The Master of Prayer, Part 2
There have been controversial tzaddikim, but after their death, things calmed down. So why do people still oppose Rebbe Nachman, 200 years after his death?
Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody
The Master of Prayer, part 2
Rebbe Nachman teaches us how to pray. Not only that, he teaches us how to use prayer to our best advantage. He once told his followers: “Give me your hearts, and I’ll take you on a new way that’s the ancient way of our forefathers.” This is the way of prayer.
Rebbe Nachman takes us on a diamond studded path. Everywhere we are we can bend down and pick up a diamond. Each gem is a 5-karat wonder that’s worth millions. Each diamond illuminates our soul from its dazzling reflection. These diamonds have a very special name – Hitbodedut, or personal prayer.
Personal prayer is your own personal and private conversations with Hashem, where you pour out your heart and your innermost feelings. Rebbe Nachman explains that despite Hashem’s many tasks in running the world, He drops everything to listen to the voice of His son or daughter that calls out to Him in personal prayer. Rebbe Nachman says the Personal prayer is the virtue that surpasses everything – nowhere else does Rebbe Nachman use such a superlative – the virtue that surpasses everything!
If a person doesn’t fall into despair, and he or she is persevers in talking to Hashem, then Rebbe Nachman explains, that they earn the biggest prize this world has to offer – prayer and a strong connection with Hashem.
When a person has a strong connection with Hashem, he or she has everything – they have income, health, whatever they need.
The most important thing a person has to ask Hashem for is to free him from bodily urges.
Every bodily urge is like a prison. Here are a few examples of how we should pray:
“Hashem, free me from the inclination to overeat!” When a person is saved from overeating, it’s paradise, freedom of the soul.
“Hashem, free me from lustful thoughts and inclinations! Help me use the procreation mechanism only in performing a mitzvah. Help me keep my thoughts, speech and deeds pure.” Overcoming an appetite for lewdness is also freedom from a dungeon.
“Hashem, free me from the desire for material things and money. Help me aspire for the perfection of my soul and the perfection of character. Give me emotional strength and courage to do what’s right. Give me emuna, and help me see Your Loving Hand in everything that goes on around me!” Breaking the chains of materialism is a Shangri-la dream paradise for the soul.
Ask Hashem for all your needs, big or small. With prayer, you can accomplish anything!
More than anything, ask Hashem to bring you closer to Him. Sixty minutes a day of personal prayer will help you realize that there’s a Creator to the world. There’s no need to be alone, so bring Hashem in your life. Trust Him and in Him –that’s the key to a beautiful life.
We still have questions to answer:
So what’s the connection between Rebbe Nachman and Uman? Jewish history has had its controversial tzaddikim, but after their death, everything calmed down. Yet, nearly two hundred years after Rebbe Nachman’s death, people still vehemently oppose him and his followers. Why?
The Evil Inclination will let you learn the whole Gemara by heart, as long as you don’t pray. Prayer brings a person closer to Hashem. Therefore, the Evil Inclination’s biggest enemy is the Master of Prayer.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslev is the Master of Prayer. He teaches the whole world that Hashem is good for everything, even a smile. You smile when you attain emuna, and emuna teaches you to be happy with what you have.
Rebbe Nachman further taught Rebbe Natan that the greatest tzaddikim of all the generations, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Moses, then King David, and continuing on down the line of tradition to our tzaddikim of today, all achieved their lofty level only by personal prayer and constantly talking to Hashem.
This means that a person doesn’t have to be born with a soul of a tzaddik or an intellect of a Talmudic genius to attain a high spiritual level – he or she must simply talk to Hashem.
Rebbe Nachman said that from all his devotion to spirituality – his principle service of Hashem and the ladder of his spiritual growth was prayer – he prayed to Hashem in every single way. He gleaned prayers out of books, said Tehillim, said the prescribed prayers from the siddur, but more than anything, he spent hours in personal prayer.
In his youth, Rebbe Nachman used to make himself suffer. He’d fast frequently, often from Shabbat to Shabbat. But, in his later life, he said that if he knew the power of prayer, especially personal prayer, he’d never have fasted so much.
Rebbe Nachman said that the reason the world was against him, and against his followers to this day, is because he is the Master of Prayer. Since Rebbe Nachman is the Master of Prayer, Uman is the world center of prayer, as we’ll see next week, G-d willing.
To be continued.
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