Watch: Thousands at a Prayer and Outcry Gathering at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron — Rabbi Berland shlit"a: "They Murdered Sixty-Seven Jews Here, Exactly Here — Just Like They Did in Be'eri and Kfar Aza"

On Wednesday, the 6th of Elul 5786, a prayer and outcry gathering took place at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, led by Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a. Thousands arrived by bus from all over the country, filling the plaza in front of the Cave, standing in prayer and song for many long hours into the night.

The purpose of the gathering was announced in advance: to break through the gates of Heaven so that Rabbi Berland shlit"a could reach the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman in Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Indeed, the class delivered by Rabbi Berland shlit"a revolved entirely around one central theme—the self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) of previous generations to reach Uman. But first, Rabbi Berland shlit"a spoke about the very place where they were standing.

"They Murdered Sixty-Seven Jews Here — Exactly Here"

Rabbi Berland shlit"a recalled the 1929 Hebron massacre (Tarpat riots), in which the Jewish community of Hebron was murdered, emphasizing that the gathering was taking place at the exact site of the tragedy:

"There were riots, they murdered sixty-seven Jews here in Hebron—exactly here. In another three years, it will be a hundred years since it happened."

From there, Rabbi Berland shlit"a drew a comparison that shook the listeners—between what was done here nearly a century ago and what occurred in recent years in the Gaza envelope:

"In 1929, they put them inside kerosene heaters, and did terrible things—just like they did in Be'eri, in Kfar Aza. Exactly the same thing."

At the conclusion of the class, Rabbi Berland shlit"a announced his intention to move up the date of next year's gathering and establish it on the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of the massacre: "Next year we will be here again in Hebron, and we will be here on the 18th of Av—we will move it up to the day of the yahrtzeit of the massacre."

"You Brought Us This Far — Bring the Rav to Uman"

The melody that accompanied the gathering from beginning to end, which the crowd sang over and over for a long time, was a single plea:

"You brought us this far—bring the Rav to Uman. Without visas and permits, only singing and dancing. Without shopping and buying, because every second is precious."

Alongside it was a second melody: "And You brought us this far—eradicate evil from the world." Between the songs, chapters of Tehillim (Psalms) were recited publicly—"A prayer of Moshe, the man of God," "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill," and chapters of Hallel—while cries of "Only Uman, only Uman" rose from the crowd. At the edges of the plaza, the ushers' calls could be heard constantly: "Guys, it's a matter of life and death—do not cross the fences," and "Let the Rav pass like a king, the king of Israel."

The Tikkun HaKlali Instead of an ID Card

The axis upon which the entire class was built was The Tikkun HaKlali—not merely as a spiritual remedy, but as the identification document that opens every border. Rabbi Berland shlit"a told the story of a Jew who was in Paris under the rule of the Nazis, may their names be erased, where about two hundred thousand Jews lived at the time. The Nazis would surround a hundred people and demand an ID card from each one; anyone who did not have one received a bullet to the head or was sent to the crematoria.

This Jew had a tiny Tikkun HaKlali in his pocket—"the size of an ID card." Twice he handed it to them and was saved. The third time, he had nothing in his hand—neither an ID card nor The Tikkun HaKlali. The Nazis surrounded them, checking IDs for a full hour, and the clock struck three. One of them, "a real Nazi, a pure Aryan," raised his hand and said: "Wait—it's three o'clock. Excuse me, I need to go. Goodbye"—and he left. And so, he was saved a third time.

"Put The Tikkun HaKlali in your pocket—maybe the Nazis will catch you, you'll show them The Tikkun HaKlali, and they will let you go."

From there, he transitioned to Rabbi Berland shlit"a's own journey: twenty-five young men, all without passports. "I gave him a Tikkun HaKlali the size of a passport," he said. They wandered among the villages at one o'clock in the morning—without lights, without electricity, without road signs—and in the morning a Jewish officer arrived: "Are you Breslovers? You are not going to Uman." Ultimately, he released them, with a stern warning for next time.

Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz: "My Best Days Were in Prison"

The story of Rabbi Shmuel Horowitz zt"l was recounted at length. He wanted to travel to Uman, wandered around the docks in Jaffa and Haifa, and crossed the border when the smuggler abandoned him halfway. When they caught him—he gave them The Tikkun HaKlali.

Rabbi Berland shlit"a also told how he reached the English consul in Kiev and told him that he had fled from the riots: "I was afraid they would kill me, I was in Hebron"—and in the merit of this, he received a passport quickly. However, he was later imprisoned in Russia on suspicion of espionage, and sat in prison from the 10th of Adar; he spent Purim in prison, and on Pesach, he ate only a few vegetables. And there, in prison, he wrote the words that Rabbi Berland shlit"a quoted:

"My best days were when I was in prison in Russia. I practiced Hisbodedus (personal prayer), and I managed to recite The Tikkun HaKlali all day long. That is the greatest delight of all."

The Herring and Vodka on the Border

Another story: A group of twenty-five young men crossed the border during the days of Communist rule. The smugglers loaded a hundred bags of herring and vodka onto their shoulders—goods that were scarce in Russia. Two of them could not withstand the test, and out of extreme thirst, they ate from the herring and drank from the vodka—and fell like dead men on the border, exactly where the patrols pass.

The smugglers gave them kicks "that could revive the dead," yet they still did not wake up. They remained lying on the border from two in the morning until four-thirty. When they finally woke up, they saw a wagon with straw, spoke to its owner in Russian, and asked him to take them to the nearby village—and there the whole group was waiting for them.

Chachmei Lublin: "He Didn't Know That One Child Would Remain"

Rabbi Berland shlit"a spoke at length about the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva and its founder, the brilliant Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin zt"l—founder of the Daf Yomi, who knew the entire Talmud by heart, and into whose yeshiva one could not enter without knowing dozens of tractates by heart. Three hundred Breslov students learned there.

Rabbi Berland shlit"a shared a chilling detail: When Hitler, may his name be erased, announced in 1933 that not a single Jew would remain in the world, everyone said he was just boasting. Rabbi Meir Shapiro did not accept this:

"I am not boasting, I am not talking nonsense. I want the truth—the truth to the very end, only the truth."

And he ordered them to flee. The library—twenty-two thousand books—burned for twenty-two hours, "and Hitler said: There I defeated Judaism, there I burned their soul." And regarding this, Rabbi Berland shlit"a said the core point of the matter:

"But he didn't know that one child would remain. In the end, Breslov remained—and this melody remains for all eternity, only in the merit of Breslov."

He also spoke about the fierce opposition to traveling to Uman in those days—"letters up to the ceiling from all the Rebbes," containing the recurring claim: "Have you gone mad? They scream at night all night long and don't open a book—what kind of crazy person are you bringing into your yeshiva?"

"The Tikkun is with Rebbe Nachman"

Among other things, Rabbi Berland shlit"a told a story about Rabbi Aharon Leib Zigelman z"l and the brilliant Tchebiner Rav zt"l, who went out dancing together. In those days, opponents of traveling to Uman argued that one could make do with studying—Talmud, Likutey Halachos, and Likutey Moharan. The Tchebiner Rav asked Rabbi Aharon Leib: What, are you making a tikkun (rectification)? Can you rectify me with Talmud, Likutey Halachos, and Likutey Moharan?

And the answer was sharp:

"I cannot rectify. The tikkun is not with me—the tikkun is with Rebbe Nachman."

And then came the response of the Tchebiner Rav, which is the entire essence of this evening:

"With Rebbe Nachman? Alright—I am traveling to Uman. I don't care about excommunications; let them say whatever they want, let them say I'm a spy."

"And there are thousands more stories to tell until morning," concluded Rabbi Berland shlit"a. This is the sixth year that the gathering has been held at the Cave of the Patriarchs in preparation for Rosh Hashanah.

The gathering was held as a direct continuation of the previous gatherings that took place in Hebron in recent years—those same gatherings for whose donors a special appreciation evening at the home of Rabbi Berland shlit"a was held a week prior.