Hundreds of Breslov Chassidim are flying to Morocco for Tisha B’Av to be with their rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Berland. The rav fled Israel to avoid arrest. He is alleged to have assaulted people and if he returns to Israel he will be placed in custody.
Chassidim explain the decision to observe Tisha B’Av with the rosh yeshiva of Shuvu Banim is twofold, to benefit from being in the presence of the tzaddik as well as giving him a chizuk in light of the allegations against him and his forced exile from Eretz Yisrael.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
He did NOT leave as a forced exile. NO ONE forced him to leave. Please get your facts straight….
Can you tell us more about other rabbonim in Breslov, such as R. Yaakov Meir Schechter, R. Moshe Kramer, R. Luzer Kenig, etc.??
The Rov fled Israel first to Miami and then to Morocco to avoid extradition. He is truly accused of some disgusting behavior.
To call him a tzaddik is a desecration of the word.
OOh great, let me guess they got sick of going only to Uman to be with their Rebbe now they want to go to Morocco as well.
The article uses the polite term of “assault” and implies he is innocent of the charges. Why such respect for someone who has been charged (based on substantial evidence)of disgusting and repulsive behavior we won’t detail here and if he is innocent, why not stand for trial and declare his innocence.
i agree with number 2 — in two parts tell us more about the other rabbonim in breslov.. and also tell us more news regarding the other rabbonim in breslov not just berland
p.s i did not know he left eretz yisroel or had to run
There is no comparing Berland and his clan to the real Breslov such as mentioned by Nicejew in #2 – Rav Yaakov Meir Shechter, Rav Moshe Kremer, and indeed also Rav Kenig.
The Berland clan is a cult, a bit of a weird group. Always been. I’m not that surprised by this news.
I’d like to hear how/why this justifies getting on a plane during the 9 Days, though.
I would like to call on everyone to please refrain from leaving insulting comments about Rav Berland. The only thing that we know for sure is that he is a tremendous talmid chacham and has brought a lot of people closer to Hashem. I’m not a member of Shuvu Banim but I’m close to somebody who has personally witnessed some fairly miraculous things by Rav Berland. Also, I’m sure he has no short list of enemies – besides being highly controversial in Breslov he also has been taking part in thwarting an effort by the Israeli government to take over management of the Rebbe’s tziun in Uman and keep in in control of the chassidim (he actually personally owns the property the tziun is located on as far as I am aware). So it wouldn’t be inconceivable for them to trump up some charges in order to stop him from messing with them.
Either way, I look at insulting the rav like this – if it turns out he is innocent of the accusations (even the secular courts have to treat him as innocent until proven guilty) then Oy ve’voy lecha that you said such things about a tzaddik.
And if, G-d forbid, it would turn out to be true, I think that would show us that this generation is at such a level that we have a lot worse things to worry about anyway.