Extremely Powerful: Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a on His Drawing Near and the Journeys to Uman - Part 4

We bring the continuation of the strengthening words of Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a (may he live long and good days), one of the famous students of our teacher, the holy Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, from a special talk he gave in 5765 (2005). In this talk, Rabbi Arush reveals another layer of the self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) that Rabbi Berland led during the legendary journeys to the holy Tziyun (gravesite) in Uman. These are his words:

"Sends everyone, but travels last"

"During the first journeys to Uman, we cherished the time spent at the holy Tziyun (gravesite) and guarded every moment. In the journey of 5745 (1985) (which Rabbi Arush began recounting in the previous part), our teacher Rabbi Berland and the Rebbetzin did not reach Uman. Also regarding the lotteries used to determine who would travel to Uman, our teacher Rabbi Berland shlit"a would always give up his place. Whoever merited to travel with him knew that the Rav sent everyone before himself; he never boarded first for the journey."

"We still spent Rosh Hashanah of the year 5748 (1987) in Kyiv; in 5749 (1988), we were already in Uman together with Rabbi Shmuel Shapira zt"l (of blessed memory). Although a few people had spent Rosh Hashanah in Uman the year before, it was done in secret (underground); in 5749, we were there as a large minyan (prayer quorum) of 250 people."

Self-sacrifice (Mesirus Nefesh) to stay at the holy Tziyun under difficult conditions

"250 of us settled into a hotel that could only accommodate 50; the conditions were terrible, there wasn't even water in the bathrooms. We squeezed into rooms and prayed in the narrow corridor of the hotel. There was great joy; we didn't care about food or any other conditions. The Tziyun (gravesite) was open and it was cold, there weren't even benches, but we would stand by the Tziyun without stopping, not wanting to waste a single moment."

Gratitude (Hakaras HaTov) to the one who opened the way to the holy Tziyun

"A person must have gratitude (hakaras hatov), and certainly must not be ungrateful. Every Breslov Chassid should have gratitude to our Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, for opening the way to Uman. Everyone shouted at the Rav, and everyone laughed at him, asking how he could take people through such circuitous routes, taking them to a country that everyone feared—bringing them behind the Iron Curtain."

"Our teacher Rabbi Berland told me that for every journey he made to Uman, he prepared himself to die and not return. The Rav knew he might be caught, yet he still practiced self-sacrifice (mesirus nefesh) to travel to the holy Tziyun (gravesite)."

To be continued, with Hashem's help (B'ezras Hashem).