Never Have There Been Such Humiliations and Persecutions as the Rav shlit"a Endures; Yet With All This, Our Eyes See Only Increased Strengthening in Emunah and Divine Service by the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Our primary desire is to publicize the light of our holy master and teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, his Torah, his holiness, and his absolute nullification to the light of Hashem, may He be blessed, according to the path of the Light of Lights, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. However, to our sorrow, in light of the false campaign and the despicable acts being conducted against the Rav shlit"a and his community, we have recently been forced to add another aspect to the character of the articles we publish. And as we promised that we are going to expose a little more of the lies being plastered upon the Rav shlit"a, the following article is necessary for anyone who desires the truth.

These are some of the words delivered by the Gaon, Rabbi Ofer Erez shlit"a, one of the senior students of the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, during the past week:

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"To remain unaffected by all the humiliations and persecutions being conducted against Rabbi Berland shlit"a is almost beyond human capacity," Rabbi Ofer begins his words. "The Rav shlit"a has been in prison for almost a year, yet despite this, he does not abandon his holy books for a single moment, and prayer is always fluent in his mouth. Emunah (faith) is always upon his face, as is his connection to the Holy One, Blessed is He. And the Rav shlit"a strengthens—constantly strengthens—anyone who comes into contact with him. Are there questions [difficulties understanding the conduct] regarding the Tzaddik? Fine, Rebbe Nachman already said that there must be questions regarding the true Tzaddik, but we need to remember what our eyes are seeing."

"I heard that they paid us a great compliment and associated us with the cult of Shabbetai Zvi. Baruch Hashem, we thank them, only that we wish to clarify matters. They [the persecutors] do not possess even a little da'at (knowledge) to clarify between truth and falsehood—famous concepts known to all. For indeed, the entire problem with Shabbetai Zvi was that he preached publicly to commit sins. Have we ever heard once from the Rav shlit"a or his students that it is permitted to commit sins??? Such a thing has never been heard."

"Shabbetai Zvi, a short time after the Torah leaders of Israel excommunicated him, went and converted to Islam. He could not suffer a single humiliation, so he went to become a Muslim. He abandoned the entire path, saying: 'Perhaps they will honor me in the mosque.' But, to distinguish by millions of degrees of separation, with Rabbi Berland shlit"a we see that everything is the opposite. This is foolishness and stupidity; the Rav shlit"a is the exact opposite of Shabbetai Zvi. Not only has the Rav never said it is permitted to commit sins, but rather, regarding everything that is personally difficult for me to hear from the Rav shlit"a many times, it is because in his words he always rebukes us [to improve]. I say in my heart: 'Rav, give in to me a little, be a bit more moderate with me.'"

"We see throughout history that anyone who was a Jew and went on a path that was not good—they flew away from Judaism.

I do not know if there have ever been such humiliations and persecutions as the Rav shlit"a is undergoing, yet with all this, our eyes see only increased strengthening in Emunah and in the service of Hashem by Rabbi Berland shlit"a."

"Usually, we do not even pay attention to the confusion and nonsense that the persecutors of the Rav shlit"a speak, were it not for the despicable and unbridled moves they have started recently. From morning until evening, and from evening until morning, they only speak against him—profanity and Lashon Hara (evil speech). Rabbi Morgenstern shlit"a wrote a very Halachic and Torah-based response in which he said: 'Even according to your (mistaken) method, you are committing a thousand sins.' For them, the book *Shemiras HaLashon* (Guarding the Tongue) by the Chofetz Chaim has been removed from Judaism. There are no laws of Lashon Hara, no laws of Motzi Shem Ra (slander/defamation), no 'keep far from a false matter.' They speak bad things against many Torah scholars, to the point that those sages and rabbis wonder where they invented this from."

"Did one of the Rav shlit"a's students ever say that it is permitted for a Tzaddik to commit sins?! This statement was never said! Only the persecutors say this. Who even thought of this idea???"

"We do not hear any words of Torah from them, no words of strengthening—only 'against,' and 'against,' and 'against.' Lashon Hara, slander, lies, and terrible deceit. Poor souls, we need to pray for them that the Holy One, Blessed is He, will enlighten their eyes and they will return in teshuvah (repentance). We are on the eve of the Geulah (Redemption); is this really what is left to do?"

"How many times have we invited them to a Din Torah (Rabbinical Court adjudication), and not in order to fight with them, but to clarify their false claims—twice they have already rejected us. Once I told them to take us to a Din Torah, and that persecutor said he agreed. Two days later, he published a complete article full of lies on 'Kikar HaShabbat'. I said: 'It seems Kikar HaShabbat is the new Da'at Torah of our generation.'"

"We have nothing against them and we do not want to fight with them at all. I have never spoken about this matter in public, and I found no reason to leave the Torah, the strengthening, and the words of our holy Rebbe. However, sometimes one must deviate, especially since lately they are truly going crazy in their conduct. It is true that every lie of theirs only brings more and more people closer to our holy Rebbe and to the Rav shlit"a, but we must protest and show that in reality, according to the truth, everything is completely the opposite of what they are speaking."

"The great corruption of Shabbetai Zvi is that they preached to commit sins for the sake of rectifying the world, but with the Rav shlit"a, we have never heard such a thing (nor a hint or anything resembling such a thing)—on the contrary. Imaginations that they imagined; they got up in the morning and said that we are saying this."

The Holy One, Blessed is He, should help them return in teshuvah. We are not angry with them; we love them with a great love, only that Hashem should illuminate the point of truth for them. May there be a Geulah in mercy and kindness.

The class by Rabbi Ofer Erez shlit"a was broadcast on the Breslov Information Line: 02-800-8800; from the USA: 18456400007; from the UK: 442038073333