The shiur which our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a gave over last night after Ma’ariv, Wednesday night – 5 Nisan 5782
“Today, we read Elitzur ben Shede’ur, that everyone needs to enter the tzur (rock): ‘stand on top of the rock,’ the cleft of the rock, because now we are travelling across the Sambatyon [the legendary river where it’s said that the ten lost tribes of Israel were exiled to the other side]. In another ten minutes, a hundred buses are leaving, each bus a hundred men.
“Because ‘may Reuven live and not die.’ Reuven crossed the Sambatyon. Somehow made the calves, our friend Yaravam made the calves. Because his father was Sheva ben Bichri, and he saw fire. The Gemara in Sanhedrin says that he suddenly saw fire., he saw fire. He understand that this is such holy fire, fire [that’s] holy of holies. Then he went and made a rebellion against David. He said ‘the fire goes with me, surrounds me.’ And this wasn’t him – this was Yaravam ben Nevat. Sheva ben Bichri, this is an incarnation of Yaravam ben Nevat, who saw and didn’t see that he saw — saw fire and didn’t understand what he sees.
“You see fire like Rabbi Yehonatan ben Uziel, see fire, fire. Suddenly all the birds are burned, all the trees are burned. All the trees became roasted on fire. He would make a barbecue, Yehonatan ben Uziel, all the trees, all the birds. He would make everything barbecued.
“After this, there was a brit. There was a brit, by Avuya there was a brit.
“So now there was an argument how to maintain the kollel at King David, and the kollel here. So they were sick of it. They fled. They went down to the basement. Suddenly – boom – a fire went out. What a fire! What conflagration! And ‘everyone will bewail the conflagration that Hashem ignited.’ There has never been such a conflagration in the world. The entire house went up in flames. They brought planes from Syria, from Greece to put it out. They already acquired a Supertanker. A Supertanker is eighty tons. Every five minutes, eighty tons of water. This doesn’t work, doesn’t work, doesn’t work.
“What did Avuya do? He wore asbestos clothes. This is fire-resistant clothes. The firemen go with asbestos clothes, against the fire. He goes into the fire, goes down 150 stairs, goes into the fire, goes down, goes down, goes down. Reaches the basement. He sees the fire come out of the basement. Bang… he gives a kick to the basement door. The door opens. What does he see? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua.
The miracle of Shabbat HaGadol
“We are learning now the weekly parasha – Metzora. Shabbat HaGadol, that ‘you shall take for yourselves on the tenth of the month.’ Because the miracle was on Shabbat HaGadol. It’s written in the Tur that the miracle of Shabbat HaGadol was greater than the miracle of the exodus from Egypt, because there, everyone died. Therefore, suddenly everyone died. Plague of the firstborn – the firstborn went and said to Pharaoh: ‘What are you? What’s going on here? We already received nine; we don’t have strength for another one. How much strength do you think there is?’ Anyways, Shuvu Banim can take more blows… Then they said, ‘There’s no strength, we don’t have the strength..’
“He says; ‘No! Nothing matters to me! No Jew is leaving here! I’m telling you – I swear on my crown! No Jew will dare to leave here!’ Then plagues started to happen, destruction. Twice as many firstborn died then those who died in the plague of the firstborn. ‘To strike Egypt in its firstborn’ – double. This is Shabbat HaGadol, which will be in another two days. Shabbat HaGadol will be in two more days.”
Yahrzeit of the Rebbe of Apta
“Today is the yahrzeit of the Apta Rav. This is greater than Yom Kippur. It’s possible to accomplish everything today. Today, everyone is traveling to Uman, that not one should dare to stay here. You don’t need passports, don’t need anything. The Ukrainians are happy that they’re coming. Strengthening them, praying for them that there will be peace. Why did you come? Pray that there will be peace. All the time, they asked us, ‘Why did you come?’ Pray that there will be peace. They want peace; in Russian this is mira, mira. Everything is Mira Avenue. There is Mir Avenue. All of this is mira, mira, mira. Anyone who has a daughter, that he should call her Mira. Then bezrat Hashem, now we are still in mira.
“Then suddenly, they see that fire comes out, and they don’t know what to do with the fire. They don’t know, every place fire breaks out, and more fire, and more…more fire, more fire, more fire. This is Elitzur ben Shede’ur, that he enters the cleft of the rock, and from there, ascends in a chariot of fire and on horses of fire.”
(The shiur begins in Hebrew at the 29:50 mark)
