Vidui Devarim — Confession of Words

Confession of Words

Based on the confession of the pious Rabbi Yitzchak Breiter, of blessed memory, may Hashem avenge his blood.

Please, Hashem, our God and God of our fathers, may our prayer come before You, and do not disregard our supplication, our King. For we are neither so brazen nor so stiff-necked as to say before You, Hashem our God and God of our fathers, that we are righteous and have not sinned. Rather, we have sinned, acted perversely, and transgressed—we, our fathers, and the members of our households:

We have incurred guilt. We have betrayed. We have robbed. We have spoken slander and lashon hara. We have acted perversely and wickedly. We have acted willfully. We have committed violence. We have fabricated falsehood and deceit. We have given evil counsel. We have lied. We have grown angry. We have scoffed. We have rebelled. We have defied Your words. We have blasphemed. We have committed adultery. We have strayed. We have acted perversely. We have transgressed. We have caused blemish. We have persecuted. We have caused pain to father and mother. We have stiffened our necks. We have acted wickedly. We have corrupted. We have committed abominations. We have strayed and led others astray. We have turned away from Your commandments and from Your good ordinances, and it has not profited us. Yet You are righteous in all that has come upon us, for You have acted truthfully, while we have acted wickedly:

To the honored soul of our master, teacher, and Rebbe—the Light of lights, the purest of pure radiance, Sava de-Savin, Atika de-Atikin, the river flowing from Eden to water, revive, and purify all beings and all souls—namely, our holy Rebbe, Rabbi Nachman son of Feiga; may his merit protect us and all Israel, amen. With awe and love, I now approach the place where you are interred, the Holy of Holies, the place from which the holy spring flows—from there all the flocks drink, and for it all hearts yearn—to fulfill your instruction in your holy book, Likutay Moharan, Torah 4, and to make a verbal confession before the Tzaddik. For I do not know upon which path I am walking. You said that you came into the world to bring the souls of Israel close to Hashem, blessed be He; but you can bring close only one who comes to you and tells you his shortcomings—then you can rectify him. You also said in Likutay Moharan, Torah 188, that one must travel to the Tzaddik to recover what one has lost, for all lost things are with the Tzaddik.

Rebbe, Rebbe, I do not know at all what I have lost—much less do I know how to recognize my lost things. Yet I believe with complete faith that the very effort I have made and my coming here, together with these words of mine, despite all the confusion and ulterior motives within them, will avail me: that you will occupy yourself with the rectification of my soul and return to me the many things I have lost, both in this incarnation and in other incarnations.

(Here one should endeavor to recount all the evil deeds, words, and thoughts in which we have stumbled, from the day we first attained understanding until this very day.)

Rebbe, Rebbe, it is very bitter and constricted for me—darkness, cloud, and thick gloom. What shall I do? Who will return in my stead? Was I not created for this: that I myself should return, overcome the forces of evil, and endure the pain of subduing the pleasure offered by the evil inclination? All the Tzaddikim and God-fearing people passed through this crossing, for the evil inclination tormented them as well and sought to give them this dark and bitter pleasure. But they merited to overcome it, to turn their eyes and hearts away from this world (from the deceptions of this world), and to cleave to Hashem, blessed be He; and they merited what they merited—fortunate are they. But woe is me, for I wish to serve Hashem while retaining all my cravings. Against whom, then, are my complaints, if not against my own soul? Yet it is precisely over this that I cry out and come before your holy presence: that you should do such a thing for me that I, too, attain the strength to act like all the Tzaddikim of every age; that from now on I merit to live a good life in holiness and purity, and to spend my days in Torah and Divine service. I hereby make a declaration before you—before the root of the souls of Israel, the Tzaddik who rules through the fear of God—that I desire to serve Hashem, blessed be He, from now and forever; to conquer my inclination and live a true and holy life, in accordance with Hashem’s will in truth, from now and forever. And you, with your great power, act on my behalf: bring my soul out from every kind of Gehinnom that rules over it, so that it may be illuminated by the light of life and visit His Palace. May I merit to walk upon the upright path suited to the root and essence of my soul, so that through me, too, His blessed Name will be sanctified in this world and in all the worlds. Amen.

Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another. Finished and complete—praise to God, Creator of the world. May the merit of our holy Rebbe protect us and every member of Israel; the merit of Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman.