Welcome
Know, too! a person must cross a very, very narrow bridge. The main rule is: Do not be frightened at all! - Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Likutei Moharan, Part II 48:2:7
Our personal interest in Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav
Echoes of Rabbi Nachman in Jewish life today
Yair Elitzur, Tamid Ohev Oti (He Always Loves Me), published on You Tube in June 2024; 5.2 million views by March 2025. "Elitzur, an Israeli singer, was asked by his rabbi, Shalom Arush, to write a song using the words that were often said by Arush: 'God, blessed is He, always loves me and I will always have nothing but good.'" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamid_Ohev_Oti
Ushpizin (=Guests [in the Sukkah] / Hebrew: HaUshpizin, written and starring Shuli Rand, directed by Gidi Dar, 2004 Image: https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%96%D7%99%D7%9F
Elie Wiesel, Souls on Fire, New York: Random House, 1972
“His tales? Each contains many others. Imagine a series of concentric circles whose fixed centers are buried in man’s innermost being: the I inside the I, conscience become silence and peace, memory inside memory. And all are inhabited by princes and sages. By haunted creatures seeking one another, one in another. By survivors of calamities, refugees, fugitives, messengers and innocent children, orphans and beggars endlessly roaming the world only to meet again in a cave or a palace, reunited and fulfilled in ways that go beyond the experience they have gone through or been subjected to, perhaps unwittingly. Following them, we plunge into the supernatural, and yet the word miracle is never pronounced.” (p. 180)
Rabbi Nachman within the context of Hasidism
“Hasidism sought…to place the goals of contemplative religion within the reach of every Jew.” Arthur Green, Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, p23
- BeSHT/בעש״ט, Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Ba’al Shem Tov/בעל שם טוב, 1700-1760, died in Medzhibozh, founding figure of Hasidism
- Dov Baer of Mezritch, the "Maggid (=Preacher) of Mezritch," 1704-1772, successor to the Ba'al Shem Tov
The Rise of Hasidism, 1730-60 and 1760-75, https://web.archive.org/web/20090915011410/http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/0415236614/resources/maps/map50.jpg
The Partition of Poland (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
By Halibutt - Own work Corresponding maps available online: http://wlaczpolske.pl/pliczki/2030 Map. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40646
A Chronology of the Life of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, 1772-1810
- 1772 - Born in Medzhibozh (now Ukraine); great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov
- 1790 - Moved to Medvedevka; beginning of his public career
- 1798-99 - Journey to the Land of Israel
- Conflicts with his uncle Baruch of Medzhibozh and Aryeh Leib of Shpola, the Shpoler Zeide
- 1802 - Moved to Bratzlav / Breslov / ברסלב = ״לב בשר״
- 1804-1806 - Messianic Strivings
- Summer 1806 - Spring 1810 - Rabbi Nachman tells his Tales
- Fall 1807 - Summer 1808 - Treated for tuberculosis in Lemberg=Lvov=Lviv
- 1808 Publication of the first collection of his teachings, Likkutei MoHaRaN (The Collected Teachings of Rabbi Nachman)
- May 1810 - Moved to Uman, where he died in October of that year
- [1811 Publication of the second collection of his teachings, Likkutei MoHaRaN Tinyana]
- [1816 Publication of his major collection of tales, Sippurei Maasiyot]
Historical Events Relevant to the Life of Rabbi Nachman
- 1795 - Fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; the Hasidic heartland is absorbed into the Russian Empire
- 1804 - Napoleon becomes Emperor of the French
- 1770s on - Haskalah/Jewish Enlightenment arises in Central Europe. Haskalah had a significant influence in Galicia (including Lemberg/Lvov) and some influence even in southern Ukraine
Important Themes in the Life and Teaching of Rabbi Nachman
The Tzaddik/Zaddiq/Righteous One
Engraving of Rabbi Israel Hofstein, the Maggid of Kozienice, southern Poland (1736-1813). By NN - National Library of Israel, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12678269
- “He (Nahman) was very cross with those who thought that the main reason for the zaddiq’s ability to attain such a high level of understanding was the nature of his soul. He said that this was not the case, but that everything depended first and foremost upon good deeds, struggle, and worship. He said explicitly that everyone in the world could reach even the highest rung, that everything depended upon human choice [referring to Shivhei HaRan 26].” A. Green, op. cit., p.14
- The ‘suffering zaddiq’ rather than the ‘regal zaddiq’ in other Hasidic courts (See A. Green, p. 44).
- Zaddiq ha-dor (the Tzaddik of the generation) “On at least one occasion he is said to have spoken quite openly of five great zaddiqey ha-dor in the course of history: Moses, Simeon ben Yohai, Isaac Luria, the Ba`al Shem Tov, and himself.” A. Green, p. 119, referring to Hayyei MoHaRaN II 2:39.
Personal Growth
- “For all the inner torment and outer conflict which characterized his life (or perhaps because of them?) Nahman stands as one of those disturbing and challenging individuals who taught that the essence of the human and religious enterprise is the constant need to grow.” A. Green, p. 123.
Doubt, Faith, and Joy
- “the experience of the absence of God, or man’s inability to experience God directly, must be taken seriously. Man lives in a world where God cannot be ‘seen’; given this reality, doubt is an inevitable part of the life of every religious human being, and the denial of God’s very existence is something at which the faithful cannot afford to scoff.” A. Green, p. 291.
- “Even though it seems that ordinary folk are far from philosophy and do not ask any such questions at all, in truth they are all involved in philosophical inquiry, and each of them has questions. Even children are confounded by philosophical questions.” Rabbi Nachman, Sichot HaRaN 32, quoted in A. Green, p. 297.
Hitbodedut
“The most essential religious practice of Bratslav, and that which Nahman constantly taught was to be placed above all else in his disciple’s hierarchy of values, was this act of hitbodedut, lone daily conversation with God. The hasid was to set aside a certain period of time each day, preferably out of doors, if possible, and always alone, when he was to pour out before God his most intimate longings, needs, desires and frustrations.” A. Green, p. 145.
Plan for this Course: Selection of Teachings
Class 1: Story Selections: The Heart and the Spring (from The Seven Beggars); The Rooster Prince/Turkey Prince; Parable of the Produce (The Tainted Grain)
Class 2: Teaching - Likkutim II:10 Depression and Joy; Sihot 153 It is forbidden to despair!
Class 3: Likkutim I:20 Vision and Interpretation: the Zaddik
Class 4: Likkutim II:63 “the melody of Eretz Israel”
Class 5: Likkutim I:65:1-2“Know that there is a field”
Class 6 - Tale: The Wise Man and the Simpleton/The Sophisticate and the Simpleton
Class 7 - Tale: The Lost Princess
Class 8 - Tale: The Portrait / The Humble King
Class 9 - Tale: The Seven Beggars: The Fifth Day (The Hunchback)
Class 10 - Likkutim I:282 Azam’ra/I will sing
Story Selection 1/3: The Heart and The Spring
from "The Seven Beggars," the concluding tale in Sippurei Maasiyot. "The Heart and the Spring" makes up part of story of The Third Day - The Beggar with a Speech Defect. Told in 1810.
(לו) וְיֵשׁ הַר וְעַל הָהָר עוֹמֵד אֶבֶן וּמִן הָאֶבֶן יוֹצֵא מַעְיָן וְכָל דָּבָר יֵשׁ לוֹ לֵב וְגַם הָעוֹלָם בִּכְלָלוֹ יֵשׁ לוֹ לֵב וְזֶה הַלֵּב שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם הוּא קוֹמָה שְׁלֵמָה עִם פָּנִים וְיָדַיִם וְרַגְלַיִם וְכוּ' אֲבָל הַצִּפּרֶן שֶׁל הָרֶגֶל, שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ הַלֵּב שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם הוּא מְלֻבָּב יוֹתֵר מִלֵּב שֶׁל אַחֵר וְזֶה הָהָר עִם הָאֶבֶן וְהַמַּעְיָן הַנַּ"ל עוֹמֵד בְּקָצֶה אֶחָד שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם וְזֶה הַלֵּב שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד בְּקָצֶה אַחֵר שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם וְזֶה הַלֵּב הַנַּ"ל עוֹמֵד כְּנֶגֶד הַמַּעְיָן הַנַּ"ל וְכוֹסֵף וּמִשְׁתּוֹקֵק תָּמִיד מְאד מְאד לָבוֹא אֶל אוֹתוֹ הַמַּעְיָן בְּהִשְׁתּוֹקְקוּת גָּדוֹל מְאד מְאד וְצוֹעֵק מְאד לָבוֹא אֶל אוֹתוֹ הַמַּעְיָן וְגַם זֶה הַמַּעְיָן מִשְׁתּוֹקֵק אֵלָיו וְזֶה הַלֵּב.
(36) And there is a Mountain, and on the Mountain stands a Stone, and from the Stone emerges a Spring. Now, everything has a heart, and the entire world also has a heart, and the Heart of the World is a complete structure, with face, hands, feet etc. But the nail of the foot of the World's Heart is heartier [Yid. hertziker] than the heart of anything else. And the Mountain with the Stone and the Spring stands at one end of the world, while this Heart of the World stands at another end of the world, and the Heart stands facing the Spring, desiring and hoping continuously, exceedingly, that it should come to the Spring, and the longing and desire of the Heart to come to the Spring is just extraordinary. It screams nonstop, the Heart, to come to the Source, and the Source longs for the Heart too.
(לז) יֵשׁ לוֹ שְׁתֵּי חֲלִישׁוּת אַחַת כִּי הַחַמָּה רוֹדֶפֶת אוֹתוֹ וְשׂוֹרֶפֶת אוֹתוֹ [מֵחֲמַת שֶׁהוּא מִשְׁתּוֹקֵק וְרוֹצֶה לֵילֵךְ וּלְהִתְקָרֵב אֶל הַמַּעְיָן] וַחֲלִישׁוּת הַשְּׁנִיָּה יֵשׁ לוֹ לְהַלֵּב מִן גּדֶל הַהִשְׁתּוֹקְקוּת וְהַגַּעְגּוּעִים, שֶׁהוּא מִתְגַּעְגֵּעַ וְכוֹסֵף תָּמִיד וּמִשְׁתּוֹקֵק מְאד, בִּכְלוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ, אֶל אוֹתוֹ הַמַּעְיָן וְצוֹעֵק וְכוּ' כַּנַּ"ל כִּי הוּא עוֹמֵד תָּמִיד כְּנֶגֶד הַמַּעְיָן הַנַּ"ל, וְצוֹעֵק [נָא גִּיוַואלְד] [ביטוי צעקה באידיש כמו "אהה"] וּמִשְׁתּוֹקֵק אֵלָיו מְאד כַּנַּ"ל.
(37) Now, the Heart has two things that make it weak. One, because the sun pursues it exceedingly and scorches it (because it always yearns and desires to come to the Source), and the second thing that tires the Heart is due to yearning and desiring, that the Heart constantly yearns and wishes; it keeps pouring out its soul for the Source and screaming and so forth, as above, so as to come to the Source, for the Heart is always standing facing the Source, and screams "Na! Gevald!" [Yid. Please! Woe!], and keeps on yearning most exceedingly for the Source, as mentioned.
(לח) וּכְשֶׁצָּרִיךְ לָנוּחַ קְצָת, שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לוֹ אֲרִיכַת הָרוּחַ קְצָת, [שֶׁקּוֹרִין נשימת רווחה] אֲזַי בָּא צִפּוֹר גָּדוֹל וּפוֹרֵשׂ כְּנָפָיו עָלָיו, וּמֵגֵן עָלָיו מִן הַחַמָּה וְאָז יֵשׁ לוֹ נַיְחָא קְצָת וְגַם אָז, בִּשְׁעַת נַיְחָא, הוּא מִסְתַּכֵּל גַּם כֵּן כְּנֶגֶד הַמַּעְיָן וּמִתְגַּעְגֵּעַ אֵלָיו אַךְ מֵאַחַר שֶׁהוּא מִתְגַּעְגֵּעַ אֵלָיו כָּל כָּךְ, מִפְּנֵי מָה אֵינוֹ הוֹלֵךְ אֶל הַמַּעְיָן ? אַךְ כְּשֶׁרוֹצֶה לֵילֵךְ וּלְהִתְקָרֵב אֶל הָהָר אֲזַי אֵינוֹ רוֹאֶה הַשִּׁפּוּעַ, וְאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהִסְתַּכֵּל עַל הַמַּעְיָן וְאִם לא יִסְתַּכֵּל עַל הַמַּעְיָן אֲזַי תֵּצֵא נַפְשׁוֹ כִּי עִקַּר חִיּוּתוֹ הוּא מִן הַמַּעְיָן וּכְשֶׁעוֹמֵד כְּנֶגֶד הָהָר אֲזַי הוּא רוֹאֶה ראשׁ הַשִּׁפּוּעַ שֶׁל הָהָר, שֶׁשָּׁם עוֹמֵד הַמַּעְיָן אֲבָל תֵּכֶף כְּשֶׁיֵּלֵךְ וְיִתְקָרֵב אֶל הָהָר אֲזַי נֶעְלַם מֵעֵינָיו ראשׁ הַשִּׁפּוּעַ, [וְזֶה מוּבָן בְּחוּשׁ] וַאֲזַי אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַמַּעְיָן וַאֲזַי תֵּצֵא נַפְשׁוֹ, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם וּכְשֶׁזֶּה הַלֵּב הָיָה מִסְתַּלֵּק, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם אֲזַי יִתְבַּטֵּל כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ כִּי הַלֵּב הוּא הַחִיּוּת שֶׁל כָּל דָּבָר וּבְוַדַּאי אֵין קִיּוּם בְּלא לֵב וְעַל כֵּן אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לֵילֵךְ אֶל הַמַּעְיָן רַק עוֹמֵד כְּנֶגְדּוֹ, וּמִתְגַּעְגֵּעַ וְצוֹעֵק כַּנַּ"ל.
(38) However, when the Heart needs to rest a bit, so as to draw a little breath [Yid. oyf zoyfn] then comes a Big Bird and spreads its wings above it, shielding it from the sun; then the Heart gets a little rest. But even then while resting it also looks facing the Spring and still longs for it. But since it longs so much for the Source, why does it not go to the Source? Only, as soon as the Heart wants to go close to the Mountain upon which is the Source then it no longer sees the peak; it cannot look at the Spring — and as soon as it would not look at the Spring it would expire, for the Heart's entire vitality is only from the Source, so when it stands facing the Mountain then it sees the Mountain peak where the Spring is, but immediately as soon as it wants to go to the Mountain, the peak no longer appears (for such indeed is the way with a tall mountain; standing from afar the peak is visible, but upon going nearer the peak is no longer visible). Then it can no longer look at the Source and could — Mercy save us! — expire, and if this Heart — Mercy save us! — would expire the whole world would be destroyed, for the Heart is the very vitality of everything, and how can the world endure without the Heart? Therefore the Heart cannot go to the Spring; it only stands facing the Spring, longing and screaming without cease to be able to come to it, as mentioned.
Story Selection 2 of 3: The Turkey Prince
Appeared in Kochvei Ohr of Rabbi Abraham Chazan, a leader of Breslov Chasidut (d. 1917).
The English below is from Flames of Faith, Zev Reichman. A motivational introduction to chassidic thought directed at a contemporary American audience. Englewood, New Jersey: Kodesh Press, 2010 – 2014. See also https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/ כוכבי_אור/סיפורים_נפלאים#המשל_מההינדיק and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rooster_Prince
The Story of the Turkey Prince Rebbe Nachman of Breslov related the following story: Once the king’s son went mad and thought he was a turkey. He felt compelled to sit under the table without any clothes on, pulling at bits of bread and bones like a turkey. None of the doctors could do anything to heal him or cure him, and they gave up in despair. The king was very sad. Then a wise man came and said, “I can cure him.” What did the wise man do? He took off all his clothes, and sat down naked under the table next to the prince and also pecked at crumbs and bones. The prince asked him, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” “And what are you doing here?” he replied. “I am a turkey,” said the prince. “I am also a turkey,” said the wise man. The two of them sat together like this for some time, until they were used to one another. Then the wise man gave a sign, and the king’s men threw them shirts. The wise man-turkey said to the prince, “Do you think a turkey can’t wear a shirt? You can wear a shirt and still be a turkey.” The two of them put on shirts. After a while he gave another sign, and guards threw them trousers. Again the wise man said, “Do you think if you wear trousers you can’t be a turkey?” They put on trousers. One by one they put on the rest of their clothes in the same way. Afterwards, the wise man gave a sign and they put down human food from the table. The wise man said to the prince, “Do you think if you eat good food you can’t be a turkey any more? You can eat this food and still be a turkey.” They ate. Then he said to him, “Do you think a turkey has to sit under the table? You can be a turkey and sit up at the table.” This was how the wise man dealt with the prince, until in the end he cured him completely.
Compare: A girl who acted like a dog in Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga, The Courage to be Happy, Atra Books, 2019, pp. 149-150
"One of [Alfred] Adler’s (1870-1937) patients for a time was a girl who suffered from severe mental illness. This was a girl who had been struggling with symptoms for eight years already, and two years prior to their meeting, it had been deemed necessary to commit her to an institution. Of their first encounter, Adler states, 'She barked like a dog, spat, tore at her clothes, and tried to eat her handkerchief.'" (p. 149)
"[Adler] spoke to her for eight days in a row, but she did not utter a word. He continued her counseling, and after thirty days she began to talk in a confused and unintelligible way." (p. 150)
Story Selection 3 of 3: The Parable of the Grain/The Tainted Grain
Appeared in Kochvei Ohr by Rabbi Abraham Chazan (d. 1917). Translated in Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, The Seven Beggars & Other Kabbalistic Tales of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 2005, p. 125
"The Parable of the Grain," transl. David Rosenberg
Once upon a time a/the king said to his friend and vizier: “As I am an astrologer, I see that anyone who eats any of the grain that will grow this year will go insane. We need a plan.” He answered him that grain should be prepared for them so that they would not eat the aforementioned grain. The king answered, “If so, if we alone will not be insane, and the entire world will be insane, then it will be the opposite—we will be the insane ones.” (It was impossible to prepare for everyone.) “We too will have to eat the grain. However, just this: We will make a mark on our forehead, so that we will at least know that we are insane. If I were to look at your forehead and, conversely, if you were to look at my forehead, we would know from the sign that we are insane.”
המשל מהתבואה.שפעם אחת אמר המלך לאהובו השני למלך באשר אני חוזה בכוכבים, רואה אני שכל התבואה שיגדל בשנה זאת, מי שיאכל ממנה יהיה נעשה משוגע, אם כן יטכס עצה. וענה לו, שעל כן יכינו בעדם תבואה שלא יצטרכו לאכול מתבואה הנ"ל. וענה לו המלך אם כן כשאנחנו לבד לא נהיה משגעים. וכל העולם יהיה משוגע, אז יהיה להפך (ולהכין בשביל כולם אי אפשר) שאנחנו יהיו המשגעים. על כן בודאי נצטרך גם כן לאכול מהתבואה, אבל רק זה שנסמן סימן על מצחנו שנדע על כל פנים שאנחנו משוגע. שאם אהיה מסתכל על מצחך וכן כשתסתכל על מצחי נדע מהסימן שאנחנו משוגע.
Summary - Next Class
Class 2: Teaching - Likkutim II:10 Depression and Joy; Sihot 153 It is forbidden to despair!