The Daily Strengthening from our teacher, the holy Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a — “We Bring Down the Head of the Snake through Chatzos”

Monday, 21 Sivan 5782 — “We Must Submit to Hashem Without Conditions”

[The words of Rabbi Berland shlit"a refer to the Gemara (Kiddushin 29b). Rav Acha was extremely strict with himself regarding his learning schedule, and whatever he did not manage to learn by day, he learned at night. The Gemara (ibid.) relates a miracle that happened when he sent his son, Rav Yaakov, to learn with Abaye. After the son did not fulfill his father’s expectations, Rav Acha went to learn in his place. In Abaye’s city there was a Beis Midrash in which a destructive spirit dwelled. If two people came there—even during the day—it would harm them. This is very puzzling, because destructive spirits usually attack only at night, and they do not attack two people, only individuals—certainly not Torah scholars. Since Abaye knew that Rav Acha was experienced in miracles, he instructed the locals not to provide him lodging. Rav Acha was forced to sleep in that Beis Midrash. The harmful force rose against him and appeared to him as a snake with seven heads. Rav Acha prayed (Chatzos, as the Rav shlit"a explains), and with every bow he made in his prayer, one of the heads of the harmful force fell.]

These are his holy words:

Now they are speaking about Abaye’s yeshivah. Abaye had a huge yeshivah with a thousand students, and every morning, immediately after Vasikin, a snake would come there and chase everyone away.

The students would see an enormous snake—12 meters long. It could swallow 100 people, because 12 meters can swallow 100 people—Hashem have mercy.

The snake came every morning, and every morning the students ran. Everyone fled, and they didn’t come back until they found them in the afternoon.

Abaye didn’t know what to do. They told him that Rav Acha bar Yaakov would arrive. Rav Yaakov was a boy who wasn’t so sharp; he liked to play. So Rav Acha told him, “Go hide there. Support the household, and I will go learn. You go every night to Nechama Bakery—what is this? This way you won’t advance at all!”

He didn’t advance. Rav Yaakov was there (in Abaye’s yeshivah) for half a year—from 1 Cheshvan until 1 Nissan—and he didn’t move forward even a millimeter.

Rav Acha said to him, “I will go learn in Abaye’s yeshivah in your place.” But how would he go—on a donkey? Rav Acha, poor man, ended up sleeping on the benches in the yeshivah, on the tables. He had no bed, he had nothing.

Suddenly, at 12 at night, his clock rang. He had a clock like that, that rang at 12. He got up for Chatzos at 12, and he sees a snake with seven heads—an enormous snake, 12 meters long. It would swallow him—seven times it would swallow him. Each head would swallow him, and it would swallow more people.

What do you do? Where do you run? Such fear—he didn’t know where to flee.

He began to get up for Chatzos. He began to say Tikkun Chatzos—every moment that he bowed in prayer, a head fell from the snake. He bowed—one head fell. He bowed—one head fell.

Each time, you need to make bows—bows.

Submitting to Hashem Without Conditions

On the 8th of Iyar, the Nazis completed their surrender—an unconditional surrender. The main thing is to submit to Hashem without conditions.

Here we see that a person must submit to Hashem without conditions—without conditions.

You must get up for Chatzos, and submit to Hashem without conditions. If you make conditions, it is already worth nothing—unconditional submission.