...{He} met in.. met a certain man, who is close, a relative of mine And he asked this man, he asked him: “Show me where to buy bread” He came, Rebbe Yisroel came on Thursday, and we, and we, my family, my parents The mother and the father, began baking bread for sale on Sunday [..] And on Thursday he came, and when he met our relative, then he brought him to us.. […] To the house to buy bread, and we had two loaves of bread left, {……} In the house, in my parents’ house there were more, more brothers, more brothers There were younger, younger than I, and there were also older, older than I Nu, and Hashem Yisborach brought it about that I, I brought out the loaf of bread to this man And immediately when I saw him, then, then I was very startled by his appearance and by his speech {...} I saw, I had never yet seen such a person The holiness, the grace of holiness was upon his face and upon every word of his I was very amazed, I was very moved, and I thought: “Perhaps.., I pray to Hashem Yisborach that He bring me, perhaps this, perhaps this, this man—I will have some good from him Perhaps I will have a salvation from him?” So, so I thought, but how is it possible for me to have a connection with him, after all he— I thought that he was one of the hidden tzaddikim, one of the thirty-six tzaddikim, a hidden tzaddik A hidden tzaddik can make kefitzas haderech, tomorrow to travel to Yerushalayim But I will have nothing from him, I do not know where he is from, and where, and where he wants to go How will I have a connection with him? As I am thinking this, and he held his hand in his pocket to take out money {for me} Then he said to me: “Perhaps I can eat the bread in your house?”

Well, I felt that he knew what I was thinking [Reads the thoughts] I am thinking, how, how will I have a connection with him? And he is the salvation I will find in this man what, what, everything I need, but how will I have a connection? Then he asked me: “Perhaps I can eat the bread at your home?” Nu, he paid money, and our home, my parents were poor, terribly poor, and.. And my father was blind, sightless, sightless Nu, and the house was like the cave of Rebbe Shimon, the cave, like a cave, like a cave There is, there is no place where to sit, and we, it was, we were in the midst of the meal, and to bentch And to recite Krias Shema and lie down, and sleep, because one needs to get up to make challah and bread Nu, so I thought, Father will certainly not agree And I myself, I cannot bring in a guest without Father’s permission And I was ashamed to ask Father whether, whether, whether this man could eat the bread in the house, in our house? He will say to me: “What are you thi.. what? What are you saying? Is there a place where? We already need to recite Krias Shema and lie down, and sleep, and.. and how is he?” {Yes} So, so I strengthened myself greatly and said: “Whatever will be will be, even if Father strikes me and humiliates me, I will ask him” So I asked: “Father, take the money of… ...this man is asking, he wants to eat the bread at our home” Then he said to me: “Yes, yes, yes,” on the contrary, we had some, some portion left on, on {kerosene} And it was a little cooked dish of lentils and rice, there was a little cooked dish So when my father said to me, “Yes,” I saw that it was a salvation for me

He asked me, I thought, and he asked me, and I asked Father And I saw the Divine providence, that it was from every side, like with you in the match It is Divine providence, supreme Divine providence and great kindness So he, he washed his hands and bentched, and they recited Krias Shema Krias Shema and slept on, on the floor, with the children, like, like birds And he sat beside the door on, on the step, on the step, there were steps from the courtyard going down, yes He sat on some step, but I merited to hear from him the blessing “al netilas yadayim” and “hamotzi”; then I saw that this was a great kindness, that this was a holy tzaddik, because his speech was holy, it was like hisbodedus, the way he spoke, as I am now speaking with you, that is how he would speak to Hashem Yisborach as though there is no, no house, no people, none, like that with Hashem Yisborach And I saw a wonder, a wonder So I gave him the portion of the cooked dish, then he said to me: “I do not eat—only bread and tea, and tea without sugar in the tea” But we did not have kerosene, we did not have a machine, a kerosene machine, we did not have one, only, only coals One needs to know how, how to make a fire, coals [How to make a fire, how to prepare tea] Yes, one needs to, {one needs to}.. So it took time, until I merited to make tea, and they had already gone to sleep inside the house And I could not restrain myself, so in the middle of the work, when I made, when I made the fire I went in to him, and I said to him in a whisper, so they would not hear, I said to him in a whisper: “You know, you came to Teveria for me, because I am in a very difficult situation The evil inclination is overpowering me and.. so I, I am certain that Hashem Yisborach sent you to Teveria”

I did not know him and did not know “And you came to Teveria for me, and therefore I ask, do not abandon me” I said to him in a whisper: “Do not abandon me” And I saw that he was moved so much He, he insisted t.. about leaving for Teveria from Meron, did not want to, and he had doubts, and there was.. Now he saw that this had been from the outset from Hashem Yisborach, that he should go out to Teveria And from the night, from that night, we merited to become bound in such a bond, that it was an awesome novelty And immediately a great uproar arose in Teveria I—my name is Yisroel Ber, Yisroel Ber, so an uproar arose in Teveria: “Oy vey, great pity, Yisroel Ber became a Breslover” [They opposed, they all opposed] Yes, everyone Nu, and Father and Mother heard about it, they were not so upset But the gabbai of the yeshivah and other prominent people, scholars, Chassidim, who have a name and renown, came to them and said to Father: “Do you know that Yisroel Ber became a Breslover?” Then he said to them: “The son, you know that my son is God-fearing, he fulfills honoring his father If I give, if I send him into the fire, then he will go into the fire There is nothing, he fulfills honoring his father, unique in the world So I am not worried, he will come from the yeshivah..” I, I, I was in the yeshivah, with Rebbe Yisroel we studied together, a reputation went out about me that I had become a Breslover So I came from the yeshivah on Thursday, I came from the yeshivah, then Father said to me: “Know, my son, that the prominent men and the yeshivah were by me, and they told me that you became a Breslover I ask you not to cause me pain, I give you permission, you are a Karliner, I am a Karliner I give you permission, if, if, if you want to be Ger, or, or Lubavitch

Or whatever kind of Chassidus you want, you may be, I have only one request: not to be a Breslover” Yes [This is what Father said: “Not to be a Breslover at all”] Yes, “Only not a Breslover, no, no, whatever Chassidus you want, you, you can You can do whatever you want, only not, not, without being a Breslover” So this was the first time that I transgressed honoring my father, and I said to him: “Father, I will listen to you in everything, only not this thing, I cannot listen to you” {“Why did you become?”} Then he saw, what is this? It is very terrible, he, he, he fulfills all, all the days of his life All, all the days, honoring his father with self-sacrifice, and now he.. what, what, what Nu, I went with Rebbe Yisroel, for he told me that he wanted to be in the synag.. in some synagogue And he needed to say Chatzos and put on tefillin and pray and do hisbodedus So I went from synagogue to synagogue, and they were all closed, and we had no place Then, then it occurred to me that there is a synagogue of the holy tzaddikim who were, were a hundred years ago Disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, they were holy tzaddikim Rebbe Avrohom, Rebbe Avrohom Kalisker, and Rabbainu Rebbe Nachman’s grandfather, Rebbe Nachman Horodenker, Rebbe Nachman The holy Rabbainu is named after, after him, after his grandfather, yes, and he.. holy tzaddikim They prayed in this synagogue And they built the synagogue, and endeavored that it be in a place close, that it be very close to the sea, in order to immerse and pray {After …. to immerse} But in winter, when it was difficult, the water would, would raise itself upward, there was much water, and the sea would Would raise itself, and the sea entered into the synagogue, like this, up to, up to the eyes

Then they could not, they could not pray, so they left it for several, for a month, two months, They left everything, all the tables and.. yes And this synagogue was open, what was there? {.. …}, they took the books and everything, only the tables So we entered this synagogue in the sea, and we sat the entire night, and he studied a Torah from “Likutay Moharan” with me And there was an incident, my mother worried about me, because she saw that I was not there For it was already, already {near}, near daylight, and I was not there, so she thought: “Who knows, who knows? Who knows?” She knew that there had been, some, some person had come who bought bread, and he ate But where, where was the man, and where was Yisroel Ber? She went from synagogue to synagogue to search for me with great weeping, he {and did not find me} They were closed, so she wept very much, and her voice was heard throughout the city; Teveria was a small city And everyone came: “What, what is it? What are these sounds?” They thought, God forbid, that there was some deceased person, that someone had died; they, they came in the morning and asked: “What was the weeping? What were the cries?” She told them: “Some person came, came, and bought bread and ate by us, and such and such, and he went with him, and is not, not at home,” then, then everyone knew.. Rebbe Yisroel went to pray in the synagogue, so they all know him Only I, because I did not, did not leave Teveria, because I did not have money to travel to Meron, no In any event, from this night, Boruch Hashem, until today, I am doing for you, I am telling you briefly Because I do not have the strength to speak.. [Yes] Words {many}, but, but the main thing is how Hashem Yisborach arranged causes, how I merited

How I merited to know of Rabbainu First of all I did not know, I did not know of Rabbainu, I did not know the name Breslov {And arranged} that it became known to me that there are Breslov books, which it is forbidden to read And Boruch Hashem I am holding on, I held on, I defeated them all, and I laughed at them They laughed at me, but I laughed at them Oy… ...brought Rebbe Yisroel, He took him out of Meron by force, and brought him to Teveria and brought him from the donkey straight to my house, yes, and a creation of the world was made, from nothing and zero… ...{did} such a thing, that I was a poor child, and I was downtrodden, very downtrodden And also I did not have, I was not talented, I did not have such a mind to study and this [Simple] {}… ...In Tzfas there lived one old man, a great elder, they call him, they called him by the name Rav Alfandari He was a great man and famous throughout the world, do you know {wh\o} this is? [No, I have not heard of him] You have not heard of him? How is that? Nu, you are a young man, and I am old, I And I heard of this rav in Teveria, that he was a great gaon and a great sage, and greatly God-fearing He was very forceful against the rabbis that they, that he, that he understood were not, not proper So he paid no heed to the fact that they were rabbis, he said the truth He lives, lived in Tzfas, and he was every, arose every night at midnight And weeps before Hashem Yisborach over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, {{….}} He was a gaon, but he was greatly God-fearing, and he would arise every night at midnight And wept before Hashem Yisborach very much, with tears I was not in Tzfas, but I heard, I heard of him And in winter he came to Teveria in order to take the baths at “Chamei Teveria”

So the Sephardim, they all knew that he was a great man, so they gave him a room by them, by the Sephardim at Rabbi Meir Baal Haness, and gave him a room And I heard that Rav Alfandari was by the Sephardim, by the Sephardim So I went to him; this was already after I had become a Breslover, after the passing of Rebbe Yisroel After he passed away, Rebbe Yisroel And I entered by him and asked him: “I want to merit to serve him” And he saw that he, that this was wholehearted, this, he understood, so he gave me permission to serve him I took off his shoes, and arranged his bed, and brought him tea, what service Several days passed, and once I prayed by the Sephardim, and I prayed as As I had seen prayer by Rebbe Yisroel, and I also said “Likutay Tefillos” And Tehillim with tears, with arousal, with fervor, and he heard in his room So when I finished the prayer, and came to serve him, and I asked him: “What does he need, what does he want, tea? Whatever thing he needs” Then he said to me: “I do not need anything, I want, I do not want you to serve me” He did not know that I was a Breslover, that I, only he heard the sound of the prayer, so he said to me: “I do not want you to serve me”… ...I was twenty-two years old, twenty-three years old, and he was an old man and such a gaon {And I do not know}, how such a gaon, no, and I was simple, I was a simple young married man and.. There was a bond between us, and I saw that he spoke with me about several matters, about several matters {And.. and.. I accorded} with his opinion Yes And he had some matters about which he needed to consult with, with some person, and he consulted me and I told him the truth, so he, he, he, he understood that I was a man of truth, and tells the truth

And there was a connection between us, and he asked me: "How is the livelihood?" So I said to him: "I am a yeshiva student, I learn in a yeshiva" "And how is the livelihood? Do you have a livelihood? Do you have", he took an interest.. and asked me, so I told him: "I learned in a yeshiva, and after I became a Breslover Chassid, they, they did not want to keep me in the yeshiva as a Breslover, perhaps he will make others, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, they did not want to But nevertheless they could not push me away, I have been learning there for a long time, since my bar mitzvah So they gave me less than all, all, all, all the yeshiva students; I received less than they did" Nu, so I told him that my life was like this, in great hardship And I told him that they give me less than the others because I am among the Breslover Chassidim And he heard this Several days later the rabbis of the Ashkenazim came to visit him, and they wanted to take him to visit their yeshiva, the yeshiva by Rebbe Meir Baal HaNess, of the Ashkenazim And they came to him; there was the rabbi, the rabbi and the yeshiva's gabbai, and another, another person; there were three And they came to him, as, with honor {and admiration}, and spoke with him, and he said to them: "Why do you give this man less, less? He has no livelihood" So they, they said to him: "He is a precious man, he, he, he is a person who serves Hashem, but he always learns Tehillim, prayers And this is not a yeshiva student; a yeshiva student is only a scholar, but he does not, does not, does not keep the yeshiva's schedule He goes among mountains and.. he is a worthy man, but not a yeshiva student What we give him is only, only, only out of kindness, because we have mercy on him" {...} Nu, so he, so he became angry with them and said to them:

"That his Tehillim are more important to Hashem, blessed be He, than your scholar, than your scholars" Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy… ...all the time, and I went down to him every, every day But I did not merit to attend to him, because he did not want it under any circumstances And he, and I saw that he, when I told him that I was among the Breslover Chassidim, that I.. I told him what I suffer, what, yes So he said to me: "A Breslover Chassid, this, this, this is a very precious thing, it is a very important thing" Yes, that is how he Nu… ...{who accorded} honor to the rabbi, to the rabbi who came to him, {he did not have}.. Nu, in the end they, because he, he spoke to them about it, so they, they gave me an addition of half a lira per month After, after he spoke with them Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy… ...a great man, famous throughout the world, a holy genius and.. Rav Alfandari, ask all the Sephardim, who has not, who has not heard? Who does not know? You are young and did not, and this is not.. perhaps he already passed away before you were born But to this day his name is very great, Rav Alfandari Take an interest and ask among the Sephardim about Rav Alfandari, about the.. He authored many books, and he was a famous man in Eretz Yisroel and throughout the world…