Rav Eliezer Berland shares some of the secrets of Parshat Bo.
“THIS MONTH FOR YOU IS THE HEAD OF ALL MONTHS.”
(Bo chapter 12 verse 2)
From[1] one tiny miniscule speck it is possible to sanctify a person and bring him to his greatest holiness. The secret of “This Month for you all is the head of the months” is that[2] “when the moon is a small sliver in the sky like this; you will see it and you will sanctify it.’”
Any small point and tiny speck “like this; you will see it and you will sanctify it.” It is almost impossible to see this speck at all but already it is possible to sanctify it, “like this; you will see it and you will sanctify it.” If there is still any tiny miniscule Jewish speck within a person the Tzadikim[3] can still bring that holy speck out. Any speck or any spark of Judaism “like this; you will see it and you will sanctify it.” This is the reason that we needed[4] to start the Torah from “This Month for you all is the head of the months.” We need to start the Torah from this point, from the tiniest most miniscule point.
If there remains in a person any speck of Judaism, even if there remains the smallest most miniscule speck in the World, it is possible to bring that person to Judaism and to teach him the whole Torah.
The book of Genesis is complicated to understand, and The Rebbe (Rebbe Nachman of Breslov) says in Torah 12[5] “Where[6] is G-d’s Honor?” That even if a person fell to the most impure places, he fell into the 10 crowns of the evil side, yet if there remains within him any speck, he can call out; “Where Are You G-d!?!? Master of the World Where Are You?”
He is not yelling out like a heretic, rather “Master of the World, where are you? I want to see the Master of the World.” If a person is able to call out and scream, “I want to see the Master of the World! Where is G-d’s glory?” then Hashem (G-d) is able to reveal himself to that person. Therefore, after the Parsha of the Red Heifer comes the Parsha of “The Month[7],” because…What is the Red Heifer? That after a person already was turned into dust and ashes that he is already been completely burned, he has been completely turned into dust and ashes so there is not even a speck left in him only ash, yet this remaining ash has in it the tiniest most miniscule aspect of Judaism and only Moshe Rabeinu (Our Teacher) is able to detect this speck of holiness.
We cannot see any speck of Judaism in a person like this, but the Tzadik like Moshe is able to detect this speck of holiness.
Hashem (G-d) showed Moshe Rabeinu that from this miniscule speck – now – begins one’s revival, one’s rebirth. The Nation of Israel was punished for the generation of the Tower of Bavel and for the generation of the Flood. The Nation of Israel were all reincarnated souls and through the back breaking servitude in Egypt they brought out the sparks that were within Adam HaRishon[8] since there were sparks within him that got lost, and the Nation of Israel were from these sparks, and the Nation of Israel had to bring down the evil forces[9] that were on these sparks.
If the Nation of Israel knew the secret that when, “they groaned[10]” and when “they cried out,[11]” that from one tiny miniscule speck it is possible to sanctify a person and bring him to his greatest holiness, they would have brought the redemption speedily by calling out to Hashem. But they did not know the secret of calling out to Hashem, and when Moshe Rabeinu arrived in Egypt he revealed to them the secret of crying out to Hashem. He placed within them the emunah[12] that from the tiniest most minuscule speck one can be brought to the highest holiness.
A PRAYER[13] FOR REVITALISATION:
I am going to go to the mountains to raise my eyes off to the distance and I will search and request AYEH! Where is Hashem?! Where is the place of Hashem’s glory? Where are the advice and the tactics that will give me the merit to find Hashem and to connect to him? I am looking for Hashem and I am not finding him so please Hashem remove my abundant transgressions from me.
Because of my many transgressions my heart, my mindset, and my brain have become crooked and they have been thrown into places far away from holiness and they have reached revolting places which have confused and torn down my heart! Ribono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe), your greatness is beyond examination, your miracles and wonders have no calculation, please reveal to us in your great wonders the True Tzadik who can purify and cleanse the whole World of its vices[14], the Tzadik that took the Nation of Israel out of the 49 levels of impurity and placed the Nation of Israel into the 49 levels of holiness.
Please bond us to a Tzadik like this, who makes it clear to us that there is always hope and “that despair does not exist in this World at all!” A Tzadik that makes known to us that even I have a channel and a pathway to get to the True Tzadik like the essence of Boaz[15], “And I will pick in the pathways,” meaning I will be ‘In the pathways,’ until I will merit to reveal the pathway of the True Tzadik and the whole healing of my Ruach (middle soul) and my Neshama (higher soul) depends upon finding this pathway.
STAYING CONNECTED TO THE TZADDIK – A TRUE STORY
A couple had been close to Rav Berland Shlit”a for many years and the husband had worked in the Rav’s home for several years. The Rav had said about this couple that the wife has Ruach HaKodesh, a prophetic holy spirit. Eventually this husband and wife moved to the holy city of Tzfas and maintained a close connection with the Rav. However, once the Rav left Eretz Yisrael and spent close to three years outside of Israel this husband and wife began to feel a distance in their connection with the Rav.
One evening during dinner this couple spoke about looking to find a new rabbi to guide them and discussed which rabbis maybe suitable. That evening, the wife had a dream in which the Rav came to visit her and asked, “Why are you not trying to connect with me? Why are you looking for other Tzadikim?” In her dream she replied, “Rav, we love you but it is hard that you are so far away.” The Rav replied, “Why haven’t you been reading the Tefilah (prayer) I wrote you? If you would read the Tefilah I wrote you, you would feel I am close by.” The wife replied, “I am so sorry! I carried that Tefilah with me in my black handbag, and I lost that Tefilah when I lost my black handbag.”
The Rav responded, “That handbag is behind your laundry machine’s back left-hand corner, and the Tefilah is the first outermost zip pocket. Read that Tefilah every day and you will feel that I am close by you at all times!” The dream ended and the wife immediately woke up and jumped out of bed. She ran to her laundry room and moved her laundry machine and found her black handbag by the back left corner and inside was the Tefilah from the Rav!
When her husband awoke the next morning she told him about the dream and showed him the Rav’s Tefilah. Since then they have been reading it every day. To this day they both feel an incredible closeness to the Rav despite any physical distance. [This story I heard from the “husband” of the story himself].
IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN EMUNAH EXCEPT THROUGH THE TRUE TZADIKIM
Reb Nosson[16] explains, “It is impossible to obtain emunah, except through the True Tzadikim which place within us holy emunah. We need to believe in the True Tzadikim and not to move from their words, not to the right and not to the left…Since in every generation there were great and True Tzadikim for example, Misushelach and Noach and Shem and Aever and Hanuch and the like, and if the people of those generations would have believed in the True Tzadikim of their generation they would have merited from those Tzadikim to live with holy emunah and to serve Hashem on the correct path, and they would have been saved from the flood and from the rest of their suffering.”
The Rav said on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vaaerah 5777[17] that “The Tzadik exists and is alive, the Tzadik is with you at all times, [and] the Tzadik is going with you every step of the way.” From this story we learn that through prayer one merits to build this emunah in the Tzadik and specifically emunah to feel that the Tzadik of the generation guides us at all times.
HALACHOT OF THE WEEK
It’s known that after eating meat one needs to wait 6 hours before eating dairy, but do I also need to wait between eating dairy and then meat? Yes and no since it depends on the dairy product one ate. There are three types of dairy products; soft dairy products, milk, and hard cheese. After eating soft dairy products (like yogurt, sour cream, cheese spreads, etc.) one needs to clean his hands and mouth and afterwards it is permissible to eat meat immediately[19]. After drinking milk one must clean his mouth or drink something else and ideally one should bless the after blessing and then it is permissible to eat meat immediately. After eating hard cheese (like Swiss cheese, salted cheese etc.) the custom for Ashkenazi Jews is to wait six hours before eating meat and Sefardi Jews have the custom of waiting one hour. Yet Rav Ovedyah Yosef z”l holds that even with hard cheese one does not need to wait before eating meat.
Is yellow cheese considered a “hard cheese?” Rav Eliashiv z”l holds that after eating yellow cheese one should wait six hours before eating meat. Furthermore, Rav Vosner wrote, “I also hold by the stricter opinion” regarding yellow cheese of waiting six hours. Also the Beth Din Tzedek[20] of Jerusalem the Eida Charaedis wrote[21], “Generally after eating regular yellow cheese one needs to wait six hours before eating meat unless the package does not have the word ‘cheese’ on it.” However, Rav Kotler z”l and Rav Stern z”l each holds that yellow cheese today is not a “hard cheese.”
Dedications for Health and for Haztlacha:
הרב אליעזר בן עטיא והרבנית שליט”א, הרב אלהו בן אדל רות, הרב מיכאל בן אסתר, עזרא בן לאה לוסי ,אסתר רחל בת נורית, מנחם בן אסתר רחל, משה בן אסתר רחל, שרה בת אסתר רחל, יוסף ברוך בן רחל מלכה, רחל מלכה בת שנה טובה, בוריס בן עדינה, יעקוב ישראל בן שרה, יוסף בן רחל
[1] Translated from the Book “Aish Moharan ” Teachings from Rav Berland Shlit”a on the Parsha page 234
[2] רש”י שמות פרק יב פסוק ב ד”ה הזה – נתקשה משה על מולד הלבנה באיזו שיעור תראה ותהיה ראויה לקדש, והראה לו באצבע את הלבנה ברקיע, ואמר לו כזה ראה וקדש.
[3] The righteous ones
[4] רש”י בראשית פרק א פסוק א ד”ה בראשית – אמר רבי יצחק לא היה צריך להתחיל [את] התורה אלא (שמות יב ב) מהחודש הזה לכם, שהיא מצוה ראשונה שנצטוו [בה] ישראל,
[5] לקוטי מוהר”ן ח”ב תורה יב
[6] איה מקום כבודו
[7] This is referring to the 4 Parshas from Shabbos Mevarchim Adar to Shabbos Mevarchim Nisan which are read in the following order: Parshas Shekalim, Parshas Zachor, Parshas Parah (Red Heifer), Parshas HaChodesh (The Month).
[8] Adam – the first man created (אדם)
[9] Klipos
[10] שמות פרק ב פסוק כג – ויהי בימים הרבים ההם וימת מלך מצרים ויאנחו בני ישראל מן העבדה ויזעקו ותעל שועתם אל האלהים מן העבדה:
[11] Ibid (the second bolded word)
[12] לקוטי עצות אמת ואמונה יא
[13] This prayer is from Reb Nosson’s book Likutey Tefilos and Rav Berland’s book Tefilah LiAni
[14] תאוות
[15] רות ב, ב
[16] לקוטי הלכות אורח חיים הלכות פסח הלכה ו סעיף א
[17] A Torah class given by telephone at approximately 9:30 PM Israel time.
[18] ספר הכשרות פרק י סעיפים מז – נ ועיין בהערות שם
[19] There is a custom from the Zohar to wait a half hour after eating soft dairy and to understand more about this custom look at Sefer Hakashrus (the Hebrew version) page רעט sub-point קטו.
[20] The “Badatz” or in Hebrew: בד”ץ – בית דין צדק העדה החרדית ירושלים
[21] מדריך הכשרות לימות השנה לשנת תשע”ו גליון ס”ז עמוד 24 הערה 15
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