Every Time There is an Auspicious Time for Redemption, Souls Depart • Summary of the Melaveh Malkah Lesson for Parshas Vayeira from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Presented before you is a summary of topics from the lesson delivered by our teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days), during the fourth meal, Melaveh Malkah (the meal accompanying the departing Queen Sabbath), on the night following the Holy Sabbath of Parshas Vayeira, 5786:
1. Rebbe Nachman said, "I have a long time in the Land of Israel," because all movements—even those of a baby, even those of the transgressors of Israel—everything comes from Rebbe Nachman. Even the release of the hostages, Rebbe Nachman is doing it all! 2. Rebbe Nachman said this when he arrived in Uman, because thirty thousand people were killed there. Every time Jews are killed, it is a moment of Geulah (Redemption). 3. "And he bowed down to the people of the land, to the children of Heth" (Genesis 23:7). Abraham bowed in order to sweeten the decrees of the massacres of 1648-1649 (Tach v'Tat). "In this year, every man shall return to his possession" (Leviticus 25:13)—the word "Zos" (this) refers to the year 5408 (1648), which was supposed to be the year of the Geulah (Redemption). 4. Regarding this, Reb Noson asks: If it was an Et Ratzon (auspicious time), how is it possible that instead of Redemption, people underwent murders? Rabbi Michel of Nemirov was crushed between two boards. The daughter of the Shach (Rabbi Shabbatai HaKohen) was lost; he was certain she had died because she fell, but in the end, he found her after years. 5. "A woman of valor is the crown of her husband" (Proverbs 12:4). Although in the literal sense (Pshat), the woman is on the exterior, in truth, she is the peak of interiority. A woman must ensure that the home is a Mishkan (Tabernacle)—an acronym for Mitah (bed), Shulchan (table), Kiseh (chair), and Norah (lamp). "Ateret" (crown) has the numerical value (Gematria) of 786, which corresponds to the year 5786. At that time, she merits to be the crown of her husband. 6. As it is written in the Zohar, specifically Zebulun—who "shall dwell at the shore of the sea" and seemingly learns the least of everyone because he is traveling all day—is in the level of Keter (Crown). The reason is that in all of Zebulun's travels "to the shore of the sea," the good merchandise is seen. He explains that everything is in the merit of the Torah study he supported through the "Issachar and Zebulun" agreement, and through this, he brings everyone closer. Therefore, he is found in Keter (Crown). 7. The same applies to the inner dimension: the daughter is greater than the son. A girl celebrates her Bat Mitzvah at age 12, while a boy only at age 13. The daughter gets a hundred on all the hardest tests. The one who discovered the atom was a woman. 8. "And Korach gathered all the congregation against them to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting" (Numbers 16:19). How did Korach specifically merit a miracle where more than six hundred thousand people stood around the entrance of the Tent of Meeting—where the small contained the many? Rather, if they had been spread throughout the entire camp, the earth would have had to open much wider. This was a greater miracle; therefore, Hashem preferred that they all be gathered at the "entrance of the Tent of Meeting." 9. During the massacres of 1648-1649 (Tach v'Tat), there was supposed to be the Geulah (Redemption), just as after the Holocaust there was supposed to be the Kingdom of Israel, but now the kingdom has fallen into the Klipah (husks/evil forces). The Beis Yisrael (the Gerrer Rebbe) said that the kingdom (meaning the State) was supposed to belong to the Charedim (ultra-Orthodox). However, every time there is an Et Ratzon (auspicious time) for Redemption, souls depart to atone for the entire generation. 10. On the Yahrtzeit (anniversary of passing) of Rashbi (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai), Hitler committed suicide. In that same year in Meron, Rabbi Avraham Zilberman, the Rabbi of Safed, delayed the lighting and did not want to light the bonfire, claiming he wanted them to see the moon. One of the masters of secrets was there and said to him, "I know what you are waiting for; do not break," even though everyone shamed him, saying, "Why aren't you lighting the bonfire? What are you waiting for the moon for? The moon will come out at ten." Exactly at five to ten, the telegram arrived that Hitler had committed suicide and the war was over. This is the secret: that on the Yahrtzeit of Rashbi, Hitler committed suicide, while on the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Elazar his son, the leader of Japan surrendered, and thus the war ended completely. 11. At eleven o'clock, Chatzos (midnight), the girls return home, pour four buckets of water to wash the house, and then say Tehillim (Psalms) and Tikkun Chatzos (the Midnight Lamentation). The men study with their wives Likutey Halachos, Laws of One Who Wounds His Fellow, Lesson 4, and the Zohar on Parshas Toldos.
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