Watch: A Sefer Torah Dedication Ceremony by the Shuvu Banim Community in Honor of the Return of the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says (Likutey Moharan II, 75), "Gazing at the face of the Tzaddikim alone is also a very great thing. For our Sages, of blessed memory, said that a Torah scholar is greater than the Torah, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Makkot 22b): 'How foolish are those people who stand before a Sefer Torah but do not stand before a great man.' Thus, the Torah scholar is greater than the Torah. And regarding the Torah, we find that our Sages, of blessed memory, said (Midrash Rabbah, Eichah, in the Petichta) that the light within it brings one back to the good. All the more so the light of the Tzaddik—that gazing at him alone is very effective for holiness. Certainly, if one merits to speak with him, it is better, but even gazing alone is also a very great thing."

And behold, The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, the Tzaddik who was exiled from his family, his city, his land, and his community, has now, after more than five years, returned to Jerusalem the Holy City, may it be built and established speedily in our days. And what is more fitting than to celebrate the return together with the joy of introducing a holy Sefer Torah into his sanctuary? As Rebbe Nachman said (ibid), "that a Torah scholar is greater than the Torah," as brought in the Gemara (Makkot 22b), 'How foolish are those people who stand before a Sefer Torah but do not stand before a great man' (How foolish are the people who stand in the presence of a Sefer Torah yet do not stand in the presence of a Torah scholar – a Tzaddik).

And so, in a moving event that included thousands of participants, a magnificent procession took place, accompanying the Sefer Torah with joy and dances to the Holy Ark in the residence of The Rav, Rabbi Berland shlit"a. The dedication ceremony set out from Salant Street in Jerusalem, circling the Mea Shearim neighborhood, and finally returning with trumpet blasts to the home of the Rav shlit"a on HaChoma HaShlishit Street.

The sight was spectacular. A large crowd of tinokot d'beit rabban (schoolchildren) accompanied the Torah with burning torches, while before them leaped and danced the Torah scholars and the common folk of Israel, holding the holy Sefer Torah in their hands. Finally, the scroll was brought into the residence of the Rav shlit"a, where joint prayers are held daily with a multitude of people, while the holy scroll was received with feelings of joy mixed with the happiness over the return of the Tzaddik to his abode. The Tzaddik has returned; [and with him] returned its radiance, returned its splendor, and returned its glory.

The moving moments from the ceremony of bringing the Sefer Torah into the house of prayer at the residence of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a