Rebbe Nachman on the Ultimate Goal
Nations fight against each other and spill blood for nothing. Rebbe Nachman said that a number of follies that people used to believe in...
The World is Improving
Rabbi Nachman said that God’s way is different than that of man. After a person makes a garment, he cares for it as long as it is new. But as it gets older, it spoils, and he doesn’t think so much of it.
But when God created the world, it was spoiled at first. Then, step by step, it was rectified and He regarded it more highly.
Then came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and afterwards Moses. Step by step, tzaddikim rectify the world. Continuously, the world becomes more precious to God. Finally, the Messiah will come and the world will be perfected. (Sichot Haran 239)
Spiritual Evolution
Rabbi Nachman spoke of the kings who war against each other and spill a great deal of blood for nothing. He said that a number of follies (such as human sacrifice) that people used to believe in in previous generations have already been eradicated.
But the error of war has not been eradicated.
He said, “These people use their wisdom to make a weapon that can kill thousands of people at one blow. But can there be any greater idiocy than destroying many lives for nothing?” (Chayei Moharan II, p. 64, #99)
Reaching the Ultimate Goal
A person must work very hard to reach the ultimate goal. Right now, the physical nature of the world and other obstacles prevent one from really understanding the reason that one has to come close to a tzaddik.
But after death, people will understand what they had previously heard and what they will hear then, in particular, things that relate to the soul.
And what if, even then, a person cannot come close to the tzaddik…?
The main thing is that everyone should be strong in his faith in God and in the true tzaddik, and he should do all that the tzaddik says. Then he will not be ashamed in either this world or the world-to-come. (Chayei Moharan, p. 47, #21)
The Ultimate Purpose
1. Everything has a purpose. That purpose has yet another purpose, and so on, higher and higher.
For instance, the purpose of building a house is so that a person will have a place to rest. And the purpose of resting is to have strength to serve God.
2. The purpose of creation is the delight of the world to come. (Likkutei Moharan 18)
In the Ultimate Places
I heard from a Breslover that Rabbi Nachman told him this story on the eve of Yom Kippur, after kaparot.
Rabbi Nachman told that he was walking in a forest. The forest was large and without end, and he wanted to go back. Someone came to him and told him that it is impossible to come to the end of this forest, because it has no end. All the vessels in the world are made from this forest. But he showed Rabbi Nachman a way to get out of the forest.
Afterwards, Rabbi Nachman came to a river, and he wanted to come to the end of the river. Again, someone came to him and told him that one cannot come to the end of this river, because this river has no end. All the people in the world drink from the waters of this river.
But he showed Rabbi Nachman a way to get to the end of the river.
Then Rabbi Nachman came to a mill that was standing by the river. Again someone came to him and told him that this mill grinds the grain for the entire world.
Then he went back to the forest, and he saw a blacksmith sitting in the forest and working. He was told that that blacksmith made the tools for the entire world.
These matters are very mysterious.
(This wasn’t recorded in its entirety, for much was forgotten, since it wasn’t written immediately.)
He said then, “The world tells a story, but I have seen a story. (Chayei Moharan p. 44, #15)
To be continued
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From “Chambers of the Palace”, an anthology of Rebbe Nachman’s writings abridged and translated by Yaacov Dovid Shulman. Writer, translator, and editor Yaacov Dovid Shulman can be contacted at: yacovdavid@gmail.com
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