Presented here is a transcript of part of the shiur of our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a, which was given over in the evening, after Sefirat HaOmer and the Ma’ariv prayer with the community:
Now is Netzach she’be Tiferet. All Wednesday is the sefirah (Divine emanation) of Netzach. Next week will already be Netzach she’be Netzach – 10 Iyar, will be the middle point, the 25th day of the Omer – this will be the middle point.
And Yael and Devorah – it’s written both Yael and Devorah. It’s written in Megilah Amukot 87, [that they] were from Netzach she’be Tiferet. There are 49 sefirot, and each person is connected to some sefirah. Yael and Devorah were both Netzach she’be Tiferet. Therefore, Devorah says, “your Tiferet (glory/beauty) will not be on the way” (Judges 4:9) – because the moment that the Tzaddik says a word, immediately it’s necessary to run and fulfill it.
Barak hesitated. He was a hesitant person. He was a pondering person (MiTLaBeT). Why does he ponder? Because he is prominent (MiTBaLeT). Whoever is prominent, then he ponders. He was a hesitator. He said, “I can’t go.” “If you go with me, I’ll go; if you don’t go with me, I won’t” (ibid 8). He said, “You lost. Now you lost. He told you to go – go! What are you doing with me – schemes? Conditions?… He told you to go – you needed at that moment to go. You will have complete victory – over Sisra and everyone!
Because from the heavens the stars waged war from their orbits (ibid. 5:20). Also the stars came to wage war. The moment that the Tzaddik arrives, even the stars come down! The stars come to wage war for his sake! All the stars came down from the heavens to wage war along with Devorah. [If] one star didn’t come down, it would become a black star. There are black stars. Whoever learned a little astronomy – then there are black stars which swallow up the light. This is all a punishment that they didn’t come to help Devorah. The moment that they didn’t come to help Devorah, Hashem turned them from shining stars into dark stars, because whoever doesn’t come to help the Tzaddik will be dark! All of his light becomes dark!
shiur begins at timecode 2:15:33
Therefore, only Yael merited to stab Sisra, because she knew that [the soul of] Rabbi Akiva was in ibur [spiritually concealed with]in his temple. Rabbi Akiva was in ibur in Sisra’s temple, that he was there – like Og, the King of the Bashan. BaShaN is Sh’imon b’en N’atanel – the student of Rabbi Yochanan [ben Zacai], buried in Tiveria. And he [Shimon ben Natanel] was in the ankle [of Og]. Therefore, Moshe struck the ankle.
In every wicked person, there is some Tzaddik who is in ibur in him. If he returns in teshuva [repentance—returning to Torah], then this Tzaddik is revealed. [If] Sisra had done teshuva – like Lavan, if he had done teshuva he would have been the supernal “whiteness” from the world of Atzilut [the highest of the four spiritual worlds]. The same thing like Esav, if he had done teshuva, he would have… it’s written in Heichal HaBracha that he was a thousand times Yaakov. The wicked person has greater powers. The wicked person has in him… Rabbeinu says in [Likutey Moharan] Torah 17, that he has the good suppressed within him, the hidden good. The more wicked is a person… Why is he wicked? Because he overcomes the good within him. Why does he become wicked? Because the good is raging within him all the time – “The wicked are like the driven sea” (Yeshayahu 57:20). The good rages. The good wants to come out from potential to actualization, and he doesn’t allow it to. Then he becomes all the more wicked, and more wicked, and more wicked. So however more he is wicked, this only shows how much good he has within him. In a second, they return him in teshuva. The Rebbe says that this is like a volcanic mountain – Torah 9, section 2. A person is like a volcanic mountain, that when he explodes, everything explodes – suddenly the lava comes out, all the good comes out! The more wicked he is, the more good comes out!
This is what Devorah the prophetess did, that she returned the entire generation in teshuva – “B’phroa pra’ot” [when vengeances are inflicted] (Shoftim 5:2), because they already had stopped [brit] mila. Then Devorah returned them to mila. So now [that] we returned to mila – it’s possible to win over the entire world. The moment that a person “B’phroa pra’ot [an allusion to brit mila] in Israel, and the people dedicates itself,” then we win over the entire world, and Mashiach ben David will come speedily in our days, Amen!
