As promised, here is the excerpt from OIAG I, talking about the ‘pact’ between R Berland, R Kook, and the Baba Elazar, ztzl.

The date was July 2012.

The world was going to hell in a handbasket – here in Israel, we had the ‘dream team’ of Bennett and Lapid who would collaborate with Likud after the early 2013 elections, going after the Torah world mercilessly, and literally stripping frum parents of child benefits, closing down yeshivas anyway they could, threatening forced army service…

Wars being threatened on every border…

You can go to the ‘Year in Israel 2012’ Wiki page HERE, for more details.

Bibi was still PM

Peres (!) was President.

Gantz was heading the army.

The Tal Law had just expired.

There were attacks on the Egyptian border, the Syrian border, ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’, the stabbing intifada…

==

Bkitzur, what’s really changed, since then?

Everything, and also, precisely nothing.

==

Against that backdrop, R Berland, R Dov Kook of Tiberius and the Baba Elazar, made a ‘pact’ to try to sweeten things for the nation by putting themselves in the frame, instead.

One would be murdered.

One would go into exile.

One would undergo soul-destroying ‘disgrace’ and bizayon.

In the end, the Rav ended up doing both those last ones himself…

==

It’s probably absolutely no coincidence that R Dov Kook was hospitalised in a very serious state, just a couple of weeks back.

It’s probably no coincidence, that R Amos Guetta, ztzl, got stabbed a few days ago in circumstances that are so similar to the Baba Elazar.

And the Rav?

I don’t know. Maybe’s he’s taken on enough bizayon and exile the last 14 years, that no more is required.

I hope so.

But here we are again, another ‘big’ election looming, the Bennett-Lapid dream team still going after the Torah learners, still chaos and threatened ‘wars’ on all of Israel’s borders…

Tell me again, exactly who and what are we meant to be voting for here?

Isn’t it the definition of madness, to keep doing the same exact thing, but expect a different outcome?

==

And so, now let’s go back 14 years, to 2012, when the Baba Elazar got murdered in almost the exact way as the Rav Guetta….

And the ‘madness’ began in earnest, with the Rav, and Breslov generally.

BH, I am hoping this is the ‘book end’ for 2012 – maybe, just maybe, leading to the outcome we hoped would happen 14 years ago.

I guess, we will find out.

==

THE SELF-SACRIFICE OF THE TZADDIKIM

Shortly afer these three Gedolei Hador made their Heavenly pact
to do everything they could do, spiritually, to sweeten the terrible
situation facing the Jewish people that was looming on the hori-
zon, the first act of self-sacrifce on behalf of the Jewish people
occurred.

On the evening of July 28, 2011 (26 Tammuz 5771), Rav Elazar
Abuchatzeira (who was also ofen referred to as the Baba Elazar)
was stabbed to death in the waiting room of his yeshivah in Beer
Sheva at the end of his routine visiting hours when members of
the public would come to him for advice and a blessing.

His killer, A.D., was an outwardly observant chareidi man from
Elad who had come to speak with the Baba Elazar many times
before. Eyewitnesses said that the Baba Elazar seemed to have
known in advance what was about to happen and rushed over
happily to meet his attacker, who then drew a knife and repeatedly
stabbed him.

Te Baba Elazar was rushed by ambulance to the Soroka Medical
Center in Beer Sheva, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Te
murder of this holy man shocked the nation to its core, and many
thousands of people attended his funeral the following day, when
he was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
==
Speaking a few days afer the event, a distraught Rav Shalom
Arush told the public that a kabbalist had called him up shortly
before the Baba Elazar had been murdered and told him that a
terrible thing was about to happen, but that it would bring the
geulah, the redemption of Am Yisrael, closer. But the true story
behind the Baba Elazar’s murder would remain hidden for a little
while longer.

THE RAV’S EXILE BEGINS

During Chanukah 5771 (December 2010), Rav Berland’s exile
from Jerusalem and the Shuvu Banim Yeshivah began. From
Jerusalem, the Rav went up to the Galilee for a period of time be-
fore deciding to live in the city of Beitar Illit, located to the south
of Jerusalem.

The first part of Rav Berland’s deal to save the Jewish people had
been set in motion, and over the coming years, his exile would take
him from Israel to many different locations, including Morocco,
South Africa, and Holland.

The next part of the deal—being publicly shamed, insulted, hu-
miliated, and losing his good name—only began a little while
later. The second volume of this book will introduce the diferent
groups of people who were persecuting the Rav, and the different
motivations they had for doing that. But the most important thing
to remember is that Rav Berland himself agreed to be shamed and
exiled, in order to atone for the Jewish people and bring the redemption the sweet way.

Even many years ago, he knew that he would be shamed and ex-
iled, and spent a lifetime preparing himself—and his yeshivah—to
pass the test.

==

WHAT THE TZADDIK TAKES UPON HIMSELF, TO ATONE
FOR THE GENERATION

On many occasions before his exile and persecution began, Rav
Berland publicly spoke about how the tzaddikim were obliged to
take upon themselves difculties and sufering, and to travel all
over the world from place to place, to return all of Am Yisrael to
the path of Torah observance and belief in Hashem.
He explained that the tzaddikim want everyone to be “sealed in
the book of life”—even the evildoers.

In Likutei Moharan Lesson 228, Rebbe Nachman teaches that,
when Hashem sees a person who can bring the world to do te-
shuva, Hashem Himself makes sure that this person is constantly
beset by machlokes so that he will never be at peace. Tis way, any-
one who continues to follow this person will assuredly be doing it
only from pure motives, and not to gain honor.

Elsewhere, Rebbe Nachman explained why the Tzaddik is subject
to such harsh persecution and controversy. He likens the Tzaddik
to a tree and likens machlokes to water, and explains that, just as
a tree cannot grow without water, so too a Tzaddik cannot grow
without controversy.

Speaking about the terrible slander and persecution he was en-
during at this stage, Rebbe Nachman continued: “Believe me, if
I wanted to I could end all the mochlokes against me, and there
would not be a single person against me. But what can I do?
There are levels that cannot be reached without controversy”.

Elsewhere, Rebbe Nachman explained that even people who
didn’t actually know him were against him, because the Tzaddik
needs controversy even to this extent.

==

Ad kan, from OIAG I.

I guess for myself, the main difference between then and now is that then, I really, really did think Moshiach was imminent, any second.

Now… I don’t know.

Maybe, it is going to be another 200 years, as the Rav says.

And if so – then we have to focus on bringing the koach of Moshiach down into our own dalet amot, primarily, by overcoming our own bad middot, and lack of emuna.

Everything else is out of our hands.

But working on ourselves is our work – and our work alone.

And even Moshiach is not going to do that, for us.