Rebbe Nachman’s Charm
This is a delightful treasury of the memorable expressions and metaphors that Rebbe Nachman of Breslev used to describe...
The world needs me very much indeed. Without me, the world cannot exist at all.
You yourself know how much you need me. All the Tzaddikim also need me, because they too need to improve. Even the nations of the world need me. I could draw the gentiles to God and bring them closer to the faith of Israel. However: “Enough for the servant to be like his Master” ( Berachot 58b) .
(Chayey Moharan #248, 250-1)
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I am a river that cleanses from all stains…
I am a most beautiful, most amazing tree with most amazing branches. And down below, I am literally under the ground…
I am a wonder, and my soul is very wondrous.
I am the elder of elders.
I am the holy elder, who reveals things which the Ancient of Days concealed. (Chayey Moharan #245, 256, 272, 289, 332)
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I will lead you on a new path which no man has ever traveled before. It is really a very old path, and yet it is completely new. (Tovot Zichronot p. 107)
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In time to come, I will sing a song which will be the world to come of all the Tzaddikim and Chassidim. (Chayey Moharan #267)
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My teachings and conversations are not only for you, but for “those who are here…. and for those who are not here” – the future generations (Deuteronomy 29:14; Rashi ad loc.). You must also teach your children all the lessons and ideas and stories that I have revealed to you. “And you shall make them known to your children and your children’s children!” (ibid. 4:9). (Sichot Haran #209)
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I can turn a person into a good Jew and make him just like me! Literally!!! (Chayey Moharan #230)
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My mission is a secret. It is such a secret that even when I reveal the secret, it still remains a secret. (Siach Sarfey Kodesh 1-54)
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Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar , was unique, as everyone knows. From the time of Rabbi Shimon until the ARI (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria 1534-72), there were no new revelations like Rabbi Shimon’s. Only the ARI revealed entirely new and original teachings which no-one could reveal until his time. After the Ari, no new teachings were revealed until the coming of the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), who was also totally unique and who revealed completely new teachings.
From the time of the Baal Shem Tov until today there have been no new revelations on such a level. Until now, the world has been sustained only by the revelations of the Baal Shem Tov.
Then I came along!!! And now I am starting to reveal totally awesome, exalted, original teachings. (Chayey Moharan #279)
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I know wisdom that cannot be revealed. If I were to begin to reveal this wisdom, people would be nourished by the sheer delight of understanding it. They would no longer eat or drink. Every soul would long to hear this wisdom and the whole world would grind to a halt. People would leave their present lives in search of the sweet beauty of this wisdom. But I cannot reveal this wisdom to mankind… (Sichot Haran #181)
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The Song and Dance of My Torahs
As yet the world has not had the least taste of me. Were they only to hear one of my lessons with its true melody and dance, they would pass into a state of complete surrender. I mean the whole world – even the animals and plants! Everything in existence would be nullified. Their very souls would expire from overwhelming delight.
Think of the power of music and dance. Someone who truly understands music can play melodies that spring from its very essence and have the power to draw the very soul of the listener after their every nuance. The listener becomes totally subordinate to the melody, surrendering himself to its drawing power. The melody penetrates and arouses him, drawing him along with it.
This is even more so with dance. A real dancer can dance in such a way that his body expresses every subtle shade of the music he is dancing to. Every limb of his body moves in perfect unison with the music. Sometimes the music calls for a movement of the head, the legs or the arms. It may call for the dancer to bend down or swing around. The movements of the body must be in perfect harmony with the music.
Now think of a melody with words. In a perfect song, the words are connected to the melody in every detail. The song expresses in words exactly what the music expresses through the beauty of the melody. Now add the element of dance: the dance expresses in terms of bodily movement what the words and music express in their terms. Everything works in complete harmony.
When the words, melody and dance are all interrelated and interwoven in perfect unity, anyone who experiences them will be so overwhelmed with delight that his soul will literally expire and he will fall into a state of complete surrender. This is the greatest of all pleasures. Anyone who hasn’t tasted this knows nothing of pleasure.
Those present when such a player sings and dances are powerless: they simply expire with yearning and delight. The closer a person is to the melody and dance and the deeper his understanding, the more the movements of the music and dance will come naturally because of the drawing power of the delight they cause. His pleasure at the music and dance draws him in and takes over. He quite spontaneously starts moving, singing and dancing.
Likewise, the closer someone is to my teachings, the more natural and easy will the movements of their holy song and dance become.
Happy is the eye that sees this, for even in the next world, not everyone will be worthy of hearing and seeing this. “Only those who labor on the eve of Shabbat will eat on Shabbat.” (Chayey Moharan #340)
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To be continued.
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