Parshat HaShavua Kedoshim from the Teachings of the Righteous Rav Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Parshat HaShavua 'Kedoshim' - from the tzaddik, foundation of the world, the esteemed Rav Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a: The nation of Israel is a holy nation! The people of Israel seek only to work on kedushah (holiness) and purity! They are not looking to achieve 'prophecies' or 'levels' which is what the nations of the world and people who do not know the ways of serving Hashem seek. The mistake of Balaam and all the nations of the world is that for them, the main thing is to be a great person! An important person! A famous person! But the people of Israel seek only one thing! How to work on kedushah and purity, which is the opposite of all the methods and teachings of the nations of the world, who do not know what kedushah is, they do not recognize the concept of kedushah at all! The holy people of Israel are not satisfied with words, for them, first and foremost, they begin to work on kedushah, on guarding the eyes, on the sanctity of the covenant, and they fight for these things! They fight to be saved from the prohibition of 'and do not follow after your heart and after your eyes' even though it is very difficult and a person sees almost no possibility of being saved from it, but he knows he must fight it, he has no choice, that is why he came into the world... And this is what is written in 'Even Shlema' from the Gaon of Vilna that a person comes into the world only to conquer this thing, only for this he came into the world, not for anything else, all other things come to assist kedushah, people think that kedushah is a side matter, there are 613 mitzvot, and there is also the prohibition of 'and do not follow', says the Rambam 'twenty-four things prevent teshuvah (repentance)... and he does not know that the sight of the eyes is a great sin that causes the body to commit immoral acts as it is said (Numbers 15:39) "and do not follow after your heart and after your eyes" (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah, Chapter 4). The Rambam says that all those who think they can skip the prohibition of 'and do not follow', to put it in parentheses! To put it aside! To say "there are 613 mitzvot... so one mitzvah I am not strict about.... after all, not everyone is meticulous in all the mitzvot? I am meticulous in being a genius, being famous, having a spirit of holiness, but to be meticulous about the prohibition of 'and do not follow' I have no time for it, it is not within my capability, I am a busy person, I drive a car... Indeed, the world is in error! Surely a person can guard his eyes! Even a person who drives can guard his eyes, he can ask Hashem to guard his eyes for him! Because through prayer, everything can be achieved. Avraham Avinu walked throughout the world in kedushah and saw nothing! And likewise, the sons of Yaakov Avinu, they walked from Israel to the land of Egypt, and they did not open their eyes the entire way! The Midrash says that they saw nothing on the way, a person can travel the whole world, with guarding the eyes! Surely it is possible to guard the eyes on the way. The Rambam says 'he who looks at immoral things and says there is nothing wrong with it' a person damages his eyes and says what did I do?! What sin did I commit?! It does not affect me negatively, this is a lie!! It is told about the 'Beit Yisrael' who met with some professors, they asked him, why are the religious so afraid of every sight, and every look, and for us professors, these things do not affect or disturb us at all, he told them - what is this similar to, to a Bedouin and a European, the Bedouin walks all day on stones, on thorns, on brambles, from the day he was born he walks on the sharpest stones, and it does not bother him at all, he feels no pain (due to habit). Whereas a European person who gets a small stone in his shoe, a bit of sand, he can no longer walk! His foot hurts! He suffers terrible pain from it. The analogy is that you professors, are like the Bedouins, you have already defiled yourselves so much, with endless impurities, so a small stone, a small sin, a sight, a forbidden look, no longer affects you! But a person who is all delicacy of the soul, all purity of the soul, every smallest thing, every smallest sin, every forbidden look, every forbidden sight, it bothers him! It hurts him! It pierces him like the stabs of a sword! A person's choice is only with the eyes! The moment a person guards his eyes, he will reach all the levels in the world, he will not speak lashon hara, he will not be strict, he will not hate, he will keep Shabbat, put on tefillin... And not only must one guard the physical eyes, but also the eyes of the intellect must be guarded! A person can guard the physical eyes, but he has endless eyes! Eyes of jealousy, eyes of hatred, eyes of honor, he must guard all types of eyes he has! He must disconnect all his senses from the world! That he should have no eyes for anything in the world, for any subject in the world! But all the senses, and all the desires, should be only for Hashem in His glory and Himself, and when he guards the eyes, (physical eyes and the eyes of the intellect - jealousy, hatred...) then he merits 'Uncover my eyes and I will behold wonders from Your Torah', all the secrets of the Torah, the secrets of creation, and all the wonders in the world are revealed to him.