"In Parshat Balak, There Are All the Blessings" • The Daily Lesson from the Gaon

Presented before you is the full daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a—yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Wednesday night, the eve of the 12th of Tammuz, Parshat Balak:

"Every day there are five killed and ten seriously wounded, without hands, without legs; the war does not end. There are wounded in the north and wounded in the south. A hundred thousand people have no homes. 'The Galilee will be destroyed,' there is no state, there is nothing—everything is being destroyed, everything is being ruined. It is all because there are still girls who do not yet lengthen their skirts as they should, until the ankle, and do not sew up the slit. Whoever has a slit in her skirt must immediately replace the garment or sew it up. For we are now at the moment of the Geulah (Redemption). 'The power (Koach) of His works He told to His people'—Koach (numerical value 28) multiplied by Koach (28) equals 784 (the current Hebrew year, תשפ"ד). This is the moment of the Geulah (Redemption). Therefore, we now read Parshat Balak, which contains all the blessings: 'How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel,' 'As brooks they are spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as aloes which Hashem has planted, as cedars beside the waters.' 'And his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.' And after that, the fourth blessing—that already refers to Mashiach (the Messiah), David HaMelech (King David): 'A star has stepped forth from Jacob, and a scepter has risen from Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Seth.' For the Geulah (Redemption) will only come through the modest girls. Rebbe Nachman says in section 37 (of Likutei Moharan): The Geulah (Redemption) will only come in the merit of those who say 'Amen' and 'Amen, Yehei Shmei Rabba' (May His great Name be blessed). This is why they expanded the synagogue—it is all so that people can say Amen, so there will be room to say Amen. Everyone needs to say Amen, and one should not leave the prayer until after 'Aleinu.' One must also come to the Melaveh Malkah (meal following Shabbat) and come to Shalosh Seudos (the third Shabbat meal). One can sleep from eight o'clock. At eight we finish the prayer, and by nine we finish the meal. From nine until seven is ten hours. Everyone needs to sleep ten hours on Shabbat. Then you can wake up and be at the prayer by four-thirty. We finish at eight, and by nine the meal is over. From nine until seven, you can sleep ten hours—no less than that—and then you can come to both Melaveh Malkah and Shalosh Seudos. You can hear the lessons, like the story we told about the daughter of Jephthah, who was insolent and domineering; she took control over her father. She told him, 'I do not allow you to retract a single thing you said.' He said to her, 'Give me a moment to think, give me a moment... I have regretted it, you don't understand,' and he was already tearing his clothes in regret. She said, 'I am not interested in any regrets; you are not going to regret it, you will do exactly what I tell you.' She was a domineering daughter, a domineering girl; she said, 'Now do what I tell you.' She brought him the knife and said, 'Now slaughter me as you vowed.' He said, 'I am not slaughtering you,' but she insisted, 'No, you will slaughter me.' And then the knife began to drip drops of blood, and they fell into all the springs and all the lakes. Therefore, during the Tekufah (the seasonal solstice/equinox transition), it is forbidden to drink water—for one second—one does not drink water from the taps. Then a Bas Kol (Heavenly Voice) went out and said—though this is not written in any book, no one knows where it is written; I said only Mashiach will reveal to you where it is written—a Bas Kol went out and said, 'Do not lay your hand upon the lad' (as was said to Abraham regarding Isaac), and until today she is still dancing and whirling. For the role of the daughter is only to whirl and sing songs and dances twenty-four hours a day. And everyone should say 'Amens.' There is a new synagogue, there is room for everyone to say 'Amens.' All the young men must come to pray; they have no excuse anymore. Previously they didn't have room, but today they made room for everyone. Let everyone say 'Amens' and 'Yehei Shmei Rabba'—in this merit, the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come speedily in our days, Amen!".