We should run after the Rav – the Admor of Berdichev
Rav Aharon Boymil, shlita, the Admor of Berdichev in Givat Yaakov, Jerusalem, recently gave a fiery interview to the Breslov International hotline. Here, we bring a translation of his words:
“The gaon and tzaddik Rav Berland, shlita, should have many good, long days and years, in the zchut (merit) of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak ben Sarah Sasha (Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev), the defender of Israel,” begins Rav Boymil, the Berdichever Admor.
EVEN HIS STUDENTS ARE REBBES
“This is the zchut of Shuvu Banim, that the students of Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, merit to be admorim and rabbis in their own right – but we’re still just the students of the Rav.
“I had the privilege of attending the wedding made by my dear friend, Rav Benny Machlav, and I was so happy to remember how I said three years ago that Moranu Rav Berland would be dancing with us again, at weddings and smachot (happy occasions). Rav Yaakov Moshe Salmanovitch, from Bnei Brak, said to me: ‘Rav Boymil, your blessing has been fulfilled!’
“So, I had the privilege of being at the Machlav wedding, and what happiness there was there, what purity, it was truly reminiscent of the Temple at the height of its splendor. To see all those sweet children with their curly payot (side curls) and white kippas. We should all merit to nullify our egos, [to follow] Moranu Rav Berland, shlita.
IT’S A ZCHUT TO BE CLOSE TO THE TZADDIK
“At the wedding, the groom, Beni Machlav introduced me to Moranu HaRav, and said: ‘Here’s Aharon Boymil, the Admor of Berdichev.’ The Rav said to me, ‘Give me a blessing!’ I responded, “HaRav, it’s you who needs to bless me! You are the defender of Israel, you are the Moshe Rabbenu of this generation.’
“Rav Berland was so happy at the wedding. He kissed me and danced with me. Baruch Hashem, that I merited to come so close to the Tzaddik.”
Rav Boymil continues:
“People think that the Rebbe of Berdichev, and the Baal Shem Tov, and Rebbe Nachman of Breslov only lived 200 years ago, but really, Rabbenu is still with us today, and so is the BESHT, and Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev. All these defenders of Israel are still with us, in our generation. We still need Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev today, not just 200 years ago.
RUN AFTER THE RAV!
“Hashem should save and rescue us, it had been a year, already, and I hadn’t managed to come to Moranu Rav Berland, shlita. At the wedding, I said to myself, “How many diamonds, how many days of Torah and tefilla with the Tzaddik I’ve missed out on.’ This pained me, so I said to myself, ‘If I would go to Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, he would tell me: ‘Run after Rav Berland! Run after him!’
TURNING TO WATER
“Today, because I’m an Admor, I have free access to all the big Admorim in Israel, and all over the world, and I can enter freely to see the Gadolei Israel (rabbinic leaders of Israel). But after I came to see Moranu Rav Berland, I melted. I spend a lot of time with the biggest tzaddikim in the world…but after I was with Rav Berland, I melted, I totally turned to water.
“I said to myself, that I wanted to throw all the appearance [of being an Admor] off, and to just be a simple follower of the Rav.
Just to wear the simple hat of a Breslover, some old gartel, and to leave everything and just be a talmid of Rav Berland for 24 hours a day.
PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT A TZADDIK WE HAVE, IN THIS GENERATION
“Today, I’m giving over shiurim in yeshivas and kollels all over Israel. I tell them stories about Moranu Rav Berland. People start going crazy, when they begin to understand who this tzaddik really is, that we have in our generation. Berdichev has synagogues and yeshivas all over the place, including Bnei Brak, Tsfat and in Givat Zev, Jerusalem.”
Rav Boymil continues:
“The kabbalists comment on the saying: “משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה” (‘when Adar begins, happiness multiplies’), that ‘happiness multiplies’ because in Adar, we immediately see the yeshua (salvation). Throughout the whole year, a person has to work, and has to do things, but in Adar, in a single second, ‘we give to every beggar’.
ADAR = HUGE, HAPPY BOUNTY
“[In Adar if] A person prays, and he says, ‘Ribonu shel Olam, Master of the world, help me! I need this thing and that thing’ – he’ll receive it immediately, and then he’ll be full of joy. Moranu Rav Berland always says: “ADaR is the letters of Revavot Alfei Dollarim – tens of thousands of dollars. That Hashem is sending down to every single one of Am Yisrael shefa (bounty), blessing and huge wealth – happily.
“We should merit to welcome Moshiach Tzidkaynu, together with the Rav, who will stand at the head of the Jewish people.”
You can hear Rav Boymil’s words in the original Hebrew, below:
