To see Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, standing for hours in prayer on the small stage set up at the front of the makeshift synagogue below his home in Jerusalem, you wouldn’t think for a moment that here stands a man who underwent a number of serious operations, including the removal of a kidney, just a few short months ago.
At age 80, the Rav appears to have more stamina, more strength, more ability to stand on his feet non-stop for the very lengthy prayer service than many men less than half his age. Never complaining, always smiling at his community, often holding the hand of one of the teenage boys who throng to be close to this tremendous Tzaddik, an outside observer wouldn’t think for a moment that the Rav has any troubles or health problems.
But behind the scenes, the Rav has been dealing with some enormously challenging circumstances on a number of fronts. Most of these difficulties that the Rav took upon himself to atone for the sins of Am Yisrael are hidden from us. But the suffering has now reached such a pitch, that the Rav has taken the highly unusual step of publicizing his plight.
The community already knew that the Rav’s health was in a precarious state, when he was recently forced to cancel his prayers with the community - something that the Rav has never done before.
THE RAV'S LEG IS AT SERIOUS RISK OF BEING AMPUTATED, G-D FORBID
Then, came the shocking report that two veins had burst in the Rav’s leg, putting the leg at serious risk of amputation.
We see him standing on stage for hours and hours, joyfully leading the community in prayers, and even dancing and jumping to sweeten the harsh judgments hanging over the nation, and we can’t even begin to imagine what the true state of the Rav’s health, and his suffering, really is.
But the situation has become so serious, the Rav himself recently wrote an unprecedented letter, asking the community, the nation, to help him in his hour need:
“To every Breslov chassid, to every chassid of Shuvu Banim, and to all of Am Yisrael,” begins the Rav’s letter. “This is a fateful cry [for help], to all of Am Yisrael, before the amputation of [my] leg.
“Today, the Rav was in Hadassah Ein Kerem, and the doctors observed that there was an extremely toxic infection. At the moment, there is a whole discussion about whether the Rav’s leg should be amputated or not, so they need to bring in all the specialist doctors both from within Israel and from abroad.
“They need to fly in doctors from Boston in order to try to heal the Rav’s leg, shlita, without having to amputate it.
“We are talking here about a huge expense of a million dollars (approximately 4 million shekels), in addition to the million shekels [in debt] that’s accumulating in order to pay for the security team over eight months. The security team was ordered by the State and by the Police.[1]”
This two million dollars are essential for the Rav’s recovery. The Rav can’t pray, and can’t do ‘melaveh malka’ with the community. He has to sit down, because of the terrible pain and suffering he feels throughout his whole leg.
The Rav continued:
“So, everyone from the age of 16 up, every boy and girl, every youth, every adult, every avreich and their wife from the age of 16 up, is obligated to donate 1,000 shekel (via the ‘Ka’Ayal Ta’arog institution) in order to prevent the Rav’s leg from being amputated, G-d forbid.
“Anyone who ever received any good from the Rav, any assistance or relief from the Rav, any encouragement from the Rav, any good word, every person should gird their loins and dedicate an hour a day to collecting together the money, or take a loan, and transfer the money before the time of candle-lighting on Friday, 13th Av (August 5th, 2017).
“Everyone should organize things, and donate this money. And by doing this, they won’t need to amputate the Rav’s leg, and the Rav will be freed on the first of Elul.”
[1] Who also ordered that the Rav should be forced to bear the burden of paying for this astronomical expense out of his own pocket.
At age 80, the Rav appears to have more stamina, more strength, more ability to stand on his feet non-stop for the very lengthy prayer service than many men less than half his age. Never complaining, always smiling at his community, often holding the hand of one of the teenage boys who throng to be close to this tremendous Tzaddik, an outside observer wouldn’t think for a moment that the Rav has any troubles or health problems.
But behind the scenes, the Rav has been dealing with some enormously challenging circumstances on a number of fronts. Most of these difficulties that the Rav took upon himself to atone for the sins of Am Yisrael are hidden from us. But the suffering has now reached such a pitch, that the Rav has taken the highly unusual step of publicizing his plight.
The community already knew that the Rav’s health was in a precarious state, when he was recently forced to cancel his prayers with the community - something that the Rav has never done before.
THE RAV'S LEG IS AT SERIOUS RISK OF BEING AMPUTATED, G-D FORBID
Then, came the shocking report that two veins had burst in the Rav’s leg, putting the leg at serious risk of amputation.
We see him standing on stage for hours and hours, joyfully leading the community in prayers, and even dancing and jumping to sweeten the harsh judgments hanging over the nation, and we can’t even begin to imagine what the true state of the Rav’s health, and his suffering, really is.
But the situation has become so serious, the Rav himself recently wrote an unprecedented letter, asking the community, the nation, to help him in his hour need:
“To every Breslov chassid, to every chassid of Shuvu Banim, and to all of Am Yisrael,” begins the Rav’s letter. “This is a fateful cry [for help], to all of Am Yisrael, before the amputation of [my] leg.
“Today, the Rav was in Hadassah Ein Kerem, and the doctors observed that there was an extremely toxic infection. At the moment, there is a whole discussion about whether the Rav’s leg should be amputated or not, so they need to bring in all the specialist doctors both from within Israel and from abroad.
“They need to fly in doctors from Boston in order to try to heal the Rav’s leg, shlita, without having to amputate it.
“We are talking here about a huge expense of a million dollars (approximately 4 million shekels), in addition to the million shekels [in debt] that’s accumulating in order to pay for the security team over eight months. The security team was ordered by the State and by the Police.[1]”
This two million dollars are essential for the Rav’s recovery. The Rav can’t pray, and can’t do ‘melaveh malka’ with the community. He has to sit down, because of the terrible pain and suffering he feels throughout his whole leg.
The Rav continued:
“So, everyone from the age of 16 up, every boy and girl, every youth, every adult, every avreich and their wife from the age of 16 up, is obligated to donate 1,000 shekel (via the ‘Ka’Ayal Ta’arog institution) in order to prevent the Rav’s leg from being amputated, G-d forbid.
“Anyone who ever received any good from the Rav, any assistance or relief from the Rav, any encouragement from the Rav, any good word, every person should gird their loins and dedicate an hour a day to collecting together the money, or take a loan, and transfer the money before the time of candle-lighting on Friday, 13th Av (August 5th, 2017).
“Everyone should organize things, and donate this money. And by doing this, they won’t need to amputate the Rav’s leg, and the Rav will be freed on the first of Elul.”
[1] Who also ordered that the Rav should be forced to bear the burden of paying for this astronomical expense out of his own pocket.
If you'd like to donate to help save the Rav's leg, please go to THIS PAGE on Rav Ofer Erez's website, scroll down to the box below the video, insert the amount (in shekels) you'd like to donate, and press the yellow 'send' button. You'll then be redirected to Paypay, where you can complete the transaction via Paypal, or via credit card.