Shiur to Residents of Netivot at Rav Berland’s Home

The people of Shuvu Banim Netivot merited to hear words of Elokim Chaim from our Rebbe Rav Eliezer Berland shlit”a last night, 8 Tamuz, before the Maariv prayer.  In the shiur, the Rav shlit”a spoke about a number of subjects, some of which are summarized below:

• At the beginning of the shiur, the Rav spoke about On ben Pelet, whose wife gave him wine to drink so that he would sleep. When he asked her what will be with the prayers and Tefilin, she said that a person who disputes the Tzaddik is exempt from Tefilin.  While speaking of this, the Rav said that now we read Tikkun Rachel, and that the entire task of Tikkun Rachel is to cry, because Leah already finished the tikkun.  Through her weeping all the time, as it says, “the eyes of Leah were tender,” she merited to bring Mashiach to the world.
• The tribal prince of Yehuda didn’t want it written about his name “Nasi – prince,” in the same way that Moshe didn’t want to write “Vayikra,” because he said that there was no difference between him and Bil’am. The Rav said that the difference between Bil’am and Moshe Rabbeinu is that Bil’am thinks that he’s Moshe, and Moshe, in his humility, thinks that he’s Bil’am.
• The Rav spoke about the great level of the women who merited to not die in the desert. However, that they were left widows was because they allowed their husbands to go dance at the sin of the golden calf.  On a related subject, the Rav spoke about the great level of holy dancing, bringing the Rambam, who said that “it’s fitting to punish” someone who sees people dancing and doesn’t dance because he thinks that he’s important – then he is a “sinner and a fool.”
• The Rav spoke about the great level of receiving disparagement as is brought in Likutey Moharan 170, that through “tzara – misfortune” is made “tzura – form”; that without receiving disparagement, it’s considered as if a person ate “ever min hachai – a limb from a living animal.” When they throw stones at a person, they’re throwing at him stones from the Garden of Eden.
• Yosef HaTzaddik danced all twelve years that he was in the dungeon, and about David it is written “David danced with all his strength.” Michal screamed at David and told him how much he humiliated himself and the kingship through not taking care that people wouldn’t see his feet.  She said that by her father, Shaul, no one saw his feet and he was the most modest person in the world.  David answered that he did everything for Hashem’s glory, because a person needs to dance only for Hashem’s glory and not so that people will say that he’s a dancer…
• The tribe of Asher merited to awesome holiness in the merit of Serach bat Asher who was in excommunication for 200 years, because they thought that Asher revealed the secret of the selling of Yosef, and they were afraid that if Yaakov knew about the sale, he would bear a grudge on the brothers, and nothing would be left of the brothers. The Rav said that “if the Tzaddik bears a grudge on someone, he doesn’t exist in the world.”  For this reason, Yosef didn’t meet with his father from the time of the sale except twice – the day that Yaakov came to Egypt and the day of Yaakov’s passing; perhaps Yaakov would bear a grudge on the brothers and they would be nullified from the world.

Below are pictures from the shiur: