"On the Tenth of Tevet

Before you is a summary of topics from the daily lesson as delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a—yesterday after the Maariv (evening) prayer, Wednesday night, the 9th of Tevet, Parshas Vayechi:

"And Yaakov said to Yosef, Hashem appeared to me in Luz." Luz refers to the techiyas hameisim (resurrection of the dead). On the Tenth of Tevet, we merit to revive the dead; on the Tenth of Tevet, we ascend to the World of Akudim (a high Kabbalistic realm of "bound" lights). The Yaaros Devash (a work by Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz) says that after lighting the Chanukah candles, one merits the World of Akudim. This is because the first hillula (anniversary of passing) was that of Hevel (Abel) on the Tenth of Tevet. The decree against the First Beis HaMikdash (Holy Temple) also occurred on the Tenth of Tevet. This was because "all the kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world did not believe that an adversary and enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem." For Sancheriv (Sennacherib) came with an army of one billion minus one, and they all died. The main thing is the dancing; the dancing elevates all of one's learning. A person should study Gemara (Talmud) for eight hours and then dance for an hour. In the merit of the dancing, the war will stop. It has already been 400 days that people are in captivity, and every day people are being killed. The human body is the "body of the snake"; a person must not let the snake take control over him. For the sake of one girl (Dinah), they killed an entire city (Shechem). This was the Bar Mitzvah sermon of Shimon and Levi, according to the Rambam (Maimonides). However, the Ramban (Nachmanides) says they had already accepted the keeping of Shabbos; Shabbos means sitting with the children and singing zemiros (Sabbath songs). They wanted to return in teshuvah (repentance) already. Like Devorah (Deborah the Prophetess), who brought all of Israel back in teshuvah. She fought against Sisera—"was a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?" One needs neither a shield nor a spear. Devorah was the tzaddik. Women are greater than men; men lose all their money in gambling. A woman has a complete intellect. If a daughter is born, one receives two hundred; if a son is born, one receives a maneh (a smaller portion). The "Sea of Tarshish" is all gold—Chile, Peru—it's all diamonds. Hashem gave the woman a million times more than the man, and therefore she should be a seminar principal. One should study Gemara until Chatzos (midnight). Afterward, one goes to sleep until 6:00 AM. Tomorrow at 6:00 PM is Maariv; at 7:00 PM everyone travels to the Pavilion. The Rav will arrive at 9:00 PM and give a lesson on the meaning of the Tenth of Tevet and the significance of Rabbi Noson (the main disciple of Rebbe Nachman). Regarding the Tenth of Tevet, the "latter is greater than the former"—the "former" refers to the First Temple, and the "latter" refers to the Third Temple. All the women in Egypt would run to the Nile and give birth there because the Egyptians would see that they were pregnant. Then the children were swallowed by the earth, and the Egyptians brought plows, but the caves only went deeper. They threw stones at Diklot (Diocletian). It is the nature of boys to throw stones. In the Pitchei Teshuvah (halachic work), section 154, there is a question about who must pay for the damage to windows broken by children—the father or the shop owner. Dresses must be lengthened (for modesty), and then soldiers will stop dying. They continue to fire missiles. Trump will be president on the 20th of Tevet, and he holds like the Rambam—whose hillula (anniversary of passing) is on that day (everyone will travel to Tiberias)—that if someone shoots a Jewish boy or a Jewish girl, you destroy the entire city. He will eliminate all of Hamas. Seven billion people say that Hamas is "humanitarian." They believe that if there are no Jews, there will be peace in the world. In Europe, they believe that if a slaughtered child is found, the Jews killed him, and they immediately kill all the Jews. Christmas is nothing; he (Jesus) never existed and was never born. It is a holiday for drunkards; hundreds are killed in car accidents. When we were in Vienna during the month of Tevet, every day they would find a hundred drunkards dead from the cold because they couldn't find the entrance to their homes. For us, Rosh Hashanah is a day of prayers. For us, Rosh Chodesh (the New Month) is a day of prayers, a day when we say Tehillim (Psalms), just as we are saying Tehillim now until Chatzos (midnight) and reciting Tikkun Chatzos (the Midnight Lamentation). Then the complete Geulah (Redemption) will come speedily in our days, Amen!