On Thursday night, the eve of the 22nd of Tammuz -- the yahrzeit of the head of our community, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Bender zy”a – a gathering of chizzuk and ascent was held in his memory, with the participation of his prime student, Moreinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit”a.

The gathering took place in our Beit Midrash with the participation of hundreds of young men from the “Bnei HaNeurim” youth group. About an hour after the conclusion of Ma’ariv, the gathering opened with soulful songs of arousal for over half an hour. Afterwards, Moreinu HaRav shlit”a began his holy shiur, in which he recounted numerous stories about the wondrous Avodat Hashem of his main rabbi -- Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Bender zy”a, along with many other topics. Here is a summary from the shiur:

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was truly a saraf (angel of fire); he was entirely a fiery flame. R’ Levi Yitzchak would finish all of Shas every two weeks. R’ Levi Yitzchak was considered a “counter‑revolutionary,” and was arrested together with R’ Eliyahu Chaim [Rosen]. That prison was one‑way — there was no way to get out — but R’ Levi Yitzchak was miraculously released on Erev Shabbat Zachor. He was supposed to receive a bullet, and instead he received a passport. They spit on you? Rejoice. Every spit a person receives is another gift. Yuval reincarnated into Iyov (Job) — it’s the same letters; it’s just that the first letter [of Iyov] and last letter [of Yuval] are exchanged in AL-BaM [a cipher similar to the better-known AT-BaSh]. The first ones to be redeemed will be the tribe of Binyamin, because they sacrificed themselves in Yavesh-Gilad to bury the body of Shaul. From Shmuel’s anointing of David: he was called “admoni (ruddy complexioned),” but with beautiful eyes. David called Goliath a dog, because Orpa (his mother) was paired with a dog. All of the Gemara is just stories; one must learn all of Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer and by Rosh Hashanah finish four tractates.