When a Person is Humiliated, Even if He Was the Greatest Tzaddik

Words of His Holiness, the Gaon HaTzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, in a lesson delivered on Motzaei Shabbat Noach 5779 in Bnei Brak.

Rav Berland shlit"a was asked whether to divorce and replied, "It is forbidden for a man to divorce his wife; it is like destroying the Holy Temple. We request that no one here gets divorced." Afterwards, the Rav continued and said:

"We learned in the Daf Yomi that the whole world converted, all of Egypt, because Amram did not convert the Egyptians. The Gemara in Menachot relates that Chonyo built a replica of the Holy Temple in Alexandria. He was the son of Shimon HaTzaddik, and when his father passed away, he said that the High Priesthood would be inherited by Chonyo, who was a great tzaddik. He had such great guarding of his eyes that he did not even see how the High Priest dressed. And indeed, people ask, how can one take for the High Priesthood someone who does not even know how the High Priest dresses? But, in truth, Chonyo was unfortunate because everyone wanted to kill him, so he fled and established a temple for idol worship. Everything was against the Halacha: 'Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see. But in the place which Hashem shall choose' (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). A person is humiliated, insulted; it is possible that he was the greatest tzaddik, but in the end, he creates a house for idol worship."

"In more than 12 places in the Torah, it is written that it is forbidden to offer burnt offerings outside the Holy Temple, yet not even once is it written where the Holy Temple will be. There are two reasons for this. The first is because the nations of the world would have immediately established all the idol worships of the world there. And the second reason is that all the tribes received their portion in the Land by lot, but if Jerusalem had fallen by lot into the portion of a specific tribe, all the tribes would not have accepted the words of prophecy. They would have said, 'What is this about words of prophecy? It is not in heaven,' but Shmuel taught David that the Temple would be built in Jerusalem."

"Chonyo built the Holy Temple in Alexandria because he found a verse stating that there would be five cities in Egypt that would all convert. And this Holy Temple was 'real,' yet it was against the Halacha. Therefore, whoever vowed to offer a sacrifice there is obligated to offer it, but it is considered 'slaughtering outside [the Temple].'"