Watch: "There are many great things I saw with my own eyes" – Rabbi Asulin with revelations from the home of The Rav shlit"a

"From the moment our teacher, Rabbi Berland shlit"a, attained self-awareness, he lived only for the other. He never thought of himself, not even for a single second, and this is what we always saw in him. The Rav related that even when he was a child studying with other children, at first the children's parents would give him money for this, but The Rav soon resolved in his mind that he had everything he needed from his parents, and therefore he no longer agreed to accept money for the learning." Rabbi Yosef Asulin, who served as the legendary gabbai (attendant) of our teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a for many years, shares awesome stories from within the house of The Rav shlit"a.

"There are many great things I saw with my own eyes; this Jew never opened a refrigerator. The Rav shlit"a never said, 'I am thirsty, Yosef I am hungry, bring me this or that.' I was in the home of The Rav shlit"a for 11 years, from the time they lived in the Jewish Quarter until the days of the Third Wall (HaChoma HaShlishit), and during all that time, if they did not give The Rav food or drink, he did not eat or drink. By the way, The Rav does not drink water; the Rabbanit always prepared foods containing liquids for him, such as fruits and vegetables, so that The Rav would have fluids."

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"We always saw that The Rav felt the pain of every Jew. If he saw someone brokenhearted, he would sit with him, even if the matter involved missing the first prayer time (zman tefillah), which is a matter of utmost importance to The Rav."

"It is impossible to describe the lowliness and humility of our teacher, Rabbi Berland shlit"a. Once, I signed a guarantee for someone and he swindled me; effectively, through this guarantee, he made me the owner of his company's debt. I asked The Rav shlit"a what to do, and he answered me, 'Yosef, you were tricked out of a few tens of thousands of shekels, while I signed guarantees for hundreds of thousands of shekels that people never paid back to this very day, and I forgive them.' Then he added, 'Yosef, go to the field and pray that you forgive this Jew with a complete forgiveness and a whole heart, and that in Heaven there be no judgment whatsoever against this Jew—and you will see what you will have. Yosef, only Hashem knows what I received in the merit of letting go.'"

"I fulfilled the words of our teacher, Rabbi Berland shlit"a, with simplicity and performed Hisbodedus in the field near the tomb of Shmuel HaTzaddik (Samuel the Prophet). I prayed and asked Hashem to forgive this Jew, and that as far as I was concerned, it is as if he had already paid me all the money. When I finished, I entered the Tzion (tomb) of Shmuel and I felt something unusual for me. I felt a truly good inspiration in my heart; it is simply impossible to describe what was with me for a few days afterward. I understood that this was not me, but a gift given to me because of the great monetary concession I had made."

"I came to The Rav shlit"a and said to him, 'Honored Rav, I know myself, and suddenly I am meriting Chatzos (Midnight Lamentation), Hisbodedus, and furthermore, at every moment I feel that Hashem Yitbarach is close to me like I have never felt before. I know that this is not me, but Rav, how does one merit to keep this gift?'"

"Our teacher, Rabbi Berland shlit"a, answered me: 'Yosef, only shiflut (lowliness). And how does one merit shiflut? Take five friends who are close to you and go through them one by one during Hisbodedus, and discover while doing so how they are better than you. You will discover that you have an imagination that you are better than them in certain things. After the first group of five, do Hisbodedus on another five, and so on. When you finish with the Shuvu Banim Yeshiva, move on to the Shul (synagogue) of the Breslov Chassidim; do such Hisbodedus that will bring down your pride.' At that time there were no police officers, and the security guards were reserve soldiers. The Rav added and said, 'After you finish with the Chassidim, do Hisbodedus regarding the reservists (miluimnikim) and discover that they are better than you. You will discover that although today they are in their current state, if they were to do teshuvah (repentance), they would surpass you in the service of Hashem.' This is the path The Rav guided me on to reach lowliness and humility."

"I maintained this work for a few months, but afterwards, to my sorrow, I fell from this work and it disappeared. The Rav shlit"a said that the more a person works on shiflut, he might only increase his pride, and there is no advice for this—except that he must continue with this work. Because a person's vitality comes from feeling better than the other, but the vitality needs to come from the fact that Hashem enlivens a creature like me. Then The Rav added and said that a person has kilometers of kelipot (husks/impurity) of pride surrounding him like reinforced concrete, but Rebbe Nachman has an atom bomb that in one moment will blow it all up and leave him with lowliness and humility."