Outsmarting the Hijackers

Rebbe Nachman on Hitbodedut, part 2

Chambers of the Palace, Part 11

A New Path

All the destructive forces already know about the written prayers and lay in wait on the path of those prayers. This is like a main road that everyone knows about, where murderers and hijackers lie in wait. But when one goes on a new path that is still not known, they do not know to lie in wait there.

The same holds true for hitbodedut.

One’s spontaneous speech with God is a new path and a new prayer that a person creates from his heart.

Therefore, the negative forces aren’t there to such an extent to ambush him.

Still, Rabbi Nachman admonished us a great deal to pray the regular prayers. (Likutei Moharan II 97)

Hitbodedut and the Messiah

Rabbi Nachman said, “There are certainly kosher Jews who do not practice hitbodedut. But I call them confused.

“When the Messiah suddenly comes and calls them, they will be confused.

“But we will be like a person waking up from a sleep with a calm mind. Our minds will be clear and undisturbed.” (Sichot Haran 228)

Like Water on a Stone

Rabbi Nachman said that even if many years pass and it appears that one’s hitbodedut has not accomplished anything, one should not be discouraged.

One’s words actually are making an impression. Rabbi Nachman gave the analogy of water dripping on a stone. Even though it may appear that the water does not affect the stone, if the water keeps falling regularly, it will finally wear a hole through the stone.

Even if a person has a heart of stone and his prayer to God doesn’t seem to be making any impression, over the course of many days and years, his words will wear a hole through it. (Sichot Haran 234)

The Spider Web

A certain person went to Rabbi Nachman several times and wanted to speak with him, but he couldn’t open his mouth to tell Rabbi Nachman what was on his mind.

Once, when he was serving Rabbi Nachman, he decided to speak, but he couldn’t even open his mouth.

When Rabbi Nachman came out of the bathhouse on a Friday afternoon, he told that man to hand him his shoes, so that he could put them on in honor of Shabbat. As the man handed the shoes to Rabbi Nachman, Rabbi Nachman told him, “Accustom yourself to speak before God. Then you will find it possible to speak with me.”

Later, when this man had another chance to speak with Rabbi Nachman, he again found it difficult.

Rabbi Nachman said, “A soldier once attacked a stronghold. When he came to the gate, it was blocked by spider webs. Could there be a greater foolishness than turning back because of the spider webs?”

Afterwards, Rabbi Nachman told this man that the essential thing is speech. Through speech, one can conquer everything and win all the wars. Although one can do hitbodedut in one’s thoughts, the essential thing is to say the words out loud.

Sometimes it is difficult for a person to tell God or true tzaddikim what is in his heart. This is because he is embarrassed; he lacks the necessary holy brazenness. This is very foolish. The person wants to use his speech to conquer a great war—the war against his evil inclination. Now, when he is close to speaking, when he is close to conquering the wall and entering the gates, a small obstacle upsets him. Will he cease speaking? This obstacle is like a curtain of spider webs before the wall that he wishes to break with his speech. (Sichot Haran 232)

Even One Word is Very Good

Rabbi Nachman said that he made sure to engage in hitbodedut every day.

He said that even if one cannot speak, even if one can only say one word, that too is very good.

If one can only say one word, one should repeat that word over and over. Even if one spends a few days on that one word, that too is good. One should keep repeating the word until God will have pity on him and open his mouth. (Likutei Moharan II, 96)

The Power of Speech

Rabbi Nachman said that speech has great power. One can whisper to a rifle to keep it from shooting. Understand this.

Rabbi Nachman praised hitbodedut at great length. He encouraged us very much to engage in a great deal of hitbodedut.

He said that he wanted us to do hitbodedut every day and to spend the whole day on it.

But since not everyone can do this, a person should at least spend about an hour doing hitbodedut. This too is very good.

But if a person’s heart is strong in serving God and he wants to truly take on the yoke of serving God, he should spend the whole day doing hitbodedut.

As our sages say, “Would that a person would pray the entire day” (Berachot 21). (Likutei Moharan II 96)

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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