The Flame of the Seven Shepherds

"After we brought all the holy sights from the night of the Hillula of Moharnat of Breslov at the Shul in Meah Shearim, we are happy to bring the holy words of our master, the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, from that unforgettable night.

"The day of the Yahrtzeit (the 10th of Tevet, the Yahrtzeit of Rebbe Nathan of Breslov) is the greatest day of the entire year, it overrides Shabbat if the 10th of Tevet falls on Shabbat, the day of Rebbe Nathan, who was comprised of all the tzaddikim, of all the seven shepherds: Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and David. Moshe, Aharon, and even David and Shlomo; Yosef could have brought down a Holy Temple of fire. If the brothers had said, 'You have seen a good dream, you have seen a good dream,' the Zohar says in Vayeshev that the dream (of Yosef) would have been fulfilled at that exact second. The dream was for the benefit of the brothers; Yosef speaks of the brothers receiving kingship over the entire globe."

"Just as it truly happened, that Yosef became king during the years of famine and Yosef bought everyone. All of Egypt and all the seventy nations are slaves to Israel, 'And his brothers also went and fell before him and said, 'Behold, we are your slaves' (Genesis 50:18). Yosef bought them with full silver in exchange for the grain. Just as Haman is a slave to Mordechai until the end of generations, 'From the descendants of Haman, they studied Torah in Bnei Brak' (Gittin 57b)."

"This is the secret of the goblet, in which the entire Torah is included. In the goblet is the entire Torah, the 72-letter Name (Ayin-Bet), the 13 Attributes of Mercy, and the 72-letter Name. 'Hashem Elokai' is exactly 72, for Yosef is comprised of all the seven shepherds. 'Yosef is a fruitful vine' (Ben Porat Yosef); 'Porat' represents all the Names, the four spellings of E-k-y-h, the five spellings of E-k-y-h, and the four combinations of the Havayah. The tzaddik is the Name of Hashem; the tzaddik is the Name Havayah."

"Rebbe Nathan merited the Name Havayah; he merited the 'ibbur' (spiritual impregnation) of Moshe Rabbeinu. Rebbe Nathan merited that Moshe Rabbeinu was impregnated within him; Moshe revealed himself to him and said to him three words: 'Hast gut gimacht' (You have done well with your books). For these three words, it is worth living sixty-five years; everyone must see before their passing that Moshe Rabbeinu will come to them and say them."

"It is impossible today to fulfill the Torah without Likutey Halachot. Without Likutey Halachot, one is called a 'magush' (sorcerer), a wizard, or a Cuthean, as it is written in Tractate Sotah 22a. A person without Likutey Halachot, everything they fulfill is merely 'the commandment of men learned by rote.' They cannot reach the inner intention of the Torah; it is impossible to reach the reception of the face of the Torah, to see the inner dimension of the Torah. Like the opinion of Beit Shammai (regarding the lighting of Chanukah candles) where for them the Divine light goes and increases, because Shammai says that from the abundance of the light, the vessels go and burn up."

"I always had a question: why are Shammai greater than Hillel? And why is it that the candles going and being consumed is greater than Hillel? Now I saw an interpretation of this, that it is not that, it is simply that there are no vessels; the light is so great that all the vessels burn up, and one is left with one candle. In the end, it is such a great light, the light of Ein Sof, the light of the seven days, 'And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I have seen, and behold, a menorah of gold, all of it, with its bowl on top of it, and seven lamps on it, seven and seven pipes to the lamps that are on top of it' (Zechariah 4:2). Seven, seven, and seven—this is the number of the days of the life of Lamech, 777. The Likutey Levi Yitzchak says—the father of the last Admor—that from here we see that the number 777 is the highest of all numbers. Light, water, firmament are 677, plus 100 blessings, one hundred sockets, and together 777."

"'And Hashem said to Abram, 'Go for yourself from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house to the land that I will show you' (Genesis 12:1). 'Lech Lecha' (Go for yourself) has the gematria of 100, that we should go out from the fifty gates of impurity and enter into the fifty gates of holiness. 'From your father's house and from your birthplace'—these are the genes; a person acts according to their genes, but they must go out from their genes and receive others, then they will be able to understand the inner dimension of the Torah."

"'And Yaakov said to Yosef, 'Hashem Almighty appeared to me in Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me' (Genesis 48:3). The main thing is to reach Luz. To reach the morning, to reach the level of Leah."