Within Every Wicked Person Lies the Neshamah of a Tzaddik, the Light of Teshuvah

The holy journey of his honor, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, to Eilat for Tu Bishvat. These are the words that the Rav shlit"a spoke at a home gathering in the city of Eilat.

"Chana said, 'And Chana prayed and said, My heart exults in Hashem, my horn is exalted in Hashem, my mouth is wide over my enemies, because I rejoiced in Your salvation' (I Samuel 2:1). Chana was also the High Priest; Chanukah is 'Chana Kaf-Vav' (Chana 26); Chana possessed the Holy Spirit."

"'And Chana was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard, and Eli thought she was drunk' (ibid. 1:13). Eli sees her lips moving and says to himself, 'A woman wants a child, wants a good husband; let her ask for a blessing, receive good fortune, and go home.' But Chana stood for three hours without moving, 'and Eli thought she was drunk,' he thought, 'Surely she drank some vodka or Arak.' How can she pray like that, for three hours without moving from her place? 'And Chana was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved.'"

"'She reached out her hand to the tent pin, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer, and she struck Sisera, she crushed his head, and she shattered and pierced his temple' (Judges 5:26). Yael crushed the head of Sisera. Within every wicked person is the soul of a tzaddik; there is no wicked person without the soul of a tzaddik, even the greatest wicked person—this is the light of teshuvah (repentance). The soul of the tzaddik that is embedded within him, the soul of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Akiva, Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Yishmael the High Priest. A person comes into the world to be the High Priest; Yael was a woman and became, in herself, the High Priest."

Photo gallery from the holy journey of his honor, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a in Eilat

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Photos courtesy of Shahar Eliyahu