"We Were Friends in Heart and Soul": Rabbi Berland and Saba Rabbi Yisroel Dov Odesser zt"l – Recordings, Videos, and Testimonies

This evening, the night of the 18th of Cheshvan 5787, marking thirty-two years since the histalkus (passing away) of the tzaddik Rabbi Yisroel Dov (Ber) Odesser zt"l, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a lit a candle for the elevation of his soul. Alongside it, he lit another candle for the elevation of the soul of Maran the Chazon Ish zt"l, whose yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) falls this week, on the 15th of Cheshvan.

This candle was not lit out of a distant acquaintance. Between the Saba, as Breslov Chassidim called him, and the Rav, there was a close and warm connection for many years, even though the Saba was about fifty years older than him. In honor of the yahrtzeit, we have gathered here everything we have regarding this connection: the Rav's words in original recordings from the archive, videos, the dedication that the Saba wrote to the Rav, and a rare photograph of the Saba himself.

"We Were Friends in Heart and Soul"

When the Rav would arrive in Jerusalem, he would stay at the home of the Saba, and when the Saba would arrive in Bnei Brak, he would stay with the Rav. In his classes over the years, the Rav repeatedly spoke about this connection. During a class for the Shadarim Kollel in Bat Yam, on Monday of the Torah portion of Tazria-Metzora, the 26th of Nissan 5762, he said:

"He was a Jew who would practice Hisbodedus (secluded prayer) 24 hours a day and learn Likutey Halachos 24 hours a day, Likutey Tefilos 24 hours a day, and this is what is needed; we need to continue on his path. And this is what I saw with him; he was at my house for a year and I was at his house for a year, and we were friends in heart and soul." Rabbi Berland shlit"a, Cassette 331, 26th of Nissan 5762.

And already years earlier, on Thursday of the Torah portion of Chukas, the 4th of Tammuz 5756, the Rav described who the Saba truly was:

"I walked with him for years and years, I walked with him hand in hand. He slept at my house and I slept at his house, and he ate at my house and I ate at his house; we were united in heart and soul... the crying all night until the morning, the Chatzos (midnight prayers) with a sea of tears." Rabbi Berland shlit"a, Cassette 60, 4th of Tammuz 5756.

And in a general class on Wednesday of the Torah portion of Matos-Masei, the 23rd of Tammuz 5766:

"Yisroel Ber was a Jew who learned, who sat all day and cried, crying over Likutey Tefilos; he could cry for 6 consecutive hours... I sat beside him for two full years. He would come to me every other Shabbos, and I would travel to him, and together we would wake up for Chatzos... and a Jew who guarded his eyes." Rabbi Berland shlit"a, Cassette 487, 23rd of Tammuz 5766.

The Rav also shared that in his youth, "I would go from elder to elder," visiting the elders of Breslov Chassidim, including Rabbi Yisroel Ber. "There was no elder whose house I did not sleep at, whom I did not learn from; I saw all of their holy customs" (Cassette 411, Motzaei Shevi'i shel Pesach 5764).

"It is a Pity You Did Not Know Yisroel Ber"

On the night of the yahrtzeit of Rebbe Nachman, the eve of the 18th of Tishrei 5757, the Rav told the congregation:

"It is a pity you did not know Yisroel Ber... Yisroel Ber was a complete tzaddik. Yisroel Ber was a Jew from whom one could draw handfuls of his fear of Heaven, of his Chatzos. May his merit protect us; he was truly a righteous Jew." Rabbi Berland shlit"a, Cassette 70, eve of the 18th of Tishrei 5757.

"Yisroel Ber Told Me"

The Rav shared that the Saba passed down to him the tradition he received from the Breslov Chassidim of the previous generation, and particularly stories about his teacher, Rabbi Yisroel Karduner zt"l—things that only he knew. Many of these are repeated in the Rav's classes, always accompanied by the words, "Yisroel Ber told me." For example, on the night of Purim 5766: "When Yisroel Karduner would walk to Meron for two hours and return, he would finish Tractate Beitzah; Yisroel Ber told me this" (Cassette 471). And on the night of the Saba's yahrtzeit, the eve of the 18th of Cheshvan 5760, the Rav recounted how Rabbi Yisroel Karduner and the Saba walked from settlement to settlement in the rain and floods to collect charity, and how their prayer with melodies drew the entire settlement to them: "Yisroel Ber told me this about Yisroel Karduner" (Cassette 216).

"My Dear Friend"

A rare testimony to the connection between them is the dedication that the Saba (the grandfather, referring to Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser) wrote to the Rav, on the book Toros U'Tefillos that the Saba printed. It reads as follows:

Dedicated to the Chassidic Rabbi, my dear friend Rabbi Eliezer Berland, may Hashem protect and sustain him, from Yisroel Dov Odesser, Motzaei Shabbos Kodesh (the conclusion of the holy Shabbos), 3 Sivan 5723.

The dedication was preserved courtesy of the Chassid Shlomo Weizman, in the Shuvu Banim archives.

"He has the power to bring the world back in teshuvah (repentance)"

Rabbi Aharon Berlin related that he would travel with the Rav many times to the Western Wall, and on the way, they would stop to visit the Saba at his home in Givat Shaul. During one of the visits, they spoke about the baalei teshuvah (returnees to the faith) who were beginning to draw close at the time, and the Saba told him with enthusiasm:

"Rabbi Berland's way of drawing people close is good; Rabbi Berland has the power to bring the world back in teshuvah (repentance)." — Saba Rabbi Yisroel Dov Odesser zt"l, as related by Rabbi Aharon Berlin.

Rabbi Aharon told the Saba that the day before the Six-Day War broke out, the Rav said there were harsh judgments, and he danced in the Breslov yeshiva for an entire day with mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice), in accordance with the words of Rebbe Nachman that in order to subdue a nation that oppresses Israel, one must sing their melody. "And this was a wonder in our eyes," he related, "how the Rav knew that a war was about to break out." The Saba was not surprised:

"I already told you a long time ago that his eyes truly see."

The interview with Rabbi Aharon Berlin, along with the Rav's words about the Saba, can be heard in the video "The Saba on the Rav and the Rav on the Saba":

"For He who has compassion on them will guide them"

The Rav has told the story of the Saba drawing close to Breslov again and again in his classes over the years: in a class for the "Shaarei Torah" Yeshiva Gedolah at the Rav's home, to the residents of Safed, to the students of the "Ahavas Moshe" yeshiva, to the residents of Elad, and more. In a class he delivered on Motzaei Shabbos Parashas Bo 5761, the Rav described the young man in Tiberias who found a book without a cover in the genizah (repository for sacred texts), Hishtapchus HaNefesh (Outpouring of the Soul), and from the moment he began to study it, his heart felt good. An older boy snatched the book from him and tore it up, leaving only a few pages in his hand. With these pages, he would go out to the field every night and cry: "Send me a Breslov Chassid!"

On a stormy winter night in the month of Teves, during the days of the First World War, a knock was heard at the door. It was Rabbi Yisroel Karduner, wet to the bone, asking for a cup of tea and a slice of bread. "Such a netilas yadayim (washing of the hands) I had never heard," the Saba related, "such a HaMotzi (blessing over bread) I had never heard." When the guest got up to leave, the young man ran after him and stopped him under the doorframe: "I prayed for a Breslov Chassid, and I am afraid you will vanish into thin air on me." The two found a flooded synagogue on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, climbed onto a bench and a table, lit a candle, and learned the Torah lesson "For He who has compassion on them will guide them" together until the morning. In the words of the Rav:

"That Rebbe Nachman says that the tzaddik is the true compassionate one, that the entire matter is to believe in the true tzaddik!" — From a class by the Rav shlit"a.

The entire story, in the Rav's own voice and with subtitles, can be seen in the video "The Story of Rabbi Odesser Drawing Close to Breslov and to R' Yisroel Karduner" from the Daily Chizuk (Strengthening) series:

"All the Gehennom (Hell) Turned into Gan Eden (Paradise)"

The Rav describes the Saba's life as a life of suffering: "He endured humiliations, bloodshed (public shaming), persecutions, poverty and destitution, and physical afflictions." The Rav also related in a class honoring the yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of Rabbi Nosson that in Tiberias there was only one person who supported him and brought him into his home—Rabbi Asher Zev, the Rabbi of Tiberias, who would not go to eat without him: "Yisroel Ber will eat with me." The Rav further related, having heard it from the Saba himself, that the Rosh Yeshiva where he studied in Tiberias called for him before his passing to ask for his forgiveness for everything: "Yisroel Ber told me this himself" (Tape 260, 24 Av 5760). And what did the Saba say in his old age, as quoted by the Rav:

"Today I see that all the darkness, and all the bitterness, and all the Gehennom (Hell) that I went through in my youth, all this darkness, has today turned into the great light... The bitterness I suffered then has today turned into such sweetness, and all the Gehennom I went through has turned into such a Gan Eden (Paradise), that my only regret is why I didn't suffer more." — From the words of the Rav shlit"a.

A rare photograph: The Saba at the tziyun (gravesite) of Rabbi Nosson.

Before you is a rare archival video of Saba Rabbi Yisroel Dov Odesser zt"l, in his old age, at the tziyun (gravesite) of Rebbe Nosson of Breslov, surrounded by chassidim:

The Full Recordings

For those who wish to hear the words in their entirety, here are the two full recordings of the classes from which the audio clips above were taken:

Tonight's Candle

Thirty-two years after his histalkus (passing away), the Rav stood tonight and lit a candle for the elevation of the soul of his elderly friend, who said about him decades ago that he has the power to bring the world back in teshuvah (repentance). May the merit of the tzaddik Rabbi Yisroel Dov Odesser zt"l protect us and all of Israel, Amen.