A Lesson for the Shaarei Hora'ah Kollel at the Residence of the Gaon and Tzaddik

On Monday, the eve of the 3rd of MarCheshvan, a lesson was held at the residence of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days) for the young avreichim (married Torah students) of the Shaarei Hora'ah Kollel (institute for advanced Torah study). Before you is a summary of the lesson:

The Rav shlit"a began the lesson by strengthening the study of Gemara (Talmud) with its commentaries. At first, he spoke about the matters of Shmitas Kesafim (the cancellation of debts in the sabbatical year), and the Rav added that a person must know that if the Torah tells him to waive a debt, it means he will only end up having a million times more. Afterward, he spoke about the immense size of the fruits of Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), saying that a single grape would be the size of a ship, etc., and he cited the Gemara in Ketubot where Rabbi Shimon ben Levi saw the clusters of grapes. He also mentioned the virtue of Zevulun, who would travel throughout the world selling the fruits of Eretz Yisrael. People would ask him, "How do you have such fruits?" and he would inform the whole world, "Nations shall be called to the mountain" (Deuteronomy 33:19)—meaning that the People of Israel study Torah, and from this, the good fruits grow. Later in the lesson, he dealt with the dispute between the Rambam (Maimonides) and the Ramban (Nachmanides) regarding why the people of Shechem were liable for the death penalty.

Also during the lesson, the Rav offered encouragement from the Zmiros Shabbos (Sabbath songs) and spoke about Eliezer, who went to find a shidduch (marriage match) for Yitzchak—namely, Rivka. He discussed the difficulties Eliezer faced, noting that he saw "Ve-khadah Al Shikhmah" (and her pitcher was on her shoulder), the initials of which spell "Esav" (Ayin-Shin-Vav), indicating she saw that Esav was destined to descend from her. Furthermore, he did not understand how Avraham could send him to take a wife from the most impure place in the world, where there wasn't a single kosher (virtuous) girl in the entire city. He explained that the sign was that she was a Ba'alas Chesed (a woman of loving-kindness), for if someone is not holy, their acts of kindness are corrupted. Also, he knew she was modest because she would serve from the side. He further said that Eliezer knew she was maskeles (wise and discerning), as it is written, "And from Hashem comes a discerning wife," because she said, "And I will also draw water (ash'av) for your camels," rather than "I will give them to drink" (ashkeh). She saw that the camels had drunk an hour or three hours prior because he had experienced Kfitzas HaDerech (a miraculous shortening of the journey), and therefore there was no need to actually give them water to drink at that moment.

During his words, he brought the story of the woman from Tzfat who merited immense abundance in the merit of giving her last piece of bread to the Tzaddik, and until today, this abundance continues.

Also during his talk, the Rav cited the Tanya, stating that when a person performs teshuvah (repentance), he merits in one hour more than what Avraham Avinu (our forefather Abraham) and King David merited. Regarding this, he brought the words of Rabbeinu HaKadosh (Rebbe Nachman) that in the future to come, a person who washes his hands [for a meal] will be considered as important as the Baal Shem Tov.