What Led the Tzaddik to Take Upon Himself Imprisonment and Suffering? "In Good Deeds, I Know He is Greater Than You!"

The resonating question in the minds of many is - how can it be that such a great tzaddik, a renowned Torah scholar known for his greatness in Torah, a master of prayer and wonder, who according to many testimonies does not fit this generation, is nevertheless sitting behind bars and being pursued in a manner that arouses astonishment?!

The Gemara (Bava Metzia 84b) recounts the difficult story of the acceptance of suffering by the holy Tanna, Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The Talmud there provides a harsh description of how at night Rabbi Elazar would invite the suffering by saying: "My brothers and friends, come," and they would fold and arrange sixty sheets under him to absorb the blood from his wounds, and in the morning, sixty bowls full of blood and pus would be drawn and removed from under his bed.

For generations upon generations, it has been agreed that Rabbi Elazar is among the greatest of the generations of Israel, among the great sages of the Tannaim entrusted with transmitting the Oral Torah tradition through the Mishnah, pillars of the Gemara, and together with the holy group that produced the writings of the holy Zohar, the foundation and root of Kabbalah. Yet, during his lifetime, the people of Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon's generation did not rest easy with his actions, and they disputed and pursued him because of it. Matters reached such a point that when Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon passed away, he said to his wife - "I know that the sages are angry with me and will not deal with me properly." Rabbi Elazar tells his wife terrible things, "I know that the sages are angry with me, because through me, thieves were caught and handed over to the government, and among them were thieves who were relatives of some of the sages (as explained by Rashi there) - and therefore they will not deal with me properly after my death."

The dispute over Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon, was so severe, they did not understand the intent of his actions, how he actually wanted and labored to remove the thorns from the vineyard, to remove the husk and impurity from Israel. How, everything he does is only for Israel, and he is willing through this to take upon himself unbearable suffering in body and soul, until finally, his wife does not understand him and leaves for her father's house, "she rebelled and went to her father's house", as the Gemara states.

For the students of our teacher, the esteemed Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, like tens of thousands of others in the land and the world, the following words may not be a great novelty. However, when the matters come, incidentally, from the mouth of the investigator who investigated Rav Berland throughout the recent period, one must contemplate the matters and extract practical facts from them. In an investigation for 'Yediot', the investigator, who by all accounts is not among the chassidim of Rav Berland, recounted that the day before Rav Berland was supposed to appear before the judge for a decision regarding detention until the end of proceedings, Rav Berland knew about it. The investigator recounts that it was clear to everyone that the judge was going to release Rav Berland, and behold, astonishingly, in the last investigation before the hearing, Rav Berland changed his entire testimony to his detriment. Rav Berland told the investigator about imaginary sums of money that he supposedly transferred to various people. And suddenly, what was almost certain to lead to his release turned into detention until the end of proceedings.

The judge simply read Rav Berland's testimony about himself and said that in such a manner he could not release him. It is not understood - what led the tzaddik to take upon himself imprisonment and suffering?! To understand a bit of Rav Berland's actions, we return to the story of the Gemara (there) about Rabbi Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon.

The Gemara recounts that after the death of Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda the Holy, who is honored as Rabbeinu HaKadosh, and who was the arranger of the Mishnayot and the seal of the Tannaim period, turned to the widow of Rabbi Elazar. Rabbi sent a messenger to the widow and asked her to marry him, but the widow refused, saying: "A vessel that was used for holiness (her deceased husband Rabbi Elazar) should be used for mundane (Rabbi)?" And indeed, in comparison to her deceased husband, Rabbi Elazar's widow refers to Rabbi as 'mundane'. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was not offended by the words; on the contrary, he responds and says, "Indeed, Rabbi Elazar is greater than me in Torah, but also in good deeds, he is greater than me." And here is the surprising answer.

Rabbi Elazar's widow answers: "I did not know that my husband was greater than you in Torah, I learned this only from your testimony, but - in good deeds, I know he is greater than you!"

About which good deeds does Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon's widow testify that her husband is greater in them than Rabbi Yehuda, the prince of Israel?! This is the language of the Gemara: "For he accepted upon himself suffering, I know he is greater than you - for he accepted suffering upon himself!!!

The widow of the holy Tanna Rabbi Elazar, who in her life found it difficult with her husband's acceptance of suffering, understood after his death that her husband's good deeds, his acceptance of suffering - brought him to such a high level with which he could cut the thorns and sweeten suffering from all of Israel. As brought in Midrash Kohelet Rabbah (11), Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon's widow said to Rabbi, "When my husband, Rabbi Elazar, would invite his suffering every night, he would say, all the sufferings of Israel should come upon me."

The commentators of the Talmud grapple with the question: "What is the connection between good deeds and suffering?" In the Path of Hashem by the Ramchal, it is explained that the tzaddik atones for his generation through the suffering that comes upon him, as we brought above from Midrash Kohelet Rabbah. In fact, the great reason the tzaddik takes upon himself the suffering is to atone for Israel - and these are the best deeds that can be, this is the most important work before Hashem, that even Rabbeinu HaKadosh, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, could not equal him in them.