How Rabbi Eliezer Berland Shlit”a Worked to Mitigate the Iranian Attack

ON LAST FRIDAY NIGHT, WHILE THE ENTIRE STATE OF ISRAEL WAS BESIEGED IN AN UNPRECEDENTED MISSILE ATTACK FROM IRAN, AIR RAID SIRENS BLARED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, DEFENSE SYSTEMS WERE SET OFF, AND ALL AM YISRAEL WERE IN A STATE OF TENSION AND WORRY. IN THE SHUVU BANIM COMMUNITY IN JERUSALEM, A WONDROUS AND MAJESTIC PHENOMENON WAS WITNESSED: MOREINU HARAV ELIEZER BERLAND SHLIT”A STOOD IN HIS USUAL PLACE – HIS HOLY BALCONY ABOVE THE SYNAGOGUE COURTYARD – TOGETHER WITH HUNDREDS OF HIS CHASIDIM, AND PRAYED THE MAARIV PRAYER OF SHABBAT EVENING WITH MELODY AND PLEASANTNESS, WITH UNWAVERING FAITH, ENTIRELY UNFAZED BY THE ATTACK, AND WITH NOT THE SLIGHTEST HINT OF FEAR IN THE AIR. Moreinu HaRav shlit”a continued with his prayer in strength and joy, intensifying his singing and dancing, as is his holy custom every Shabbat.  Precisely at the height of tension, as sirens sounded in Jerusalem and missiles began flying across the city’s skies, Moreinu HaRav shlit”a remained suspended on the singing of “V’Shamru Bnei Yisrael Et HaShabbat – The children of Israel shall guard the Shabbat” – drawing it out with a thundering voice and a burning heart, together with the holy congregation below in the courtyard, who joined him in song and devekut (clinging to the Creator). Only after ten minutes of fiery singing and dancing, when the missile attack on the Holy Land – and on Jerusalem in particular – had ended, did Moreinu HaRav shlit”a conclude the singing and continue the prayer as usual.  The general feeling among those gathered during those moments of singing and dancing was that Moreinu HaRav shlit”a was building a mighty spiritual shield over the Holy City. Also later on, when a second wave of attacks was heard, Moreinu HaRav shlit”a showed the same reaction – continuing the Shabbat songs, singing “Oz V’Hadar Levusha,” dancing and raising his hands in holy movements, invoking salvation and mercy for all Am Yisrael.  It was apparent to everyone throughout the entire Shabbat, even during the repeated missile attacks, that everything in the home of Moreinu HaRav shlit”a continued as usual, without any changes or doubts.  On the contrary – the light, singing, and prayer only grew stronger, with the clear awareness that everything is through Divine providence, and whoever acts through faith can bring about a real change in decrees, in the aspect of, “The Tzaddik decrees, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu fulfills.” There is no doubt that it was specifically through the singing and dancing, through the devekut and holy movements, that Moreinu HaRav shlit”a acted so that no serious harm would take place in Jerusalem and in Land of Israel as a whole.  And indeed, in spite of the many hundreds of missiles fired by Iran, almost no major impacts were registered. This awesome sight on Shabbat evening adds to the long list of sublime and exalted moments in which the miraculous conduct of Moreinu HaRav shlit”a, who like a pillar of fire going before the camp, works salvations in the midst of the Land, at every single moment, especially during such fateful hours as these, when he carries on his shoulders the entire Jewish people and works to sweeten the harsh judgments through dancing and clapping.