Excerpts from a lesson given by HaRav Eliezer Berland, shlit”a,
18 Tishrei, Rebbe Nachman’s Yahrtzeit, 5758
The Rav read from Chayei Moharan 340 of the praises
of the holy teachings of the Rebbe, that anyone who heard his teaching
with its unique melody and dance would become egoless out of ecstasy. The
Rav said that this is the main thing—to hear the melody that emanates from
every single letter, because there is nothing higher than melody, than
the “World of Ta’amim” [i.e. the melody that accompanies the reading
of the Torah]. A person in [a state of] melody ascends to the world of
Atzilus,
where there are no words, just melody. This is the aspect of desire and
longing for Hashem, an aspect of “My heart and my flesh will sing to the
living G–d” (Tehillim 84:13.)
The Rav said that in Breslov, today, people ask,
“How much may one get excited? How many degrees of heat must one burn for
Hashem?” This is what someone asked the Tcheriner Rav, “What is the meaning
of that which the Rebbe says in lesson forty–nine, that the heart of a
Jew burns endlessly [literally, “to the Ein Sof”] for Hashem?” The
Tcheriner Rav rebuked him, saying, “There was a time that when people read
this line, they would immediately run out to the field to cry to Hashem.
Today they ask what it means? How many degrees?” The Rav said that, today,
the entire teaching of Rebbe Nachman is turned upside–down. The main thing
is the practice, to do hisbodedus, to get up at midnight and go
to the field and, in so doing, meaning, by following the Rebbe’s guidance
with simplicity, which is the main thing, one then merits to hear the awesome
melody of each and every lesson. Today, everything is turned into sophistry,
into hair–splitting questions and solutions. And even though this also
is very good, because there is incredible wisdom in every lesson, the truth
is that the main point of learning in–depth is to go deeper into hearing
the melody that permeates every single lesson.
This also applies to the actual letters of the prayers,
that one needs to hear the wondrous melodies that permeate every single
letter. Rabbi Nachman said in lesson sixty-five that every single letter
speaks to a person, "how can you bear to part from me..." It is possible
to actually hear how each letter speaks to a person. When one begins to
pray, he is like someone who enters a garden filled with wondrous flowers—anemones,
cyclamens—and when he swallows the words quickly it’s as though he tramples
all the flowers and destroys the garden. It then becomes a “field of weepers”
from which come all a person’s crying and all his troubles, because he
trampled on the letters of the prayer. For the letters are awesome chambers
(as Rav Pinchas of Koritz said), and a person thinks that the letter is
such a little thing… but, in truth, when he says the letter, he is like
a person who presses a button and enters awesome chambers. This is why
praying is so difficult, because one really is so far from these chambers.
Therefore, the words should be said very slowly…. If a person starts to
pray and he doesn’t immediately feel inspired, he just gives up completely
on concentrating and praying slowly. About this, the Kamarner wrote very
harshly that there is no such thing as instant enthusiasm, even among Tzaddikim
there is no such thing, but the task is to say the words slowly until one
merits to focus properly and feel enthusiastic.
In Likutei Moharan I:178 the Rebbe speaks about
dancing, that one must pass through the entire “body form” of joy. Although
enthusiastic dancing is a very great thing (The Rav said, joking, how today
there are already all sorts of rules and regulations how much one can jump
while dancing, how fired–up one is permitted to get…), this is just one
issue. There is another issue, much deeper, which is the complete focused
labor of dancing, which can take years until a person enters it. The task
is, as Rebbe Nachman said, that one must go through the entire “body form”
of joy and, through this, he can tell which of his limbs are blemished.
He then has to repent and confess about this particular limb. Because,
in the limb that he blemished, joy cannot spread. (Which is why, sometimes
a person’s feet are light but his mind is preoccupied and heavy. At times,
it is the opposite; it is all in accordance with the blemish.) By passing
through the entire upright structure of joy, and the joy spreads through
every limb, he can confess and repent and, through this, come to complete
self–nullification. This is what the Rebbe said to Reb Nosson in that same
conversation, that by hearing the melody that emerges from the Rebbe’s
lesson, his limbs would start to dance. (The Rav added that, as much as
a person hears the melody of the Tzaddik, to that degree can he
dance.) He then merits complete self–nullification, not just him, but the
entire world as well…. The Rav said about this, that everything is contingent
on each single person. If one person would merit to come to true self–nullification,
the entire world would also. Moshe Rabbeinu, when he came to the burning
bush, didn’t eat or drink for forty days, and neither did his sheep…. (Midrash
Tanchuma, Parshas Shemos.] Everything depends on a single person who achieves
true self–nullification.
In Likutei Moharan I:52 the Rebbe speaks about hisbodedus,
that the main thing is to come to self–nullification, that is, that a person
should see his own lowliness during his hisbodedus, his true baseness
and be an aspect of the “Mount Tabor of four parsangs,” (Likutei Moharan
I:14.) That he should break [TaBoR = ShaBaR / “break”] his
arrogance [“Mount”] in four ways. He should feel that he is less than the
righteous, the mediocre, and the wicked [and also less than the level that
he himself is on.] This is what we see by Devorah, she merited to sing
on Mount Tabor because she had completely achieved this self–nullification.
The Rav said that only this is called hisbodedus. If a person feels
some self–importance after his hisbodedus, that he feels more important
that anybody else, he immediately will get angry at his wife or his friends
since he feels that they don’t honor him sufficiently (Sefer HaMiddos,
Hisbodedus.)
The Rav was very encouraging about dancing for the
“festival of the water drawing.” He said that in the Netziv’s yeshiva,
they would dance from the afternoon prayers until the morning. (After the
death of the Netziv, they danced only until the evening prayers.) In the
yeshiva of the Alter of Kelm, which was known as the most polished of the
yeshivos, they would jump on the tables during Simchas Torah. When someone
expressed his confusion about this, the Alter said that this is the way
it ought to be done every single day. Since this is impossible, at the
very least, they do it on Simchas Torah. The Rav then said that it isn’t
any wonder since, if one is full of Shas, halachic decisions, and
the letters of the holy Gemara, so the letters themselves jump. He also
spoke about Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin who, after the meal during the two
days of Rosh Hashanah, would go down to the Beis Medrash and stand in the
middle with his arms raised. In a state of spiritual arousal, he would
sing, “To make known and have it be known that Hashem is the King over
the entire earth,” [Kedusha of Mussaf, Rosh Hashanah.] All the students
who had remained there would awaken to his voice and would stream to him
from all corners of the yeshiva. They would sing this together until the
evening for both days of Rosh Hashanah. This melody stayed in Breslov and
it was brought over [to Israel] by the older Chassidim. (The Rav then started
to sing the melody and said that everyone should learn it. He repeated
it many times together with those assembled.) In the merit of the songs
and melodies of Sukkos, may we merit the complete redemption, speedily
and in our days.
Regarding eating in holiness, a person causes concealment
by eating improperly or in a vulgar manner. Through this, he causes the
brazen–faced people in the generation to be appointed to positions of authority
(Likutei Moharan I:67.) The Rebbe said, “See what “dogs” rule over
us…” In truth, one must always endeavor to eat as though a prominent person
was sitting with him at the table. In other words very slowly (Chaye
Moharan 515). The Rav said further, that a person needs to know what
he is eating, and how much he should eat…. So, too, regarding sleep. A
person can sleep his life away; from this the “forehead of the serpent”
draws its life–force. The “forehead of the serpent” draws its life–force
from the elders who don’t continuously add holiness and holy awareness
to their lives, but, instead, sleep their lives away (Likutei Moharan
II:4.) He said jokingly, that when the Rav said to the young men to sleep
eight to ten hours a night, this they uphold to the utmost. The Rav said
that a person must first remove all the concealment caused by his own eating
and sleeping…
The Rav spoke further about the matter of self–nullification,
as Rebbe Nachman says in lesson fifty–two, that by “…being awake at night
and turning his heart to nothingness, he takes responsibility for his own
life.” The numerical equivalent of “and turning” (186) is “The Place”
(including the kollel), which is, itself, Hashem’s name [Yud Key Vav
Key] “squared,” [(10 * 10) + (5 * 5) + (6 * 6) + (5 * 5) = 186.] When
one achieves complete self–nullification, then Hashem’s ineffable Name,
the Holy Shechinah, immediately rests upon him.
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