There Are No Wicked in Israel • Everyone is Searching for the Way • Waiting for You to Reach Them - the Righteous Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a for Parshat Beha'alotcha

"And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward" - There Are Seven Books

""And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward" is a parsha in itself, a book in itself, as the Gemara in Shabbat (116a) says, "She has hewn out her seven pillars," that indeed there are seven books of the Torah and not five, the Book of Bamidbar is divided into three books of the Torah. The verse to Hashem "And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward" and verse 36 "And when it rested, he said, Return..." are the middle book of the Chumash Bamidbar and truly it is a great wonder that such a small parsha, two verses, is a book in itself."

In the Parsha "And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward" there are two inverted Nunim – the letter Nun hints at the fiftieth gate

"The Gate of Nun is the most hidden gate of kedushah, which is received only through "And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward," only through journeys. Therefore, the Zohar in Beha'alotcha (151a) says, "Come and see, Nun in Ashrei Yoshevei Veitecha is not mentioned, because it is in exile." Everyone knows that in the Psalm Ashrei Yoshevei Veitecha there is no letter Nun, so when does one receive the letter Nun? When does one merit the letter Nun? It is specifically through journeys! It is such a great kedushah, such a great gate that it can only be received through journeys, it is only when a person truly travels for the sake of Heaven to bring people back in teshuvah."

"The Rebbe says – Travel, travel, start traveling throughout Eretz Yisrael"

"There are people living alone in moshavim and kibbutzim who do not see rabbis, do not hear shiurim, know nothing of Judaism, and the evil inclination burns! What will the son do and not sin? When a person travels on the roads and brings people back in teshuvah, even if he does not know it, he does not know how many people returned in teshuvah just from seeing him. They see a person with peyot, with light on his face, their hearts open, their hearts burn, their hearts awaken, maybe one laughs, mocks, but 10,000 people awaken! People look out the windows and say, if only, if only we were like him, like this one with the peyot."

"When they see a religious person, a holy person, the neshamah (soul) soars! It soars and clings and wants to cling to this Jew. A person arrives with a shining face, knocks on a dark door, suddenly they see such an angel, immediately the whole household rises, runs to him. Like the story in Gush Katif, in a moshav of "Meretz," where avrechim went to spread Torah there and when they finished and wanted to return home, all the children ran to them. Children in tank tops, in shorts shouted at them "Why are you leaving us?" Why are you traveling? Come to our homes. Men also came and said we want to do teshuvah! Help us, we don't know how!"

"Whoever does such an important mitzvah and travels from city to city and from moshav to moshav, and also learns of course, before learning 8 hours there's no point in going out! Learn 8 hours of Torah, and spread Torah 8 hours. You can also learn on the way when traveling, so when a person comes full of Torah, he comes with a shining face, they see his shining face and immediately return in teshuvah. After all, everyone walks with sour faces, fallen faces, broken faces, and a ben Torah comes - they see an angel of Hashem, peyot, beard, shining face and return in teshuvah!"

Look at R' Chiya and His Eyes Burned

"The Gemara (Bava Metzia 85b) tells that Rav Chaviva bar Surmaki wanted to see the chariot of Rabbi Chiya in the heavens. He asked Eliyahu HaNavi, pleaded before him, cried before him, I want to see Rabbi Chiya, Eliyahu HaNavi said to him, be careful! Your eyes will burn. If you see him, you will be burned by his fire! Eliyahu HaNavi said to him, you can see me, but Rabbi Chiya is all fire, chariots of fire, angels of fire, be careful! You are asking for too great a request, but Chaviva could not hold back, he could not withstand the test and looked at the chariot of Rabbi Chiya and immediately his eyes burned. A spark from Rabbi Chiya burned his eyes, and he became blind, he almost burned completely."

"The next day he went to the cave of Rabbi Chiya and cried and cried - "Rabbi Chiya, return my sight," and Rabbi Chiya returned his sight. The holy Arizal says who is Rabbi Chiya, Rabbi Chiya is such a tzaddik that there is no comprehension of him, because he went from city to city, from moshav to moshav day and night to spread Torah in Israel, he did not sleep, he did not rest for a moment. The Arizal says, not just anyone merits such levels, all the Tannaim, all the Amoraim, angels lift them, but Rabbi Chiya ascends alone, no angel, no seraph lifts him. Because the angels cannot ascend so high, Rabbi Chiya ascends higher and higher to a place that cannot be described - to Atika D'Atikin."

"A Person Who Brings Others to Teshuvah Has No Gate in Heaven Closed Before Him"

"The Zohar says, "Blessed is the one who holds the hand of the guilty" (Shemot 128b) – a person who brings others to teshuvah has no gate in heaven closed before him, they open everything for him, they give him all the treasures of the King. Hashem takes him, embraces him, delights with him, more than all the tzaddikim because he brought others to teshuvah. They give him all the keys, open all the gates for him, reveal to him all the secrets of the Torah."

"If a Person Does Not Bring Others to Teshuvah, Hashem Has No Pleasure from His Torah"

"Rabbi Natan says – if a person does not bring others to teshuvah, it is said about him, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination," Hashem has no pleasure from his Torah. Even if he is the wisest, most righteous person, if he does not go and bring others to teshuvah and does not connect with people smaller than him, then his prayer is not accepted. Because there are no wicked in Israel, even if you see a complete wicked person from head to toe, know that it is only shells surrounding him."

"The Arizal says that the many shells that accumulate on the wicked are only because of the great light hidden within them. Even those brazen, impudent ones, their shells are only a millimeter wrapping, a millionth of a millimeter wrapping, that in one moment they shed it. Then their inner light is revealed, because within them lies the greatest light, therefore the shells fight them and cling to them, to hide this great light. The moment we succeed in reaching them and bringing them to teshuvah, the point of light that will illuminate the whole world will be revealed, then all of Israel will return in teshuvah."

"A person is obligated to bring others to teshuvah, as Yehuda said - "How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me". Yehuda cried out! How can I go up to my father, how can I ascend to heaven and the lad is not with me. Who is the lad? The lad is all of Israel! All the lost, unfortunate youths who are far from Hashem, how can we come to heaven and say we did not bring them back in teshuvah."

A Person Needs to Acquire Wisdom and Escape the Evil Eye

"The truth needs to belong to us, that it is our mission, that it is our task, that it is within our capabilities, that it is what is expected of us in heaven. It is very difficult to know what we can and what we cannot, if it is a bit too much or a bit too little. The absolute truth is constantly moving and shifting, from moment to moment, from hour to hour, from day to day. Each time we merit a new understanding, a new perspective, a new light, that will give us clarity in understanding the truth, the absolute truth, not the abstract truth, the truth that belongs to us, that we have already acquired, and we know what we need to do with this truth, because if not, it is something so distant and abstract."

"All that we ask for, all that we need is the first blessing established by the Men of the Great Assembly in the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, after Avot, Gevurot, and Kedushah. And what is it? Graciously grant man knowledge - the first thing a person asks for is knowledge. When a person has knowledge, he already has everything. When a person has knowledge, he understands that when he lacks, he should not look with an evil eye at someone who has, and envy him, but he should turn to Hashem - an evil eye is complete lack of knowledge. When a person does not nullify himself before Hashem, then he has an evil eye. Because if he does not see Hashem, whom does he see? Himself. He constantly looks to the sides, to see what is on the other person's plate instead of lifting his head upwards, to Hashem. Whoever looks to Hashem has a good eye. He understands that everything is from Hashem."