afterwards, they transferred him to a cell with his brother in the same wing as Rav Berland."

"After they were released, the brothers recounted with excitement: The guard would put Rav Berland into his cell, lock the door behind him, but after a few minutes, Rav Berland would be walking around freely in the hallway."

"The guard returned and did not understand what was happening before his eyes; he said to Rav Berland: 'I locked the cell while you were inside, how did you get out?'"

"Rav Berland answered the guard: 'Where I want to be, I am. When I want to be in Uman, I am in Uman. When I want to be at home, I am at home, but here, I have work to do.'"

"Our teacher, the holy tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, went through the locked door at Nitzan Prison in the month of Nissan 5780. The young man Natan Tzabari shichyeh related that in the month of Nissan, he was in front of Nitzan Prison in Ramla, where Rav Berland was at the time. He heard a conversation between two people; one woman asked the guard what all those Charedim were doing there."

"The guard replied: 'Their Rav, Rav Berland, is inside there. Listen to a fresh story from this morning. A friend of mine locked the Rav in his cell this morning, and after a few minutes, he saw him outside. He asked the Rav, "What are you doing here? A few minutes ago I locked you in! How did you get out?"'"

"Rav Berland answered him with a smile: 'I went out to infect everyone.' This was during the time of the coronavirus, and certainly, the Rav was joking."

"We are the prisoners, prisoners of our own desires. The tzaddik, Rav Berland, is outside and does as he wishes and desires."

"May it be the will that the time arrives when Rav Berland chooses to leave already."

"I am standing outside in the lawyers' room, and I am waiting for a guard to open the door for me, a very heavy iron door. Everything is on a closed circuit; it is impossible to open a door when one door is already open. I said to Rav Berland, 'The guard is not here, he probably left and the door is locked.' The Rav shlit"a said to me, 'Push.' It didn't open. The Rav said to me, 'Push.' I pushed and the door opened—a door weighing perhaps a ton, it opened. The guard arrived and said to me, 'How did you get in?'"

"I told him I pushed the door. He looks at the cameras, calls his officer, they don't understand. I said to the Rav, 'They are confused.' He said to me, 'It doesn't matter, let them be confused.'"