Fires of Israel - Part 46

56. When one sings the words of prayer and the song resonates with great clarity and purity, he dresses the Shechina (Divine Presence) with luminous clothing in the colors of the rainbow. This appeases the Divine wrath. [Likutay Moharan 42]

57. When we clap our hands during prayer it awakens the 28 letters that the world was created with, which parallel the 28 joints in the hands. The air that is expelled, dispels and banishes the impure atmosphere of the lands of the nations, and the air that is drawn in, welcomes and ushers in the pure atmosphere of the Land of Israel. [Likutay Moharan 44]

58. It is a great thing to hear music from a holy person playing on an instrument for the sake of Heaven. Because through this, false fantasies are dismissed, the spirit of depression is dispelled, and the person merits happiness. Through this the memory is preserved, that is, the memory of the World to Come, and a person is able to understand the hints that Hashem is constantly hinting to him everyday. Furthermore, through this a person can reach the level of the spirit of prophecy and divine inspiration, and he will be able to pour out his heart like water before Hashem. [Likutay Moharan 54]

59. The Blessed Holy One constantly constricts His G-dliness from utmost infinity to the most finite center point of this physical world, and He sends to each person; thought, speech, and deed, according to the person and according to the time and place. He enclothes within the thought; speech and deed, hints, in order to bring the person close to His service. Therefore a person needs to delve his mind into this and expand his consciousness in order to understand what the hints are in their details which Hashem is sending to him in the thoughts, words, and deeds of this day according to the specific circumstances he finds himself in. In business or work, and in everything that Hashem sends to him each day, he needs to delve and expand his mind in it, in order to understand the hints of Hashem. [Likutay Moharan 54]

60. When a Jew turns to G-d to speak to Him in a personal fashion, G-d so to speak drops everything to give this Jew His complete attention. Thus if G-d forbid there was a bad decree being enacted, it will be postponed or abolished. [Words of Rabbi Nachman 70, Adir Bamurom 242-3]

61. You need to know that just as evil arrogance is a very bad character trait, so too a person needs to have holy arrogance. Because it is impossible to come to the true tzaddikim or to draw near to holiness without arrogance, as our rabbis taught (Ethics of Our Father), “Be bold as a leopard.” [Likutay Moharan 22:11]

62. A person needs holy arrogance, holy chutzpah. He should be bold as a leopard against the people who are preventing him and mocking him. He shouldn’t subjugate himself before them, and he shouldn’t be embarrassed in front of them at all. Even though it seems that they are tzaddikim and they are better than him, and even if it is true that they are better than him, even so, since his intentions are for Heaven, and they want to confuse him, and block him from the path of life, he needs to strengthen himself with holy arrogance against them. And even against one's own Rabbi, a person needs this boldness, in order to be strong to say whatever he needs to and not be embarrassed. On this it is said, “a timid person cannot be a learned person.” [Likutay Moharan 271]

63. Anyone who wants to enter into the service of Hashem, the only way possible is to be like Avraham who considered himself to be the only one in the world. That is, he should not pay attention to anyone who is preventing him from coming close to Hashem, whether it be his father, mother, in-laws, wife, children, etc. or anyone else in the world who mocks him and tries to prevent him from serving Hashem. He should not pay attention to them at all, rather he should follow the verse “Avraham was one” (Yichezkel 32) As if he is the only one in the world. [Likutay Moharan vol. 2, an addendum after the introduction]

The Tzadik (Saint)

64. Rebbe Nachman would often tell his students about the great level that he reached in order to get them jealous and inspire them to serve Hashem like he did. One time someone responded to him, “Who can possibly reach the level of the Tzaddkim like yourself, certainly you were all created with really great souls.” Rebbe Nachman answered him in a stringent manner; “This is the main problem with you all, that you think the greatness of the Tzaddikim are due to their high level of soul, that is not true, every single person can reach my level and be exactly like me. It all depends on effort and honest work.” [Words of Rabbi Nachman 165]

65. The world says that a person doesn’t need to seek greatness. I say that you must certainly seek greatness. Investigate and seek out only the greatest Tzaddik. [Words of Rabbi Nachman 51]

66. Conceptions of G-dliness are only possible to grasp through many constrictions. Therefore a person should search very much for a proper teacher who is able to explain things and make these lofty concepts understandable, for this, a person needs a tremendously great teacher who is able to explain such lofty concepts on a simple level enabling small-minded people to understand. The smaller a person is and the further away from Hashem he is, the greater teacher he must find, just as the sicker a person is the greater the doctor he needs. Much prayer is needed to find a teacher like this, but one must never lose resolve and settle for mediocrity. [Likutay Moharan 30]

67. A Rav must have in him the two powers that there are in the Torah, that is, “a drug of life and a drug of death” (Yoma 72), in order that it will be possible for those who come close to him to receive according to their own will, as in the Torah “the righteous will walk and the wicked will stumble” (Hosea 14). If he yearns for true service of Hashem he can receive from the Rav a straight path to serve Hashem, but if his heart isn’t pure, he can also find in the Rav something impure and be led completely astray. There are those who connect to the Tzaddik and become complete apostates. [Likutay Moharan 31]

68. Every Tzaddik needs to be both; well versed in Torah and full of good deeds, for if he is not learned, our sages say, “an unlearned person cannot be a chassid.” But a person only learned, isn’t anything, for it is possible to be a very educated and studious person and remain completely wicked, for “If he is not worthy it will be a drug of death” (Talmud Yoma 42b). Torah without good deeds is not only insignificant - it is detrimental. [Likutay Moharan 31]

69. Since the evil forces see that the Jewish people are very very close to the end (to the messiah), and there are Jews nowadays who have tremendous yearning and passion for spirituality and G-dliness, such a thing that has never occurred in past generations, so the evil forces insert arguments between the tzaddikim, and they establish in the world many false leaders, and even between true tzaddikim the evil forces cause great arguments, until no one knows where truth can be found. Therefore, a person needs to plead very much from Hashem to merit to recognize and come close to the true Tzaddik. [Likutay Moharan vol. 2, 44]

Rabbi Nachman said of himself:

70. “A chidoosh (novelty) like me never existed in the world.” [Life of Our Leader Rabbi Nachman 247]

71. “I am a river that purifies all stains.” [Life of Our Leader Rabbi Nachman 332]

72. “I am a beautiful and wondrous tree with great awesome branches, but below I am set firmly in the ground.” [Life of Our Leader Rabbi Nachman 245]

73. “How could they not oppose me, for I walk a new path, one that no man has ever walked before, nor any creature since the time the Torah was received. Even though it is a very old path, nevertheless it is completely new.” [Life of Our Leader Rabbi Nachman 392]