There are 36, and some say 72, ‘secret Tzaddikim’ in whose merit the whole world continues to stand.

This isn’t ‘happy clappy’ Breslov.

It’s not even ‘chassidut’.

It’s straight Gemara.

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Sanhedrin 97b; Succah 45b:

There are no fewer than 36 righteous people in the world who greet the Shekhinah in each generation.

Although as mentioned, the precise number of these ‘hidden tzaddikim’ is disputed in the Gemara.

From Chullin 92a:

“A homer of barley, and a letech of barley” (Hosea 3:2) – [this refers to] 45 righteous who cause the world to be sustained …

30 in the land of Israel and 15 here [in Babylonia]. 

Abaye said: And most of them can be found in the synagogue, under the upper room [i.e. among the unhonored masses].

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The Baal Shem Tov is also meant to have said this about the 36 hidden tzaddikim sustaining the world:

“Just as there are 36 hidden tzaddikim, there are 36 revealed tzaddikim.”

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Point is, while the details and numbers are disputed, the fact these hidden Tzaddikim exist, and that the world is sustained in their merit, it not up for argument.

One of the commentators here made the classic ‘Korach’ argument that essentially ‘all Am Yisrael are holy’, and they don’t need ‘Tzaddikim’ exalted above them.

On the one hand – Korach was totally correct, that all of Am Yisrael is indeed holy of holies.

We aren’t xtians, were one guy shows up and ‘fixes’ everything and everyone else all by himself, like some sort of ‘mini-eloke’, walking around in a human body.

But on the other hand…. we can’t do it all by ourselves, and there are, and always have been, elevated Tzaddikim in our midst, whose prayers reach those areas the rest of us just can’t quite get to.

And if we don’t recognise that this is an integral part of authentic yiddishkeit, then the ground will probably open all round us…. And you already know how that story ends.

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So far so good?

Great, let’s continue laying things out a bit more clearly here.

While no-one knows ‘for sure’ who these ‘Lamed Vav’ Tzaddikim are, they are aware of each other’s identities.

And usually, after they pass on, they are revealed as being one of the ‘Lamed Vav’ Tzaddikim – because to be revealed openly in their lifetimes can cause them a lot of spiritual problems, and can even result in their death, God forbid.

So now, this message from a ‘Lamed Vav’ is from 2017 – Rav Elazar Mordechai Menzer, the Lamed Vav in question, passed away a few months after delivering this:

Here’s what Rav Menser wrote in the letter:

“On Thursday night, before dawn, at 4.29am, after I’d finished davening ma’ariv, with the niggunim and the nusach of the holy days, I received permission from Heaven to reveal what I’m about to tell you.

“On the eve of the 17^th Tevet, the yahrtzeit of the famous Tzaddik of the previous generation, who would be visited by many of the Tzaddikim of the previous generation at his home, the Rav Ezra Prachia Cohen, ztl, the father of Rabbenu, the Rav Chaim Cohen, shlita, the Milkman, the Tzaddik foundation of the world…

“Rav Ezra, ztl, came down on the day of his yahrtzeit and told his son, the Tzaddik, foundation of the world, shlita, ‘My son! My son! My son! Who is so dear to me and to the Creator of the worlds. I request from you very much, come with me Upstairs to Gan Eden. They have prepared a place for you there which is very good. Why stay here? [I.e., in this world.] Now that the holy Shechina and all of the Tzaddikim together with her are crying, when they see the lowliness of this generation?’”

Rav Menser continues: “After he said this, he then went on to speak at length about the zealots in the community, whose ‘loftiness in their mouths, and who hold a double-edged sword in their hands.’

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[Rav Ezra] then continued and said the following to his son:

“You are also being slandered, and also the other true Tzaddikim of the generation [are being slandered], and also the Tzaddik, foundation of the world, Rav Eliezer Berland, shlita, who fled into exile [is being slandered], and no-one paid any attention.

“I REQUEST FROM YOU [MY SON], THAT YOU HAVE MERCY ON ME. FROM ABOVE, I’M UNABLE TO CONTINUE WATCHING YOUR SUFFERING, AND THE SUFFERING OF THE REST OF THE PERSECUTED TZADDIKIM, WHO ARE BEING TRAMPLED ON. AND THE GEDOLEI YISRAEL WHO DON’T FOLLOW IN THE PATH OF THESE PERSECUTORS, THEY ARE ALSO BEING PERSECUTED.

“The Shechina and the Tzaddikim above, in Heaven, are crying and are suffering [from this]. Only the Satan and the accusors are happy and dancing about the fact that they’re besting the Shechina and the Tzaddikim above, whilst also lengthening this terrible, bitter exile.”

Rav Menser continues: “[Rav Ezra] then continued to speak about different matters, and in the end he concluded by saying: ‘More than this, I don’t have permission to reveal to you now.’”

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This article is six years old…. but it’s still as pertinent as ever, for what is going on today, in 2023, Erev Rosh Hashana 5784.

It continues:

A little while after this occurred, Nachman Salmonovitch from Shuvu Banim was visiting the Tzaddik Rav Menser, shlita, who permitted him to publicize the content of this letter, and also added the following astounding message:

“You should know, that all of this persecution [of Rav Berland] is born out of jealousy. I have no doubt that if these persecutors would have been living in the generation of Rabbenu HaKadosh, Rebbe Nachman, that they would have also been persecuting him….

R’ Salmonovitch explains: “It’s known that Rav Menser, shlita, only says the words that Hashem puts into his mouth, when people ask him questions. At 2am that morning, he told me that he’d just received another message from Heaven, and that I should give it over in his name. The message from Rav Menser was as follows:

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‘They don’t punish a person unless he’s first been warned, therefore I’m now warning you.

Tosfot in Masechet Sotah [which quotes Rabbi Yochanon, who brings the words from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai] says that: ‘It’s better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace, than to embarrass his friend in public.’ And also Rabbenu Yonah [writing in Shaarei Teshuva, the Third Gate, 139, where he explains that we’re speaking about the ‘dust’ of murder, because the person who shames another causes the red blood to drain from the face of the person he embarrassed] – explains that one who embarrasses another in public, it’s like one of the three cardinal sins that a person should rather die than transgress.

(The three cardinal sins are murder, sexual profanity and idol worship.)

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‘From now on, anyone who opens his mouth against Rav Berland, shlita, he’s considered to be a deliberate transgressor, and he should know that he’s playing with fire.

And he fulfills the words of the following verse in Pirkei Avot that states:

Warm yourself beside the fire of the Sages, but beware of their glowing coals, lest you be burnt. For their bite is the bite of a fox, their sting is the sting of a scorpion, their hiss is the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like coals of fire.

‘Also, a person who only thinks bad thoughts against Rav Berland, shlita, should know that these thoughts are considered to be idol worship, and that he needs to use all of his strength to expel these thoughts [from his mind].

‘WHOEVER HAS ALREADY SPOKEN AGAINST RAV BERLAND, SHLITA, HAS NO REMEDY, EXCEPT TO GO TO TWO TRUSTWORTHY JEWS, AND TO TELL THEM THAT HE TAKES IT UPON HIMSELF THAT WHEN THE RAV, SHLITA, IS RELEASED, BH, HE WILL GO TO HIM TO APPEASE HIM, UNTIL HE HEARS FROM HIM [RAV BERLAND] THAT HE’S BEEN FORGIVEN.’

R’ Salmonovitch concludes: “This is what the holy Tzaddik Rav Elazar Mordechai Menser, shlita, told me.”

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To spell this out: the real ‘Lamed Vav’ tzaddikim in the world already know who Rav Eliezer Berland really is, and how holy he really is.

‘Pure’ makes ‘pure’ – which is why the followers of a truly sincere, God-fearing ‘rabbi’ and influencer, even if they don’t know themselves 100% what is going on, they take the steer from their own Rav, on what to think  about what is going on ‘about the Rav’.

Simply connecting to someone ‘pure’ can make ‘pure’ – especially in areas as convoluted and deliberately distorted as this.

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To spell this out even more – the people who are ‘against’ the Rav are totally disconnected from truly sincere, God-fearing leaders and influencers, and for sure aren’t connected to a truly holy ‘Lamed Vav’ – or anything approaching it.

Not knowing is not a sin.

It’s very hard to ‘know what’s true’, especially in our world of lies, especially about the Rav.

But when you don’t really ‘know’ anything other than what you read on government propaganda sites like A7 and YWN, but you still feel free to shoot your mouth off about things you truly know nothing about, and even to go so far as to slander very holy people like Rebbe Nachman and the Rav…. then you have a lot of teshuva to make.

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LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE.

It always has, it always will.

Think about this carefully.

Rav Berland is Holy of Holies, mamash.

If you read OIAG 1, 2 and 3, you will find tens of direct quotes from known holy tzaddikim – many of whom have no passed on – clearly and unequivocably pointing this out.

And there are still some ‘hidden tzaddikim’ saying the same things today, in ways that are not so hidden, for the people who have enough zchut to catch their not-so-subtle hints and clues about what is really going on.

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Remember, we aren’t xtians.

We don’t believe some ‘rebbe’ is the physical incarnation of an elok on earth, God forbid, who fixes everything hey presto, while we sit and polish some buttons.

But also remember, we aren’t Korach, who says that we don’t need a Tzaddik HaDor, and that ‘all the nation is holy’, and can do it without any pesky Moshe Rabbenu, and his 40 day fasts, and his tremendous prayer-a-thons to prevent the Jewish people from being totally annihilated….

It’s a very narrow bridge.

And the cost of falling off it, on either side, is going up all the time now – and will continue to do so, the closer we get to geula.

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Am Yisrael is currently facing a lot of danger – and also the world generally.

As I type this, they are bringing back ‘shots’ in Israel after Sukkot… apparently.

The war drums are going up again – but who knows if the ‘war’ is going to be waged via loaded syringes, or fake alien invasions, or the more standard ‘Iran has a nuke’ – I have no idea.

But one thing I can tell you:

Only the people who were following Moshe Rabbenu got out of Egypt.

And the rest didn’t.

So, give some careful thought to who that ‘Moshe Rabbenu’ of our lowly, pathetic generation actually is.

And then beg God to make sure you got the right answer.

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