A couple of days ago, ‘Hamas’ released a video of one of the captives in Gaza, called Liri Elbag.

This is a screenshot, from the Daniel Amram Telegram channel:

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I have to say, this upset me a lot.

Liri is 19 – and now looks like a haggard middle-aged woman.

And then, I felt so powerless, and not a little depressed, that after a year and four months, the same Evils are still running the show… the same Evils are still sending more soldiers to get killed and maimed for life… the same Evils are still sending millions to ‘Hamas’, while pretending they are the only problem we have… the same Evils are pretending fake rockets from the Houthis are raining down on Israel…

And the same Evils didn’t bring the hostages back.

Or at least, what’s left of them.

According to the Rav’s words yesterday (and he’s about the only source of information I trust implicitly, at this point) – there are only 50 left alive.

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The feeling of ‘powerlessness’ to change any of this is sometimes overwhelming.

I went to the Rav yesterday, and one of the women there thrust a few packets of prayers into my hands.

I am attaching one here in the original Hebrew, and check back later today, when I BH will have translated this, and another one to protect the soldiers to English, when I’ll post them up in their own separate ‘post’, to make it easy to find them.

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We can clearly see that the ‘military option’ has done nothing for the hostages, and nothing for the Jewish people – except bring 1000+ young men back in body bags, while blowing the limbs off another 15,000+.

The answer to resolving the mess we find ourselves in is ONLY spiritual.

So, the first way to ‘fight back’ against the Evils and the sense of powerless-ness is to say this prayer, to get the hostages back.

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Next, I wanted to tell you about Shuvu Banim’s ‘Kollel Hatzot’, in the Old City of Jerusalem.

For the last two years (at least….) this Kollel of 5-6 men have been following this schedule:

• 11pm – Arrive at the Shuvu Banim beit midrash in the Old City, overlooking Har Habayit, and hear a shiur from the Rosh Kollel.
• 12am – 2am – Do Tikkun Hatzot – the midnight lament, that is meant to be the most powerful prayer for negating harsh judgements on the Jewish people, particularly in relation to ending the exile and getting the Temple finally rebuilt.
• 2-5.30 am – Learn Torah.
• 5.30 am onwards – prayer with the Netz, or sunrise minyan.

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These men stay up all night, praying for the good of Am Yisrael.

And do you know how much money they get for this maximum mesirut nefesh?

Currently, less than 200 shekels, each, A MONTH.

(That’s around $55 USD – a MONTH).

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Below, I’m going to bring the original Hebrew letters from the Rosh Kollel, explaining more of what these prayers are really doing spiritually, for Am Yisrael, with a basic English translation.

But before I do that, let me tell you what I propose.

I propose, dear reader, that if you really want to put your tzedaka money somewhere where it is making a tangible difference to both yourself, and to Am Yisrael, on the spiritual level, that you consider sponsoring one of the members of the Kollel Hatzot to the tune of 400 nis a month.

This is the minimum amount that Rav Berland has asked the Rosh Kollel to try to pay each one of the members of the Tikkun HaTzot kollel.

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You can literally do that online, right now, by going HERE.

Now, Shuvu Banim is not a slick ‘fundraising’ operation. So while this page is 100% secure payment (and not the link I often send you to via the ravberland.com site) – it’s in Hebrew, not English.

So, let’s bring a screenshot of the Hebrew page, and then let’s translate it into English (in  red), so you can see what you need to do:

WHAT YOU’LL SEE, IN HEBREW, with my red translation:

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Then, you can pick how you want to make the payments by clicking these buttons:

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That’s ‘how’ to sponsor one of the learners at the Kollel

AND AGAIN, LET ME STRESS THAT I HAVE NO PERSONAL INTEREST IN ANY OF THIS, I’M NOT GETTING A CENT FROM THIS, I DON’T WORK FOR THEM, I GET NOTHING ‘BACK’ FROM RECOMMENDING THIS AT ALL.

But the reason I’m telling you about the Kollel Chatzot of Shuvu Banim, is because this is where I put some of my own tzedaka money, and spiritually, I see I have so many benefits from doing that.

Now, let’s bring the letters from the Rosh Kollel, so you can understand why that might be.

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HERE is a short PDF in Hebrew with some words from the Rosh Kollel.

And below, is an English translation of another letter the Rosh Kollel wrote in Hebrew:

“With God’s help

To all our Jewish brethren in Israel and the diaspora, may God keep them alive!

We turn to you with an emotional appeal, regarding a midnight kollel (religious study group) that is in the heart of Jerusalem, near  to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, from where the Divine Presence has never departed.

As our Sages said: ‘He gazes through the windows, peers through the lattices.’

For since the destruction of the Temple, the Divine Presence has never left the Western Wall.

And as the Ben Ish Chai said, there are ten levels of holiness in Jerusalem, each higher than the next, and fortunate is one who studies from a place where one can see the holy Temple Mount...

And as the tzaddikim of Jerusalem said, our place of study is the most holy place in the world…

Here,[1] is the source of salvation, here prayers ascend.

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It is the fortress of pearls upon the mountain of gold, it is the triple shoe of the holy Divine Presence leading the Jewish people toward their redemption speedily in our days.

It is Noah’s Ark, protecting Am Yisrael from the flood of heresy and desires, and it is the Water Castle mentioned in the Sippurei Ma’asiot[2]. And as Moharnat[3] said, the future redemption will come through the merit of the worthy ones who rise at midnight and lament the destruction of the Temple.

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And as our rabbis said: ‘Whoever mourns for Jerusalem merits to see its consolation.’

And so I call to you personally, that with all this terrible situation that the Jewish people find themselves in, after the events of Simchat Torah and the ongoing war with all its bloodshed.

In the Shuvu Banim Kollel Hatzot, there are more than a minyan (quorum of ten) of married scholars with families, who sacrifice themselves night after night, rising from their short sleep and enduring all the hardships on the way, including the hostile Arabs.[4]

They arrive at the holy yeshiva, where they conduct the midnight prayer service and study Torah until morning and pray at sunrise, and pray for the salvation of all those who partner in these awesome mitzvot (commandments).

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And as our Sages said in the Talmud: ‘Rabbi Yochanan said: Whoever puts merchandise in the purse of Torah scholars merits to sit in the Heavenly Academy, as it is said, “For in the shadow of wisdom is the shadow of money.”‘ (Pesachim 53)

And the Maharsha explains, regarding the verse ‘And there shall be a pavilion for shade from heat by day,’ that in the future, the Holy One will remove the sun from its sheath, the wicked will be judged by it, while for the righteous the Holy One will make them a sukkah for shade.

And this shade will protect them from the sun that will scorch the wicked.

And one who benefits a Torah scholar with his money, will merit together with the scholars, to be in this sukkah, and will be saved from the future heat of the sun.”

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All I can tell you, is that I see tremendous blessings in my own life, and I’m sure a good part of that is thanks to us sponsoring the Kollel Chatzot.

They call me up all the time, asking for names to pray for at midnight – right next to the Kotel, in the place where all the prayers ascend.

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So, if you want to help sponsor at least one learner at the Kollel Chatzot, go HERE.

It’s tzedaka that isn’t just helping you, and isn’t just helping them – it’s helping the whole of Am Yisrael, to dig themselves out of this huge mess we are currently in.

And that’s got to be worth every penny.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] I.e. Overlooking Har Habayit. The late Tosher Rebbe of Montreal stated explicitly that in our generation, for as long as the Temple remains destroyed, the prayers ascend via the Shuvu Banim yeshiva in the Old City. See One in a Generation, Volume I.

[2] Tales of Ancient Times, by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. The story of the Water Castle can be found in the tale of the Sixth Beggar.

[3] Rav Natan Sternhartz of Breslov, main pupil of Rebbe Nachman.

[4] The Shuvu Banim beit hamidrash is located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.