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Berland Released, Greeted With Singing & Dancing, Murder Victims’ Relatives Are Furious

Hundreds of Shuvu Banim followers greet disgraced leader Eliezer Berland with singing and dancing upon his release from prison on Wednesday. (Kan News screenshot)

Disgraced leader of Shuvu Bunim Eliezer Berland was released on Wednesday morning from Ayalon Prison, only a month and a half after returning to prison to complete his sentence for fraud, money laundering and other offenses.

His release, based on a technicality requiring the administrative shortening of sentences that are almost completed in accordance with occupancy standards in prison cells, came on the same day that the trial against Baruch Sharvit, one of the suspects of the murder of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, began. Sharvit, who is still considered a Berland follower, was instructed by Berland – who met with Sharvit in the presence of police investigators – to confess to his role in the murder and provide details to the police. Sharvit subsequently admitted to his part in both murders and incriminated others.

Yitchak Edri, the brother of Avi Edri, z’l, who was murdered decades ago by Shuvu Banim members, screamed “Murderer” at Berland as he left the prison.

Edri’s relatives, along with the relatives of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, are furious about Berland’s release. Meir Shitrit, the brother of Nissim Shitrit, z’l, and Yitzchak Edri, the brother of Avi Edri, z’l, spoke to the press from the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, where the trial of Baruch Sharvit began on Wednesday.

“It’s absurd,” Shitrit said. “‘We’re a State of Gad Eden for criminals. It’s the height of absurdity that on the day that the indictment on the murder of my brother is being read and the trial is beginning – the one that gave the order is being released on a technical detail – because there’s no room for this arch-criminal in prison. The most dangerous person around is returning to his crazy people and can give them instructions to continue his madness. If there was no statute of limitations, he would have been detained until the end of the proceedings.”

The Shitrit family’s lawyers sent urgent letters on Tuesday night to the Internal Security Minister and Israel Prison Services (IPS) Commissioner demanding the halt of Berland’s release. “The blood of Nissim, z’l, cries out from the earth,” a statement from the family said after Berland was nevertheless released. “This morning, this arch-criminal is released, not a Rav but a criminal with blood on his hands.”

Berland arrived home to a grand reception, with hundreds of Berland’s followers waiting outside his home on Rechov HaChoma HaShlishit who greeted him with singing and dancing, tefillos and tears of joy.

Berland addressed his followers from the porch of his home:

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



38 Responses

  2. Forget the evil of the man himself for a minute.
    How is it possible that thousands of Jews support and greet this evil with joy?
    We are truly messed up.

  3. As much as you may hate Rav Berland you are forbidden to curse him. Many of those gathered outside his house are Baalei tsuvah through him. We are not suppose to judge other frum Jews.

  5. BOURUCH HASHEM. Chasdei Hashem Yisborach. What a simcha. A godol yisroel has been released from the hands of the Nazis. This is a yom tov our tefillos have incredibly been answered by Hashem yisborach. I know people will be angry about this but just remember that Rav Berland is a massive talmud chochom and irrelevant if he did anything wrong or not, you are being oiver issurim d’oraisoh by talking loshon hora about Rav Eliezer Shlita, calling him a roshoh is a great great aveiro and you will seriously regret it when you are before the Beis Din Shel Maloh. If you want to assume that Rav Berland did indeed do something wrong (chas vesholom), for all we know Rav Berland could have done full teshuva in which case you are saying complete loshon hora about a pure man. Gedolei Yisroel have paskened that any negative talk about Rav Eliezer Berland shlita is osur d`oraisoh so please please think before labelling him as a roshoh etc. and just be besimcha that a fellow yid has been released from prison. Boruch Hashem Yisborach!

  6. I cringe when I see his name written with the title Rabbi. He is a huge bizayon to Am Yisroel. The release may actually be a good thing. You see, he is apt to catch more bizayon when he is out of prison. May we all merit to see how the evil of his murderous cult is avenged through the bizayon of this fake leader, whose taavah for kavod superseded some of the greatest violations of Torah Law.

  11. This vile and pathetic abuser should have been literally dumped into a penal garbage bin years ago and forgotten. Instead, someone in the bureaucracy seems to keep finding ways for his legal resurrection.

  12. so what do we have here…

    A a serial rapist (so say the secular courts and bes din and his own wife and children)

    A fradster who has stolen millions of $ from his desperate ill followers promising them cures in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars only to give them candies and mentos, some of them dying destitute.

    A lunatic who sent his henchman to beat up and kill a teenager who had contacts with girls

    this is a monster by any measure, not a tzadik, barely a human, and in the eyes of his chasidim (the 50% hwo stayed with him) he is a siant.

    just goes to show how strong this “tzadik brainwashing” phenomenon is in our community, all you have to do is proclaim yourself to be a tzadik, hire some gabayim, once you have a following you can do whatever the hell you want, you are already a “tzadik” so nobody has the right to question your behavior

    If you think this can only happen by Shuvu Banim think again. I can think on at least 3 mainstream Chasidus whom i will not name here, who are well on their way to becoming like Shuvu Banim

  14. the Zionists have a hezkas tuma and we cannot believe them or cooperate with them so all these allegations against the rav can easily have been fabricated. Torah has pervailed over the modern day Hellenists the Zionists.

  15. I concur Yashar. What piece of drek May he burn in gehenom with all hid sidekick followers. What disgrace to the Jewish people and the Frum world. I pity the mother that gave birth to him. GO TO HELL .

  17. the question i keep on hearing: why don’t his follower see that its a cult? why do they still suport him?

    well the question to you is? would you be any better? would to realize that you are in a cult if you were in one???
    lets see
    Vishnits Mendel’s chasdidm don’t (….)
    Skvere chasidim don’t (when i yid gets burned after months of incitement)
    Ger chasidim don’t (when chasidim go to Shaul alter they are yelled at yemach shemo on the streets, children thrown put of yeshivah/ schools, parnasa’a destroyed, mishpaches seprated)

    Very few if any admit that they are stuck in a cult. So what makes you think you’d be any better? if you were in Shuvu Banim you’d find 100 ways to be “mtaher the sheretz”

  18. Those who have supported, and continue to support and facilitate this rashah will hopefully share in his guaranteed chelek of gehenom. Whatever he MAY have been at some earlier point in his life is irrelevant in relation to the abuse and pain he has inflicted on so many and the chilul hashem his antics continue to convey.

  19. @mobico: Thank you for that information. Do you happen to have an exact source for that psak of Rav Yosef Chaim, though? I’d appreciate one; it’s very, very hard for me to be believe you can’t use such a kelala for a machti and mechalel shem shamayim of such a level… So, if you have an exact source reliably demonstrating that Rav Yosef Chaim really said that and what the headroom of the psak were, I’d appreciate it. Thank you.

    General Clarifications: 1) Reliable, mainstream, batei din in Eretz Yisroel paskened Berland is a bad man. 2) The chiyuv to assume a talmid chochom did immediate teshuvah obviously does not apply to known evil people whose chochmah simply serves to worsen their evilness. 3) I don’t know what zechus he had that allowed him to create a number of baalei teshuvah (I say a number because I’m only referring to non-crazed retards like his “followers” — I don’t think it’s a zechus to make someone a “follower” of him and thereby a participant in a massive chillul Hashem… but maybe I’m wrong about that…). 4) I have nothing against and think no true ill of those of his followers who are simply misled unfortunates. He is evil, and certainly a number of his followers are, as well. 5) I want to be most clear about the following: I hope from the bottom of my heart that no one thinks (as, horrifyingly, at least one commenter above implied) that I support the evil Zionist entity in its fight against Berland or in anything else whatever! (But that doesn’t have to do with my comments.)

  21. Sorry, my number three above was unclear… but I think will be understood in context. I meant that I’m only referring to ba’alei teshuvah who are non-“#crazed_retards_like_his_’followers.’” Sorry, badly phrased.

  24. I don’t understand why many of the posters keep kvetching about how such a thing can happen to chareidim. This has absolutely nothing to with chareidim. If you want to knpow the chareidi take on Berland, read this https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/featured/1863386/three-chareidi-batei-dinim-rule-that-eliezer-berland-is-guilty-and-should-be-ostracized.html.
    The people you see here are people he was mekarev, and to them he represents everything. They have a hard time believing his guilt. They don’t represent normative chareidi outlook, and posters should stop pretending this is a chareidi issue.

  26. people think that because breslov is controversial in some areas the berland saga is made up shtus. that doesnt have a grain of truth to it. people who praise and learn breslov sefarim have called this person out for what he is. if you are breslov no reason you shouldnt remain proud of who you are and what you’re a part of. however you need to realize that berland is not your leader so it shouldnt bother you when people say what he is.

  27. They were kicked out of Ukraine and their sefarim were banned by the Gedolim almost 200 years ago.
    This is further proof of why they are not part of Yiddishkeit.

  30. “We are not suppose to judge other 》frum《 Jews.”
    What makes such a charlatan “frum”? We see the same anti-Torah attitude in Monroe, Monsey, Williamsburg, etc.
    The Torah in parshas Nitzavim explicitly tells us to deal with the known and open evil and to drive it out from the community. Berland is an example of such evil and there are unfortunately many others like him to various degrees. Yet the same “frum” media that doesn’t hesitate to condemn the Reform and Conservative leadership won’t do the same against the proven thieves and moiserim from Monroe.

  31. I’d have to look it up again, but the gist was that someone referred to a certain secular Zionist, who had been actively working for most of his life against the Yishuv Hayashan to uproot Torah and Mitzvos and had been involved in assasinations of Yidden, with “Yemach Shemo”. R’ Zonnenfeld turned to him and asked, “Are you Paskening that had he died without children that his wife wold not have required Yibum or Chalitzah? After all, the Torah says, “… v’Lo Yimach Shemo mi’Yisrael.” We never say ‘Yemach Shemo’ about a Yid.”
    That being said, there other Gedolim who have clearly not agreed with this Pesak. I was being a Machmir.

  32. @mobico: Thank you; that is very enlightening. And if you happen to find the full source, and remember this conversation next time you see me comment on a page, I’d appreciate if you gave the source there.

  33. Yeshu is roshei teivos yemach shemo vezichro. FYI Rav Elazar Kenig, Rav Yaakov Meir Shechter are Breslover Rabbanim who have strong ties with the litvish world. Everyone in Breslov has known for a while to stay away from Berland and the only people that follow him are either sick, manipulative compulsive lyers or ignorant whether willfully so or otherwise.

  35. @Yashar: The source for what @Mobico mentioned from Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld to never say Y”SH curse on any Jew, is brought down in many seforim. I’ll quote some of them for you, so you can look it up.
    ספר אוצרות החן (ענייני פורים, מחיית זכר עמלק) להרב נח גד ווינטראפ. שו”ת פאת שדך, ח”א סימן קנז. ספר על חומותיך ירושלים, עמוד קטו-קטז. ספר חשוקי חמד, יבמות כד ע”א. ספר בינה ודעת, לרב מנחם אדלר, פרק כח סעיף ח.

    On a side note, I’m shocked and appalled to see how you jumped the first one to curse this man, a fellow Jew,(whether he’s righteous or not) in such a harsh way, then doubled down on him with your “general clarifications” in your next post. Did you stop for a second to ask yourself who am I to judge him or even curse him out like this? Does it benefit you to talk bad about people and curse them out? Are you a direct victim of Berland to justify yourself for cursing him in such a way? Most likely you never had anything to do with him or his followers, so why risk your Olam habbah by sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong to judge someone and curse them out the way you did? You don’t have to like him or follow him or even respect him, but to curse him with yemach shemo vsheim zichro?? Really? who gave you a right to judge and curse someone? are you God? are you a bais din? are you a Rov or a dayan? it seems from your comments and your “general clarifications” that you wrote a whole psak din on him and his followers, may I ask what title and authority do you have? which great Midah and “yashar” of yours does that come from? Let’s assume berland is indeed not a righteous man, and he fell and did terrible things because of his Yetzer harah and many nisyonos people have when they reach that level of kovod and money, and shouldn’t deserve the kovod they get, but to go to the level of cursing him Y”SHV? He’s not yushka, he’s not shavtai tzvi, theodor herzl, eliezer ben yehuda, yossi sarid or others who might have deserved such a title, and for sure not for me or you to say it. I advise you to take a look at ספר פלא יועץ, ערך קללה and see how severe it is to curse anyone. I’m afraid that with all the cursing and ill wishes everyone wishing on Berland, and the public bizyonos he’s getting, Hashem is forgiving him for all his sins and misconducts, and the more we giving him a free ticket to Olam habbah.
    It’s so sad to see that there has been lately so many articles published on this site talking about individuals and groups, and everyone jumps to bash, label and judge. It’s time for us to stop judging everyone, specially ones that have nothing to do with us and don’t affect us in any way, like this Berland story, or Lev tahor group and others. It’s not for us to judge. We all have our own tzaros, and shortcomings. We should focus more on ourselves, our families and children, so we can strive to be better people.

  37. The famous vort about not saying yemach shemoy on a Jew is brought down in various seforim. In fact recently heard it as well from Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss on one of his Chumash Shiurim. He did bring up about yoshka being titled yemach shemoy vezicroy roshei tayves for YESHU but that could be is different as he was the ultimate macteeya es Horabim. If we condemn Rabbi Berland than why don’t we condemn Rabin who gave fifty thousand guns to the PLO which in some cases are being used to kill Jews. Why don’t we condemn golda meir for allowing 3300 Jews to die in Yom Kippur war instead of attacking first. She wanted to show the world on the expense of young dead Jews that Israel is not the aggressor. What about all the tziyonim leaders who hate Torah and over the years corrupted children from European frum families as well as the yeminite communities. What most readers too young here to remember the forced autopsies where every Jew frum or not was forced to be cut up if they died in an Israeli hospital. What about chillul shabbos,tattoo shops and gay parades in all major Israeli cities including Jerusalem. Where is the outrage. Leave Rabbi Berland alone. He makes the tziyonim very uncomfortable because thousands of their secular kids are becoming baalei tsuvah. And they are tough baalei tsuvah who will fight the secular tziyonim at all costs.

  38. I apologize to all for the length of the following post, but the posts criticizing me were long as well… and I thought carefully about what to write here. I think i did a good job. Please, if you have time, read it… I think it’s important.

    Towards the end of this post i carefully delineate my main sources. So please give it a chance.

    Now, to the post:

    To rats and pilpel: Thank you for your Rav Yosef Chaim sources and the well-written words of inspiration.

    I’d like to clarify that:

    1) and this specifically pertains mostly to what rats said [and I’m sorry I’m not using your guys’ official names with @ and all, but I’m writing this in an email draft to upload later to YWN (because I can’t get on that site right now)… and I don’t recall the exact titles… you’ll forgive me, I’m sure…]: I am rosh v’rishon of the condemners on this site for kol davar hanogeia l’tziyoni’ism. I don’t think that is debatable. (I’m not rosh v’rishon for anything else, as far as I know… but neged zionism I am.) You are welcome to review my previous posts in that regard… although I’m sure such well thought out people as yourselves have more important things to do than read up on Yashar’s old posts. My point is, however, that I think your criticism, rats, in this regard, is very misplaced. I certainly would and do condemn those people!

    2) And now I’m speaking more generally to both of you again: I do not think I am chashuv in the least. I do, however, believe it is incumbent upon every member of klal Yisroel to publicly degrade and shame berland with all his might and as the cofetz chaim writes, “lishpoch buz on him.” And I will tell you why: berland (or “the berland cockroach,” as I recently recalled having dubbed him previously on this site at least once) is a machti and mechalel shem shamayim the likes of which our nation has rarely seen in its illustrious history. Yoshke was obviously a greater example of a machti… but lu yetzuyar it’s actually true that the reason he can be cursed with ysh”v’z is due to his status as a machti of a high degree, well, let’s just say berland would probably make the cut, as well… he’s not yoshke, but….

    Now, why do I say he is a machti and mechalel shem shamayim? I say so because he prances around like a heilige yid, gathering followers by the dozens, while, no, not secretly falling to his tayvas nashim, tayvas kesef, v’tayvas kavod (which would be horrid, of course) but actually, prancing around gathering followers while everyone knows that BATEI DIN HAVE PASKENED UNEQUIVICALLY THAT HE IS A BAD MAN, AND, MORE-IMPORTANTLY-ALTZ-THE-CHILLUL-HASHEM-AND-MACHTINESS-SHEBOI, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT HE HAS PUBLICLY AND UNREMORSEFULLY ADMITTED to performing illicit acts with women and to murdering — and that he has been shown on video to have regularly swindled critically-ill-helpless-clueless-followers-out-of-thousands-of-shekels/dollars! People: if that isn’t a machti and mechalel shem shamayim then I don’t know what is! By performing “kiruv” under such conditions he is effectively making a public MOCKERY OF OUR TORAH AND ITS HOLY LAWS!! How can you defend the man?!?! It is a chiyuv to publicly degrade him and make fun of him and be mevayesh him at your every opportunity! That is the halacha! Look it up in sefer chofetz chaim! I hate him and so should you! He is an enemy of our G-d! U’m’san’echa Hashem esna! While I would love to simply ignore berland and just work on myself and my family, etc. (and, believe me, I admit both that I have a vast list of things to work on in my personal yiddishkeit and that the length of that list reaches roughly ad infinitum), the laws of our Torah are not ours to pick and choose as we see fit! The halacha is that a machti like berland must be defamed! I’m sorry, it ain’t my choice! The halacha simply is that there exists such a chiyuv and that the normative hilchos sipur lashon hora l’toeles are even waived in such an instance!

    We need to give a collective damn about yiddishkeit! Machti’im, whether they should be cursed or not, must be ridiculed — machti’im: zionist governments/police and, yes, berland cockroaches!

    There is a mitzvah to be both meganeh and mevazeh them, whether in front of them or not, regarding — AND HERE’S THE KICKER — REGARDING, AND I QUOTE FROM THE WORDS OF THE CHOFETZ CHAIM HIMSELF, REGARDING: “EVERYTHING ONE SEES OR HEARS ABOUT THEM!”

    And now, for the source: Please, I beg of you, besides for reviewing general hilchos lashon hora in sefer chofetz chaim wherein some of the points i mentioned can be found, please, for my main points, look (in Sefer Chofetz Chaim) at Hilchos Isurei Lashon Hora, Klal Shemini, S’if Hey in Mekor Hachaim, along with s’if katan ches in the Be’er Mayim Chayim. Then see the end, at least, of si’f vav in mekor hachayim. AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, AFTER YOU HAVE SEEN ALL THAT CAREFULLY, LOOK AT S’IF KATAN YUD IN THE BE’ER MAYIM CHAYIM where it becomes clear from the Avos D’Rabbeinu Nassan (al ma’amar the holy words of the sweet singer of Israel himself sheyavo bmheirah vyigaleinu) whom the Chofetz Chaim is quoting… that meisitim — or, as i have called it above: “machti’im” — (u’b’rosham, kamuvan, the berland cockroach who is meisis people to be oived elohim acheirim by teaching that some new-fangled torah wherein illicit relationships, murder and extortion can be excused SHAMELESSLY and stupidly as having been performed for the sake of some crap about being mekadeish nitzotzos through, i guess, murder, is the new torah to follow in our dor) are included in what s’if hey in the mekor hachayim is referring to!

    I beg of you to look it up! Discuss it with your Rav or your chavrusah! Be mefarseim it b’sha’ar bas rabbim! Let us not allow western morals and ideals to corrupt the halacha! Do you think the chofetz chaim was too much of a kanoy?!?!

    I’ll end with this: Elokim, al dami lach, al techerash v’al tishkot, Keil. Ki hinei oy’vecha yehemayun umsan’echa nas’u rosh! Tatte — tirdefo b’sa’arecha uvsufas’cha sivahalo!

    Lastly, I will say that it is unfair to say that I have no connection with berland’s shenanigans. I have very close friends who are drawn to him and his teachings! It breaks my heart to see my good-hearted, sincere friends be so mired in the tumah of this sicko!

    I hope my words have awakened people to stand up for our Torah and our G-d!

    If you both, or anyone else, thinks I’m off, I look forward to reading your rebuttal with a fully open mind!

    Thank you for this opportunity to clarify these points.

    Oy! She’kulanu nachzor b’teshuvah miyad, v’ani b’rosham!

    Thank you. Besuros Tovos.

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