A Story About the Tzaddik's Students: Hidden Leaders of Tens of Thousands, Plus 3 More Stories

Morinu HaRav shlit"a has merited to raise holy and hidden students, who, in the intensity of their humility, remain concealed from the world, yet are worthy of being leaders of tens of thousands of Jews.

A Story About the Tzaddik's Students: Hidden Leaders of Tens of Thousands

Humility and Concealment

Morinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit"a has merited to raise righteous, holy, and pure students. Through their immense humility, these students manage to hide themselves from everyone's eyes. Hashem, blessed be He, literally covers and conceals them from the world, because this is their true will and deepest desire.

The Hidden Giants of the Generation

However, there is no doubt that it is the will of Hashem, blessed be He, to publicize that there are such holy Jews in our generation. If they were only to become known and emerge from their concealment, they would become leaders and Rebbes of tens of thousands of Jews.

Story: The Immense Delight of Being Burned for the Sanctification of Hashem's Name

The Seudas Mitzvah (Festive Meal) and the Open Book

A certain Jew relates an amazing fact about the spiritual power of the students of Morinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit"a. Once, he participated in a large seudas hoda'ah (meal of thanksgiving). The tables were laden with meat, fish, and all kinds of delicacies, as is fitting and proper for a respectable seudas mitzvah (festive meal).

Present at that meal was also one of the veteran students of the Rav shlit"a. While everyone around him was busy eating, an open copy of the holy book "Noam Elimelech" lay before him. Throughout the entire meal, he spoke with burning enthusiasm to the person sitting next to him about the profound concepts written in the book.

A Fire of Love for Hashem

He described to him the words of the "Noam Elimelech", which state that a person must imagine a great and awesome fire burning up to the very heart of the heavens, and out of his overwhelming love for Hashem, blessed be He, he throws himself into the flames.

This was his entire seudas mitzvah. From all the abundance and delicacies placed on the table, he barely tasted a "kezayis" (an olive-sized portion). He did all of this with simplicity, immense earnestness, humility, and lowliness of spirit, completely immersed in the love of Hashem and the tremendous delight of mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice).

A Story from Meron: "I Have Never Seen Such a Holy Countenance"

An Uplifting Shabbos in the Holy Site of Meron

As is known, about half a year ago, a large group of students of Morinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit"a spent Shabbos in the holy site of Meron, adjacent to the resting place of the Godly Tanna, the holy Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai zy"a.

On that uplifting Shabbos, the splendor and beauty of the tzaddik and his holy students were revealed before a large crowd of the Jewish people. Many of those present had never heard of or seen such a congregation of God-fearing and wholesome Jews, serving Hashem with prayers full of vitality and tremendous enthusiasm.

The profound impression left by the students caused quite a few people to express open amazement: "This is Shuvu Banim? We had no idea!"

After the prayer, a Torah class was given by one of the veteran students of the Rav shlit"a. At that gathering, one of the attendees related that his brother-in-law, who belongs to a large and well-known Chassidic group in the holy city of Jerusalem, was deeply moved by the appearance of Morinu HaRav shlit"a's face. That Chassid testified with great emotion, telling him: "I have never seen such a holy countenance; he is truly an angel of God!"

A Wondrous Story of In-Depth Study: Weeks on a Single Page of Gemara

An avreich (Torah scholar) who merited to participate in these special Torah classes relates: "I remember a period when a regular class was held in the holy yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem, directly facing the site of the Holy Temple. The class was delivered by one of the veteran students of Morinu HaRav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, and it focused on an in-depth study of the Gemara, Tractate Bava Kamma."

Immense Depth and Clarity

The avreich continues, describing the intensity of the study, the tremendous effort, and the meticulous attention to detail in every single Talmudic topic: "The class lasted for several consecutive hours every day. The study was done with such intense scrutiny, profound depth, and immense clarity, that even after several weeks of continuous, daily learning, we had only managed to complete the very first page of the chapter!"

This testimony illustrates the tremendous toil in Torah and the profound method of study that the Rav shlit"a instilled in his students, who dive into the sea of the Talmud with meticulous analysis and wondrous clarity.

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From Issue 81 — Parashas Bereishis
From the series "Tzaddik Moshel Yiras Elokim" — "Shapir Amar Nachmani" publications