We Merited, A New Lesson: Parshat Tzav from Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

"We are now in Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 8:23), the sixth aliyah, and now we are doing teshuvah (repentance): 'And he slaughtered it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.' We take the blood of the second ram and place it on the lobe of the right ear. And if you have a thumb of the hand and a big toe of the foot, then b"H (with Hashem's help) you have all three, and you will be the High Priest. Aaron had four sons, two were burned later; in total, Moses anointed five: Aaron and his four sons."

"What is the significance of the lobe and the thumb? These are the signs that Jacob gave to Rachel. Rachel had five veils; Jacob never saw her face. Therefore, it was possible to swap her; she went with five veils. One veil was yellow diamonds, one veil was red diamonds, bluish diamonds... each veil was once studded with a hundred diamonds."

Rav begins to sing the Song of the Choshen (link to the song with the lyrics at the end of the article): "Odem, Pitdah, Bareket."

"Rachel was surrounded by fire; all the Matriarchs were surrounded by fire. Rachel did not reveal the signs to Leah; she only told her that at the chuppah, one must touch the lobe, touch the thumb—this is a custom from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a custom, and every woman must know this custom, or else Jacob will not accept you. From the Gemara in Nedarim, we learn that the one performing the kiddushin (sanctification) must say, 'Behold, you are betrothed to me.' If he does not say 'to me,' she is not betrothed; perhaps she is betrothed to the father or the mother, but not to him. Therefore, one must say 'betrothed to me.'"

"Rachel was the Holy of Holies; Rachel was the Shechinah (Divine Presence). 'Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work' (Jeremiah 31:15). 'For there is a reward for your work'—the work is that she gave up everything, that she gave the signs to Leah. One must give up everything for the sake of a friend, for the sake of a brother, for the sake of the other. To give up everything just so that he will not be ashamed..."

"...because Leah was also the Shechinah; from Leah came Mashiach ben David, from Judah. From Rachel will come Mashiach ben Yosef. Joseph will come and blow the shofar—tekiah, teruah, tekiah—and then Cheftzibah will come, because Cheftzibah is the most important of all. It is written that Cheftzibah will ascend to Mount Nebo, and there, at the peak of the mountain, is the grave of Moses our Teacher; there is a huge rock there. There, Cheftzibah will blow the shofar, and the huge rock will split. Then she will see Moses our Teacher, who will study with her from sunset until the morning. At dawn, he will go with her to the Cave of the Patriarchs. There, all the Patriarchs will blow the shofar, and at that very moment, all of the people of Israel will leave their homes, their dwellings, and board the ships."

"Then all the nations will see that millions of the people of Israel are arriving; everyone will arrive at the shore of Bat Yam, and the nations will see that the Jews are arriving from all over the world. And so, Cheftzibah will blow a tekiah, teruah, tekiah; then Moses will blow, and then the Patriarchs. All the Jews in the diaspora will leave their homes and their businesses and board the ships, arriving within a week from all corners of the world. Then the Arabs will see that the Land of Israel belongs only to the Jews, because today they have already reached 16 mandates; they brainwashed them into thinking that the Land of Israel is only theirs. They say that Lapid and Gantz are right-wing to them; they are already willing to give the Arabs everything. Just as Rachel gave Leah all the signs, they want to give the Arabs everything."

"Because a Jew is all about giving, and they do not know to whom to give. Let's give to an Arab who wants to murder you? Nazis! The whole idea of the ovens was the Mufti's (Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, may his name be blotted out). The Mufti traveled to Berlin, met with Hitler, and told him to make ovens: 'In six years we will burn six million Jews, what is the problem?' They wanted to eliminate the Jewish race; they thought it was possible to eliminate the Jewish race. But, if not for the people of Israel, Hashem would have destroyed the world. Why is the world needed? The nations only eat and drink; they do not pray, they do not put on tefillin. Why are they needed at all?"

"Hashem wants only those who put on tefillin, only those who rise for Shacharit, after that pray Mincha and Maariv, after that there is Chatzot, after that our Rebbe, after that they arrive at 'Shuvu Banim'."

"Everything we came into the world for is in order to pray to Hashem, only prayers. And this is the lobe, that they placed the blood on the lobe of the right ear, that the High Priest must hear, like Rachel. Rachel heard everything; she was the Holy of Holies, she would fly in the air, she knew the Ineffable Name. Like Rebecca, who would fly in the air; she flew from Haran to Mount Moriah, where she met Isaac. They lived in Jerusalem where 'Shuvu Banim' live today. Rebecca would fly in the air; all the Matriarchs would fly in the air. Once, every child knew how to fly in the air; from Tzippori they would fly in the air."

"The woman is holier than the man, more innocent, more believing. All the women of Tzippori would fly in the air; there were 5 million in Tzippori, and a million women would fly in the air. They would pray Shacharit at sunrise (vatikin) at the Western Wall and immediately fly in the air and return to Tzippori. Because women, out of their great innocence and faith, would fly in the air..."

"...they would fly to Jerusalem and return to Tzippori; within two minutes, the children were ready with sandwiches. That is how the children knew that the mothers were praying at the Western Wall, in the Holy Temple; every mother prayed in the Holy Temple. They would dream all day how they would get to pray in the Holy Temple, and they would fly—from Holon, from Bat Yam, they would fly. From all corners of the land, they would fly out of the true longing to pray in the Holy Temple. Women can fly in the air, pray vatikin, and return to prepare the sandwiches for the children; within two minutes, the children were downstairs, washed and dressed. By the time the van arrived to take them, they would have finished the entire Book of Psalms. There is no such thing; one must finish the entire Book of Psalms every day."

"A person comes into the world to finish the Book of Psalms; for this, Hashem created him. Jacob would finish the Book of Psalms every night; he would go to the field, light a candle, and finish the entire Book of Psalms. All of this is learned from the verse: 'And he slaughtered it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot' (Leviticus 8:23). After they received the blood, they would literally fly in the air. Like in the desert; how did they walk in the desert? They did not step on the ground; there was a cloud beneath them. They were so holy and pure that they were forbidden to step on the ground. They had a cloud of glory above and below, and four more on the sides, and another one in front that would straighten the mountains and hills for them."

"It is written that there were snakes on the way, each snake 12 meters long; the snakes would bite them, as it is written in Parashat Chukat that they would say about the manna that it was the 'miserable bread' that they eat and there is no excretion. All of this is learned in Parashat Tzav, which has 91 verses, which is the unification of the Name Havayah and Adnut; every child must see the Havayah and Adnut before his eyes, to see Hashem eye to eye. A person comes into the world to see Hashem eye to eye."