Return to your wives!
The following is an excerpt from the words of Torah that Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, recently gave over during his visit to Eilat.
One of my security guards in the prison, Yitzhak, only used to talk to me about divrei Torah and didn’t let me sleep at night because he was saying words of Torah 24 hours a day. He asked me: “Explain to me how it’s possible that Yitro, the biggest rasha (evildoer) in the world, the biggest ‘Pope’ or them all, got married with [a descendant] of Amram?”
The holy Zohar says that Yitro was the biggest ‘Pope’ of them all, there was no avoda zara (idol worship) that he hadn’t worshiped. He knew the segula (spiritual attribute) for every form of idol worship, because every idol worship has its own segula. “If you’re sick with this disease, go to this particular avoda zara, if you’re ill with that disease, then go to that avoda zara” – because every form of idol worship has the merit of ‘working’ for one day a year, and he knew which day to tell people to go to them.
A house full of idols
And he took all of his idols and smashed them! He had a house full of idols – 365 idols, one for every day of the year. He took a gigantic bludgeon, a big iron bar, and smashed and shattered all of the idols in front of everyone. He told everyone, ‘Come and see me, the Pope, shatter 365 idols!’
In the morning, they grabbed his daughters and threw them into the Nile, they threw them into a well, into a pit of water. Each pit was 50 metres deep. We’re not talking about some pit in the desert, each pit was 50-100 metres deep. It was impossible to get them out. Then Moshe came along, and said the ineffable name [of Hashem] and rescued them. Because Yitro threw everything into the sea, he shattered [all of the idols].
Yitzhak said to me, what’s the connection between Yitro and Amram? How come Yitro suddenly became related through marriage to Amram, [who was the highest expression of Hashem’s name in the world]? He told me that Yitro got up one day, and broke all 365 idols, plus a few hundred others, he shattered everything in front of everyone.
The daughters of the crazy person
The next day, they caught his daughters and asked them: “Who are you? You’re the daughters of that meshuggeh (crazy person), of that lunatic who broke all the idols!” and threw them in the Nile. And Moshe came and said the ineffable name [and rescued them].
The same thing with Amram. What did Amram do? Everything is written in Rashi…If you read the Rashi, it says that ‘Amram separated from Yocheved.’ What does it mean ‘Amram separated from Yocheved?’ We’re not talking about some Jew in the background, or some Jew in Eilat in some basement or cave. Amram was the Gadol HaDor! Amram who kept the whole Torah! Amram who was going to be the father of Moshe Rabbenu.
When Amram divorced his wife, everyone else also divorced their wives. What is this?! Every male newborn is going to be taken to the Nile, what, we’re going to have children just to throw them into the Nile?!
Pharoah doesn’t exist!
But then, Miriam came, a girl aged 5 ½, she was six years and six months older than Moshe, this is taken from the time that she returned Yocheved [to her husband]. She said, “Abba you’re sinning to Hashem! Pharoah doesn’t exist, he never did and never will exist. There is no Pharoah, there are no terrorists, there is no ISIS, these things don’t exist!
The sitra achra (dark side) doesn’t exist. Pharoah is the dark side, he doesn’t exist! And what’s more, you should know that Pharoah only decrees on olam hazeh (this material world) while, while you are decreeing on olam haba (the world to come)!”
Because the souls need to come [down to this earth]. A person thinks to himself: “I’m not going to bring any more children into the world, and it’ll be easier for me that way.” Those children that should have been born via that person may have been destined to become the Tzaddikim of the generation. Now, maybe they’ll be dropped into some rasha’s (evildoers) lap, who knows where these souls will end up?
And that person will be held responsible for whatever happens to them, because he was meant to bring another 10 souls down, and he didn’t. So now, they got reincarnated who knows where, maybe by non-Jews, maybe they need to convert now, so everything that now happens to them, that person is responsible for it, because he was given the job of bringing down another 10 souls, and he didn’t do it. He abstained.
Children bring their own sustenance with them
He thought maybe he wouldn’t have enough food for them. He didn’t know that the souls bring their own food with them, the children bring their own sustenance with them. The moment a person brings another child into the world, they’ll bring another room along with them. You’ll see how the apartment’s rooms expand with each and every child, and you can sit there comfortably with each child.
Those children that you were meant to bring into the world and that you didn’t, their blood is on your head. And Amram was also held responsible. He was 120 years old, maybe even 130 years old, already, and a little girl aged 5 ½ came and said: “Abba, you’re sinning to Hashem! Pharoah never was and never will be, it’s just our sins, it’s the darkness [of our sins] and what’s more, these souls need to come down to this lowly world, no matter what!”
You can’t prevent future generations from being born
She also told him: “Pharoah only decreed against the males, while you are also decreeing against the females. What’s going on here?!” So, there’ll be a girl. If a man has 10 girls, they’ll have 100 children. What’s the worst that can happen, let’s be sensible! You can’t prevent the future generations from being born.”
And so, Amram got up, after three months where the whole of Am Yisrael had gotten divorced, and all the children were crying, and all the mothers were crying and everyone was crying: “Ima and Abba have split up, who is going to help us to grow up? We’re going to end up being criminals, we’re going to be chilonim (secular Jews)!”
What’s going on here?! And the really crazy thing is that there was a decree that wasn’t even really a decree, it just appeared to be real. And so Amram got up, banged on the table and said:
“Rabotai! (Gentlemen). There’s been a terrible mistake, I erred. For the last three months, we’ve all been divorced, but return to your wives! I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life!”
In the second paragraph it is supposed to say Yitro and not Amram who has worshiped all the idols.
Thanks for helping us to catch that typo, Esther. It’s all fixed now.