The Rav at Kever Yosef, the week of  Parshat Devarim, Rosh Chodesh Av

Account from one of the people who accompanied him. Translated from Shivivei Or Newsletter 371.

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The Rav got to the Tziyon at 1.48am and left Shechem at 3.18am.

At the beginning of the journey, the Rav was mamash happy. He said that now, the greatest thing is Rosh Chodesh Av, it’s the time when it’s possible to bring down a Beit HaMikdash of fire, it’s the preparation for Rosh Hashanah.

When we were waiting to enter [Shechem], the Rav asked when we were going in, already. Once, I used to go in here by foot, every night, with all the Arabs. I’d get out of the taxi from Kalkilya, and then go on foot. Afterwards, I’d rest a bit in the Kasbah, and drink something there.

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On the way [into Shechem], we saw the Arabs had made all sorts of fires, as part of their riots, and they’d burned down some sort of factory, and there was a massive fire. The Rav said this was the ‘fire’ of Yosef HaTzaddik.

And the house of Yaakov will be fire, and the house of Yosef a burning flame, and the house of Esav – as straw’ (Ovadia 1:18)

This is the fire of Yosef HaTzaddik. We have nothing else in life other than the Tzion of Yosef HaTzaddik, and the Tzion of Rabbenu. In the merit of this, we are alive, and in the merit of this, we continue to exist.

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The ikker (main thing) is the Tikkun Haklali.

Rabbenu revealed the Tikkun Haklali, but we still haven’t begun to know what the Tikkun Haklali really is. The Tikkun Haklali can sweeten everything.

Every Tikkun HaKlali – this sweetens a million rockets.

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Now, until Rosh Hashana, we need to say as many Tikkun HaKlalis as possible, every single day.

It’s the only thing that can sweeten everything.

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We got to the Tzion, and we said four Tikkun Haklalis together with the Rav.

At the end of the first Tikkun Haklali, when the Rav was alone in the Tzion, a group of soldiers came to the Rav to get a bracha, and the Rav blessed them.

Immediately afterwards, at 2:12 am, the Rav said in another little while, it’s the molad (new moon). During the recitation of the second and third Tikkun Haklalis, it was the molad, and at their completion, the Rav danced with one of the mafakdim (army officers) ‘in the merit of Yosef HaTzaddik’.

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The Rav then talked about Shushan, his neighbor in Beitar, who had his car crushed by boulders in Halhul [when he drove with the Rav to visit the grave of the Prophet Gad, in the local mosque]. And the insurance didn’t want to pay up because he’d gone into a ‘restricted area’.

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The Rav spoke about all the court cases and the persecution he’d been subjected to by the zionists. The Rav said that everything they do themselves all the time, they blame it on the Rav.

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The Rav spoke about all the persecution of the media and the leftists against Bibi, and about the defamation of the leftists, who are mamash sonei Israel (haters of the Jewish people).

And all the time incite [people] by suggesting that Bibi doesn’t want to make an agreement [to get the hostages returned]. After all, there is no Jew who doesn’t want the hostages to be freed, so what is this, ‘doesn’t want an agreement’?

There is no Jew who doesn’t want the hostages to be brought home, so how can you say all day long that Bibi is causing the negotiations to fail? All the news, every single hour, all the time they just try to whip up more sinat chinam.

If not for the media, all of Am Yisrael would be together, in friendship.

The media are against the religious, and against Am Yisrael, all the time.

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The Rav said that all the nations are rising up against Am Yisrael.

Biden said that there needs to be a simple reckoning. They killed 1,500 of yours, kill 1,500 of them in return. But, how did you get to 40,000?!

This is simple math, one plus one. Why did you kill so many of them?!

All the world is outraged – where it the proportionality?! Where is the humanity?! You don’t know simple math!

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The Rav said that each soldier who is protecting Am Yisrael will enter Gan Eden with their body.

That if he is using his own body to ‘protect’ Am Yisrael, he will enter Gan Eden with his body. But, the question is, what is he going to do after the army? He has a test. If he’s going to start talking against the chareidim, and becomes a leftist, he’ll lose everything.

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The Rav said it’s totally assur (forbidden) to enlist in the army today, even for someone who is not learning Torah.

Because the whole purpose of the army is to make everyone secular.

On purpose, they are putting female soldiers in every place, and there is no kosher food. Because there is no kosher food, and all this tumah, soldiers are dying.

There shouldn’t be this reality, where Jewish soldiers are dying. After all, in the war against Midian, Hashem said go and take vengeance against the Midianites, for what they did to Am Yisrael.

Moshe said, Hashem’s vengeance – we only want ‘Hashem’s vengeance’.

Everyone returned home whole, no Jew was killed.

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It’s forbidden to become ‘used’ to this.

We hear every single day another notice, that another soldier died.

There shouldn’t be any such thing!

The moment that we hear something like this, that another soldier was killed, we should fast! We should sit on the floor, and weep, and tear our clothes.

But they aren’t fighting l’shem shemayim (for the sake of heaven). If they were fighting l’shem shemayim, and eating kosher, and guarding the modesty – no soldier would have been killed.

It’s forbidden, for any other Jew to be killed.

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Benny Gantz was in yeshiva until the age of 20.

So today, he’s the greatest sonei Israel, because he understands that only like this, he can advance. Because whoever fights against the Torah, and who is in favor of the Arabs, gets promoted.

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The Rav said that every [Arab] house where there is shooting from that house, it should be blown up {i.e. Instead of sending soldiers in on foot to search it].

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The leftists say that whoever comes to Shechem is provoking the Arabs.

The Rav spoke at great length about all the history of the Arabs wanting to run away from here, and the Etzel and the Haganah caught them against their will, and wouldn’t let them leave.

And that Ben Gurion made a deal with the Arabs that they would give him Tsfat and Haifa, and the Arabs would take Jerusalem.

The Haganah were already at the entrance to Jerusalem, and they told the Arabs take the Kotel! We don’t need the Old City!

This was the agreement Ben Gurion made.

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I used to go to the Kotel when I was 5, 6, 7, 8, before you were even born.

The Arabs don’t have any connection to the Kotel. Mohammed never even visited the Kotel. They say that he tied his horse up there.

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Truman [former US President] said that immediately after they make the announcement about the State of Israel, a single Jew won’t remain [alive]. He cried.

But really?

All the Arabs really just want to run away.

They opened up the gates for them in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, now they suddenly want to return, but they by themselves wanted to run away.

Hashem is always guarding over Israel.

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The Rav spoke some more about the incitement / sedition of the leftists, that everything is because ‘the Arabs are oppressed’.

So what was [1929], when they killed 69 Jews in Hevron?! They chopped them into pieces! What was the ‘provocation’ there? Who was ‘oppressing’ them?

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These same Nukhba terrorists now, someone ‘stroked’ them

They’ve already sent [Jewish] soldiers to court.[1]

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The Rav spoke about the ‘failures’ on Simchat Torah, and how they occurred.

They said that the soldiers should come here [close to Shechem] to Huwara, to guard against the ‘settlers’, and prevent them from ‘hurting’ the Arabs.

But how can it be, that it takes a plane just 15 seconds to get to the area [i.e. The Gaza fence]?

How can it be, that a bulldozer destroys the fence for a few hours, and no-one comes?!

Where was the army?

They went to enjoy themselves in hotels in Eilat.[2]

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The Rav said the whole time that the most important thing, is that the Jewish people will go in to Kever Yosef.

We have no interest in making a balagan with the army, or with endangering soldiers, or making a balagan with the Arabs.

Just to go and pray at Yosef HaTzaddik.

This is the ikker.

We are staying alive in his merit.

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FOOTNOTES

 

[1] The Rav is referring to the awful ‘Sde Teiman’ libel against innocent Jewish soldiers. The media in Israel has been complicit in splicing videos together, etc, to present a false story that has demonised Israeli soldiers across the world. If you follow Hebrew, the Kipaadu Telegram channel has a lot of background about what really happened.

If you don’t have Hebrew, this is the key fact to understand:

[2] Sadly, this is true. The Shin Bet was mostly ‘on holiday’ in Eilat, during Simchat Torah.