"I Will Betroth You to Me Forever" • The Joy of the Engagement of the

Last Monday night, the eve of the 9th of Adar II, the engagement (erusin) celebration of the great-granddaughter of our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, took place in his holy residence. She is the daughter of his eldest grandson, the Chassid Rabbi Nachman Zucker shlit"a, son-in-law of the Mashpia (spiritual mentor), the Chassid Rabbi Yehoshua Dov Rubinstein shlit"a. The groom is the excellent young man Nachman, may his light shine, son of the Chassid Rabbi Moshe Galinsky shlit"a, one of the veteran students of the Rav shlit"a.

As mentioned, the engagement celebration was held in the inner sanctum with the participation of family members and friends, while the Rav shlit"a, the great-grandfather, also participated in the joy. The engagement began with singing upon the entrance of the Rav shlit"a. Afterward, for over twenty minutes, the Rav shlit"a delivered words of Torah regarding the greatness of the holy and awesome days between the engagement and the wedding, and how much the groom must sanctify himself to merit reaching the great moment of his life. He cited the well-known words of Reb Noson (Rabbi Nathan of Breslov) that the entire joy of a wedding is only because we are certain that from this union (zivug) will emerge the King Mashiach, and from the building of this home, the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come, speedily in our days, Amen. Of course, as is his holy custom, the lesson branched out into many topics throughout the depths of the holy Torah, starting from the matters of Purim and ending with the concealment in the Torah from the gentiles—that the commandments are not written explicitly so that they do not take the Torah and fulfill it in their impurity. After the conclusion of the fascinating lesson, the Rav shlit"a performed the act of acquisition (kinyan) and wrote and validated the document of conditions (Shtar Tenaim) to which they committed during the 'Vort' (engagement ceremony). When everything was established and valid and the plate was broken, the band broke out into the song 'Od Yishama' (It shall yet be heard) in the joy of the house of tzaddikim. The Rav shlit"a, in his self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh), also stood up to dance and gladden the groom. For long minutes, they sang, danced, and leaped with great enthusiasm—'The voice of joy and salvation is in the tents of the tzaddikim'!

Before you is a photo gallery (courtesy of the family members):