CHASSIDUS for NON-CHASSIDIM THE POWERFUL TEACHINGS OF REB NACHMAN An antidote to the confusion of our times can be found in teachings two centuries old. By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum n the Soviet gravesite of the legendary Rebbe from as far away as Argentina and Union of twenty Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810) in a South Africa as well as Jerusalem, Bnei years ago, praying at totally undistinguished private back- Brak, Williamsburg, Borough Park, Rebbe Nachman’s grave yard. Flatbush, Monsey, Los Angeles, carried Ithe risk of landing you in jail. This Chassidic luminary, great- Toronto, Montreal. They included This just added further irony to my grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, rabbis and Torah scholars, accoun- first visit there in 1979, a Cambridge- known in his lifetime as a masterful tants, lawyers, doctors, university pro- educated, former atheist-libertine, baal story-teller and source of inspiration, fessors, scientists and technicians; teshuvah looking for the spiritual wisdom and comfort, promised before Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Yemenites, world of my forefathers. his death that if even the worst sinner black-hatted Chassidim, and wearers of Was that me with the bushy new would come to his grave and there knitted kippot. beard in the Moscow airport, pleading recite 10 Psalms and give a penny to What is the secret of the magnetic with a fat customs’ officer not to con- charity, he would span the length and pull over exponentially-growing num- fiscate half my kosher food for our breadth of the universe to save him bers of Jews by a Chassidic Master week’s foray behind the Iron Curtain? from Hell. Reb Nachman’s unique who passed from this world 190 years My traveling companion and I had promise seemed to justify the risks. ago, leaving behind little more than a secret plans to take a ride from Kiev The next time I went to Uman was few followers and an assorted legacy of through the Ukrainian hinterland to in broad daylight nine years later. By stories, parables and Torah teachings? the drab town of Uman, where lay the then the Soviet Union was breaking Today, it is primarily through his down. I was with a group of 200 teachings that we can have any con- London-born, Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum is a Chassidim going to celebrate the first nection with Reb Nachman. For me Cambridge classics/social sciences graduate and officially-tolerated public Breslover personally, the key to the power of served as a BBC radio commentator and produc- Rosh Hashanah gathering since the those teachings that thoroughly trans- er. He has published over twenty books including translations of Rebbe Nachman, “Under the Table days of Stalin. It was held on the very formed my life and world view lies in and How to Get Up,” a handbook of Jewish path- site where the Nazis had rounded up their enabling me to connect with my ways of spiritual growth, and “The Wings of the Uman’s 20,000 Jews for deportation. own long-lost heart, and to discover Sun,” a major study of the Jewish healing tradi- Another irony. the heart in Judaism. To enable some- tion. Rabbi Greenbaum lives in Jerusalem with A thousand people came for Rosh one as jaded and over-intellectual as I his wife and children and is director of the Hashanah of 1989. Each year the once was to experience joy in prayer Azamra Institute, an independent non-profit organization devoted to communicating Jewish numbers increased until in 1998 there and song and feel a genuine sense of spiritual teachings. were nearly 10,000. They flew in personal connection with God is no JEWISH ACTION Fall 5760/1999 mean achievement. In the recesses of tate in thought, but the most important commitments, it is vital that we learn our hearts may lurk the strangest thing is to express your thoughts in to stop relentless activity.We must set thoughts and nagging doubts, dark- speech. regular times to sit quietly in order to ness, depression and despair. Reb I used to associate speaking to God think seriously about where our lives Nachman knew all this. With unfal- with my elderly grandmother and are going and what we need to do. tering grace this master psychologist – “Fiddler on the Roof.” But I have We must make it a habit to ask God a true doctor of the soul — shows come to understand that this is the in our own words to help us accom- each one the way out of his or her suf- single most vital spiritual practice plish the goals that give meaning and ferings to find comfort and consola- needed by all of us in the sick civiliza- purpose to our brief stay in this world. tion. tion of our times. Indeed doctors and The most famous of all Reb Many of Reb Nachman’s unapolo- psychologists increasingly admit that Nac h m a n ’s sayings — “It’s a grea t getic pronouncements used to bother meditation and spirituality are the mi t z va h to be happy always”— is sure- me greatly when I first read them, ly a challenge to a civilization in yet I could not get them out of my which depression is the number one mind. One example: The only time complaint people bring to their doc- a person can think clearly is when he tors. So often there seems to be is dead. When he is lying on the eve r ything in the world to be ground with his feet to the door he de p r essed about — making a living, will finally see the truth. Lying there health problems, personal disap- dead he will realize that he wasted his pointments and frustrations, difficu l t days in vain. He will know that his relationships. The problems are most overwhelming desires were mere compounded by the fact that our foolishness and silliness. For who real- materialistic culture sets prec o n d i - ly forced him? tions for happiness that the majority Reb Nachman’s sparkling tales and can never fulfill, such as having good dazzling spiritual teachings were looks and plenty of money. Th o s e such “nectar for my soul” that I felt who lack them (or think they do) are compelled to make sense of the vari- left disappointed and frus t r a t e d . ous other statements he made that Photos of stars and celebrities flew directly in the face of the ratio- in v ariably show them smiling and nalist, science-based world-view with se l f - c o n fi dent, as if to say worldly which most of us grew up. happiness is for real. Reb Nac h m a n Again and again Reb Nachman taught otherwise: “Whether you are stresses the crucial importance of rich or poor, your life will be fill e d making it a regular practice to speak with struggle and suffering. The fact Rabbi Yaakov Meir Shechter, leader of the directly to God. But so often my is that man’s lot is suffering and Breslov Chassidim in Israel today. experience of synagogue services was pain.” Grim? Sur ely it’s better to be as dry, meaningless rituals, having no only genuine cures for anxiety, hyper- fo r ewarned: disappointment is less relevance to modern life and needs. tension, heart disease, substance abuse, when hard times strike. Rev erses and Speaking directly to God was some- dependencies and many other ills. obstacles can be accepted with equa- thing that my college friends and I Reb Nachman’s great emphasis on nimity as part of the necessary suffer- passionately may have wanted to do, simplicity — saying your prayers with ing of this world. yet somehow we could just never take simple faith and trust, snatching each Reb Nachman taught that the only the leap. opportunity to practice charity and way to find genuine happiness is by Reb Nachman doesn’t brook excu s e s , kindness, keeping yourself happy with learning to take delight not in material encouraging you to pray unabashedly: cheerful songs and tunes — is a neces- pleasures, most of which are in any You must pour out your thoughts and sary antidote to our super-sophisticat- case imaginary, but in the only things troubles to God like a child complaining ed culture. We have internet, mobile that endure forever: Torah, mitzvot and pestering his father.You must pray phones, jet travel and ever y other con- and good deeds. For him, each little for everything. If your garment is torn venience, but we do not have mental prayer, each act of kindness and chari- and must be replaced, pray to God for a clarity or peace of mind. Nor can they ty and every other good deed is a new one. Make it a habit to pray for all be attained with psychiatric drugs or “good point” or “good (musical) note.” your needs, large or small, and especially herbal compounds. Our task in this world is to seek out for fundamentals, that God help you Precisely because we are all up to these good points or notes and gather attach yourself to Him. You can medi- our ears in work and other tasks and them together one by one. This way JEWISH ACTION Fall 5760/1999 we create a melody. Each person has point! Later on the wise man gave his or her unique good points and him pants to put on. Another good The Story Behind unique song. This is the music of life point! Afterwards he gave him regular “Na-Nachman” that banishes depression and negativity, food instead of crumbs and bones.