They wanted to kill 100,000 Jews in 5 minutes
The following comments were made by Rabbi Eliezer Berland, shlita, on April 11th, 2021, almost three weeks before the terrible tragedy in Meron that saw 45 holy Jews crushed and asphyxiated to death on L’ag B’omer, 5781.
They show that the Rav foresaw an awful gezeira that had been made upon Am Yisrael – and that there was meant to be a much greater disaster in Meron this year, that was sweetened.
We hope these words will bring some comfort to all the mourners of Zion – and that Hashem should avenge the innocent blood that was shed in Meron.
These comments were translated from the Shivivei Or Newsletter, #208.
====
[The Rav is telling the famous story of the Baal Shem Tov’s trip to Eretz Yisrael with his daughter Odel and his sofer R’ Hirsh. On the way they were captured by cannibals…]
This was about Odel’le, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov, [the grandmother] of Rabbenu haKadosh, because they wanted to eat Odel’le.
To taste her, they wanted ‘shwarma’. This was Seder night, and they wanted ‘shwarma’, melaveh malka. They said that the flesh of Odel’le was the most tasty.
The cannibals (lit: ‘Idamkas’) came, on the way that they were travelling to Eretz Yisrael, and wanted to eat her, to devour her. They said that there is no other meat as tasty as this, in the world.
They were already preparing the fire.
They were rolling up their sleeves, they were sharpening their knives.
==
They tied her on the fire – Odel-le, the holy and pure one, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov.
The Baal Shem Tov said about her….[text in yiddish] “All day she goes around with tremendous desire towards Hashem Yisborach, and she asks herself ‘what else can I do to fulfill the Will of Hashem’.”
From the day she was born, she was a pillar of flame, a pillar of flame.
They saw a pillar of flame upon Odel’le.
Now, they want to eat her, the bandits. They said to make ‘melave malka’ from Odel’le, the holy and the pure one.
They were sharpening their knives, they tied her on the fire. The Baal Shem Tov…
==
They said after this to eat the Baal Shem Tov, with Rabbi Hirsh.
The heard that also he had tasty flesh, and [that there were] others who were tasty. And Hirsh said to the Baal Shem Tov:
Why are you silent? Start to sing a little, to (psalms 137) ‘Who alone performs great miracles, for His kindness is for ever’!
Because on that day, they decided to slaughter all the Jews.
100,000 Jews in five minutes.
==
How long does it take to kill 100,000 Jews?
Each one takes an axe, he can cut off 10 heads, 20 heads. Every household has 20 children, 20 babies. They can take off their heads in 20 seconds.
All the police will go on the microphone at 6 in the morning, on the megaphone – the still didn’t have a microphone, so they used a megaphone.
And they will make an announcement to wipe out all the Jews, all the Jewish nation.
“To be prepared for that day.” – (Esther 3:14)
==
To be prepared.
The goyim are always prepared, they are always ready, they are always in a state of preparedness, ready to ‘leap’…
The goyim are waiting all year to start chopping… To decapitate, to [separate] the Jews from their heads. Only [waiting] for permission from the king.
They are just waiting for the announcement, the megaphone, and then within 10 seconds there will not remain any Jews in all of ‘Istanbul’…
Each neighbor will cut off 10 heads, and then gomarnu, we’re finished. And each one has a number of axes, an axe for each Jew. And so at 6 in the morning, no memory[1] [of the Jews] will remain.
Judenrein, Judenrein, Judenrein.
Everything will all be cleansed of Jews. And Jews will not live in ‘Istanbul’, until the end of their lifetimes.
==
Like in Spain – until today, it’s difficult to live there.
People can’t get permission to live there because of the gezeira of 500 years ago.
So then, the gezeira will occur, and then Jews will no longer live in ‘Istanbul’ forever. It will be Judenrein.
The goyim will be able to live their lives, to earn money. All the money they earn is only from the Jews. The merchandise of the Jews is the best. The tomatoes of the Jews are the best ones, and so this is the way it will be Judenrein.
And so, we will have a city cleansed of Jews, and then we’ll have fun.
And what a good life we will have!
==
This is what they thought in their hearts – and it’s forbidden to reveal it.
Whoever reveals it, oy va voy.
The electric chair in the city square. They would always say that there was one like this who used to tell things to the Jews, always!
And the Jews would then nullify the gezeira within five minutes. They would bring a few coins, they would collect at the wall (Kotel) a few agarot (pennies) and sweeten it all. What’s the problem? A Jew knows how to sweeten everything.
In a thousandth of a second, he can sweeten all of the gezeirot in the world – so [the Turks decided] don’t reveal it, and that’s it!
==
There was a minister who couldn’t accept this decree under any circumstances, and he was a lover of Israel.
I’m not sleeping, and I’m not eating. I can’t fall asleep.
He was tossing from side to side.
It’s already 1 in the morning, and he can’t fall asleep.
He cries out, hatzilu! Save us! Save us! Save us! Save us!
They are going to destroy all of the Jews, and they don’t know anything about it!
==
So he ran to the head of the community, at 1 o’clock in the morning, already everyone is asleep.
In Istanbul, they finished the Seder at 11. They don’t finish the seder at 4 in the morning. 11 o’clock, already everyone is finished, without niggunim, without singing without anything.
They’ve already eaten their kezayit of matzah, the kezayit of maror, the kezayit of Korech – and suddenly, BOOM! CRASH!
What incredible banging on the door! CRASH! BOOM! They are breaking down the door.
==
And the head of the community, he doesn’t understand what’s going on.
The FBI has arrived, the KGB have arrived – only the KGB would make such banging.
He ran
in a panic to open the door in his pyjamas. He sees the most important minister, the most important minister.
He says to him, Listen, in another five minutes no memory will remain from all of Am Yisrael. Run quickly to the King! I’m fleeing from here. Oy va voy, maybe they will come after me! Today everything is recorded!
If they record me, I’m finished! I’m lost! The electric chair!
He called out to the minister, where are you running to?
==
The minister with kol od nafsho bo (all the soul that was left in him) jumped all the stairs in one jump.
The head of the community, did not know what to do. He did not know where to run.
Where can we go? In another five minutes, אhere will be no trace left of all the Jews.
Six in the morning, 9.30 – there won’t remain the trace of even a single Jew.
Run quickly! Run quickly, and save all the Jews! Just run, they need to run!
==
How the head of the community ran!
Wow! Not even the best athlete couldn’t catch up with him. He woke up all the heads of the community. It’s already 3 in the morning. Everyone is running.
They don’t know their right from their left, north or south, east or west. They don’t know where to run to, in which direction, where to run, where to flee to, where to go.
==
Suddenly, they hear a sweet tune (neginah) – a wonderful tune.
Who’s that?
That’s an alien.
They called him Chaizer, someone who comes from Mars – Alien. Apparently, some alien fellow who came from Mars, [singing] ‘Who perform wonders alone, because His kindnesses are forever’.
Let’s continue.
==
The heads of the community say Shuvu Banim, began to sing one passuk (verse) for three hours, ‘Who performs wonders alone, because His kindnesses are forever’.
[On April 11th, the same day this shiur was given over by the Rav, two coachloads of Shuvu Banim went to Meron, on the instructions of a ‘hidden Tzaddik’, to try to sweeten a very harsh decree that this ‘hidden Tzaddik’ could see on the horizon.]
Everybody sing! Shimon is singing with us! [the Rav is singing with them] ‘Who performs wonders alone, because his kindnesses are forever’. There are still another 20 minutes before 7am, ‘to perform wonders alone, because His kindnesses are forever.’
This is how they sang. They began to sing with him because they didn’t know what to do, or where to go to. North, South, East. Maybe, we’ll go to Mars? There, we’ll sweeten the decree.
==
They didn’t know where to go, in which direction.
It’s forbidden to speak of it.
Oy va voy, to anyone who will reveal what I told you. I will hang you in the middle of square in Kikar Zion!
Be warned, to not tell anyone what they are doing!
Where can we go? In another half an hour, they will kill all the Jews.
‘Who performs wonders alone, because His kindnesses are forever.’
==
Balfour sweetened the decrees.
He said to the Jews, the time has come for you to return to Eretz Yisrael. They wanted to kill him on the spot. He wrote this to Rothschild. He wanted to be a member of the English parliament, so today the most important road is Balfour.[2]
There, they do all the demonstrations, there they destroy sifrei Torah. They use the luchot (i.e. Ten Commandments) and the sifrei Torah as armor.
Come, let’s run to Balfour!
Maybe there, Bibi will sweeten something.
==
B’kitzur, one said yallah, everyone go, everyone to the mother of the king! Everyone to the mother of the sultan! Everyone, yallah, run, run!
How they ran! Wow! I remember it, they ran, they stampeded over 10 cats and 5 dogs.
There are indictments, to crush a cat is worse than murdering a human being, today.
B’kitzur, they bang to the gatekeeper, four in the morning. By six – they say there will already be no trace remaining of the Jews.
They didn’t tell about the decree, because we can’t make the announcement five minutes before. They didn’t make the announcement – because people would cancel it. Only at that moment.
And then, they would all come, and gomarnu.
He / it will decapitate 10 people, and slaughter, and within five seconds there will not remain one Jew in ‘Istanbul’.
==
They knock to the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper is at his post, asleep. He drank five bottles of champagne and 10 of whisky and cocktails, and all types of wine in the world, he drank. And now, in the morning, this is the deepest sleep that there is in the world.
You should know that four in the morning, if you want to wake up a person, it’s impossible. Even kicking them doesn’t help. It’s a sleep like nothing in this world.
At four in the morning, a person goes into a deep sleep.
Until he falls asleep, he begins to sleep at 10. After six hours, the body is finally relaxed, and he’s able to enter a deep, deep sleep.
And they kicked the gate. They destroyed the gate.
Wow.
==
The guard wakes up.
What’s going on here?! Why are you breaking down the gate?! I’m going to bring the police on everyone!!
They said, no, no! There is a terrible decree here! Some decree on the Jews! We are the messengers of the Jews! There is a decree to wipe out all of us!
Yes, I heard it. I heard something about this. They said it’s forbidden to reveal it. Yes. So, what do you want to do?
Run to Ima![3] Wake up the Ima of the King! The Sultan! We will come after you!
Yallah – he ran.
==
He jumped 10 stairs in one jump.
Banged on the door. She came out in her pyjamas, wearing her night robe.
What’s going on? Guests? I heard that the head of the community arrived.
Don’t ask! They are going to kill all the Jews!
What?! Bring them into the lobby. I’m coming down.
She slid down all of the 10 steps. She jumped it in one jump.
What’s going on?!
They said there’s a decree!! They are killing the Jews!
They said it’s forbidden for us to reveal it. If we reveal it, they will hang us all in the city square.
==
His mother said don’t worry.
Yallah, sit, drink, here, I’ve prepared some whisky for you. Yallah, drink! It will be OK! Drink, relax, relax already! Yallah, I’m already going with my chariot and my four horses, they travel at 200 km an hour. Wow.
They crushed 20 cats. 100 dogs, on the way.
She has 100 indictments until today. To run over dogs is worse than killing a human today.
She wakes up the king, and shouts at him. She says, wake him up:
What, I’m going to wake him up? Don’t you know how much he drank? 10 champagne and 20 whisky, that night. He’s sleeping the sleep of Taramita. A sleep of half a year. You can kick him, hit him, kick him…
In the end, they gave him such kicks until he woke up.
Yallah! Get up! Wake up the King! Here’s mother, mother has arrived!
The Ima woke him up, with such kicks.
==
She went up 10 floors, she ran 10 floors in 10 seconds.
Wake up the King!
The Sultan came down 10 floors.
Ima, what’s going on?!
Ima’leh, so sweet, my dear mother, what happened? What happened?
Do you want to kill the entire family?! What did you do!! Tell me!! What sin? I saw your father in a dream. Your father – in a dream I saw him.
[Your father] said that there will not remain a memory, by six in the morning, there will not remain a trace of the whole family!
Ima! I fast on Ramadan!
==
B’kitzur, she told him that she dreamt that no trace would be left from the whole family.
Immediately, he went and tore up the decree against the Jews.
He said, Ima, I can sweeten the awful gezeira. I made an awful decree against the Jews. Against the Jews, I passed a gezeira.
Did you go mad!? Look what happened to Pharoah! What happened to Sisera! This one drowned in the Kishon, that one drowned in the Sea of Reeds.
What?! Did you go crazy?! You start up with the Jews?!
Look, Stalin started up with the Jews, and he had a stroke…
====
Anyone with eyes to see, even a little bit, can discern the awful gezeira that was made for Meron this year – and the tremendous miracles that still occurred for Am Yisrael, in the zchut of the 45 holy martyrs, who died al kiddush Hashem, and in the merit of our holy Tzaddikim.
May this lesson from Rav Berland, shlita, be for the ilui neshamot of those who were killed in Meron this year, on L’ag B’omer 5781.
====
[2] This is the name of the road in Jerusalem where all the demonstrations occur against Netanyahu, next to the PM’s official residence.
[3] This could also be a kabbalistic reference.
====
“This was about Odel’le, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov, [the mother]” should be grandmother
Fixed