Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Nachman of Breslov, aka Reb Nachman Breslover or Bratslav, Nachman from Uman NULL

Ukrainian Rabbi, Chasidic Leader, Great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, Founder of the Breslov Hasidic Movement

"Be totally honest when you speak to God. Accustom yourself to talking so honestly that your heart is aroused and the words start pouring forth with fire and passion."

"Be very careful to feel only joy on Shabbat. There is nothing to compare with the greatness and holiness of Shabbat. The key to honoring the Shabbat is joy. Don't show even a hint of depression or anxiety on Shabbat."

"Be very careful to get into the habit of spending time every day on your personal prayers and meditation. Fix a regular time for this and then be happy for the rest of the day!"

"Be very careful to safeguard your money and take good care of your possessions. It is ridiculous to be the unlucky type who loses his money through laziness and irresponsibility."

"Be very eager to serve God. Do as much as you can every day and every moment. The main thing is practical action. Study as much as you can. Carry out many mitzvot. Spend a lot of time praying and pouring out your heart to God. Do as much as you possibly can."

"Be very particular about your clothes. Never treat them carelessly and make sure they are not stained or dirty. A person's clothes become his judges if he does not show them the respect they deserve. The greater the individual, the better care he should take of his clothes, because the higher one's level the more scrupulously he is judged."

"Bear witness to my words. When my days are over and I leave this world, I will still intercede for anyone who comes to my grave, says these Ten Psalms and gives a penny to charity. No matter how great his sins, I will do everything in my power, spanning the length and breadth of creation , to save him and cleanse him."

"Before a person returns to God, he has no being. It is as if he has not yet been created, because it would have been better for him not to have been created at all. But when he purifies himself in order to return to God, he puts himself in order and prepares to become a being. This element of preparation for becoming - coming into being, as it were - explains why the Divine Name associated with repentance is Ehyeh , "I shall be"."

"Before your death is your entire life. During your entire lifetime, you may be worthy of only one day of repentance."

"Behold! Precious is the sigh (called ?krechtz?) from a Jewish person"

"Being gloomy and depressed is like being angry with God for not satisfying one's desires. But someone with a broken heart is like a small child pleading with his father or crying out and complaining to him for being distant."

"Believe in God with pure, simple faith without trying to understand things philosophically. Most ordinary people may appear to be far from philosophy yet almost everyone is sunk in it to some degree. Even young children often have confusing theories."

"Believe in something."

"But at times you may see that, despite all your efforts and determination, you simply cannot achieve what you want. Sometimes you must simply wait. Don't be discouraged because you are not achieving what you want. Don't let this push you off course. You must wait a little until the time is ripe."

"But be cautious when thinking about these things: you must stay within certain limits and not delve to excess, because otherwise it is possible to stray beyond the bounds of holiness. Flying off into speculation can be dangerous. Stay within the limits of human understanding and steadily expand your horizons without trying to step beyond your level, because "you may not investigate that which is too wondrous for you"."

"But finding your good points can give you new life. Even if you know you have done wrong and caused damage and that you are far from God, you must search until you find the good that is still inside you. This will give you new life and make you truly happy. You are certainly entitled to feel the greatest joy over every good point you find in yourself, because each good point comes from the holy soul within you. The new life and joy you will gain from this path will enable you to pray, sing and give thanks to God."

"But from where does one receive the life spirit? Know that we receive the essential life spirit from the Tzaddik and leader of the generation. This is because the main life spirit is in the Torah, for "the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2) and the "waters" are the Torah. Since the Tzaddkim are attached to the Torah, therefore the main life spirit is with them."

"But God has separated us from the nations and exalted us above all languages. We are therefore obliged to distance ourselves from all the different kinds of evil found among them. More than anything we must guard ourselves against immoral lust, which is the sum of all evil. Separating ourselves from this is the foundation of the holiness of Israel. For man has the power to uproot this impulse completely from within himself, and herein lies our sanctity."

"But he has much too much truth. For the fact is that there is only one truth: to pray truthfully to God and God alone. But this person has multiple truths. He uses many different truths to cover the underlying falsehood. This is all because he depends on others, and this is why he is filled with false motives. He produces a truth to persuade himself that his intention is really this or that... Yet in reality there is only one truth."

"But if when his friend asks how he is, he answers brightly, "Good, thank God!" even though things really are not so good, God says: "This you call good? I'll show you what good is!""

"But if you are careful not to speak against or find a flaw in any other Jew, the Torah will have no flaw or blemish. You will then be filled with great love of the Torah. Your love will be so great that you will want to study the Torah constantly."

"But in actual fact we are quite unable to understand what is "nature" and what is "providence", because the truth is that even the laws of nature are really God's providence. However, the human mind is unable to grasp the paradox that what appears to be the law of nature is really God's providence."

"But it is easy to remove the coin from before your eyes - and as soon as you do so you will see the mountain, which is so much larger. Similarly, with a simple movement you can remove this world from before your eyes. You will then be able to see the great light of the Torah and the Tzaddikim, which radiates in all the worlds."

"But know that certain outstanding Tzaddikim who are in the category of Moses have been obliged to investigate these philosophies in order to extricate and elevate the fallen souls that have become sunk in them. Through their great sanctity these Tzaddikim had the power to release these trapped souls."

"But know that in spite of this, even the "filthy places" and even idolatrous temples necessarily derive their life-force from God. But know that they receive it from the Hidden Utterance of Bereishit , "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1) . This utterance includes all the others, and all of them derive their vitality from it. The glory of the Hidden Utterance is concealed to the ultimate degree. It is from there that they derive their life-force. For it is impossible for the "filthy places" to receive their vitality from the revealed utterances, because "I will not give My glory to another". Only from the Hidden Utterance, which is concealed to the ultimate degree, can they receive vitality. It is impossible to understand this with human reason, and we are not permitted to delve into it."

"But know that sometimes a person journeys so far along those corrupt and devious paths that his very wandering brings him close to his original place and it only needs an easy test to bring him back to his starting point . But when God calls him and arranges the test, the person does not recognize the voice and feels no need to return. That is the difference between young and old people. One who is still young and has not grown old in his sins can return more easily, because he is still closer and has not forgotten the voice that calls."

"But once the sheep strays far from the path, it forgets the shepherd's voice and no longer recognizes his call. The shepherd also gives up searching because the sheep has been lost for such a long time . Similarly, when a person has been going in the wrong direction for a long time , having strayed far from the true path into all those corrupt, devious and confusing pathways, it is hard for him to repent."

"But one who has a clear, settled mind can understand that everything is madness and vanity."

"But the truth has to be the complete truth: clean, clear and without blemish."

"But the truth is that all their questions are nothing. They are mere vanity and striving after the wind. It is best to avoid such works completely."

"But the truth is the opposite of what people say. God now runs the world better than ever!"

"But the wise man says, "What do I care? I get paid for each day of work. Even if the barrels leak, my wages won't be reduced!" Similarly, even if you forget what you learn, your reward will not be reduced."

"But there is a philosopher in man's heart. This is the Evil One, who puts doubts and questions into the heart. We must overcome this philosopher and drive him out, strengthening ourselves in faith alone."

"But those who practice Hitbodedut will be like a person who wakes up from a restful sleep with a calm, settled mind. This is how we will be when Mashiach comes: our minds will be calm and settled, without panic or confusion."

"But through reciting Psalms, even one who feels no arousal can be inspired to repent. The Psalms can take him to his unique gate and open it up, thereby bringing him to Teshuvah."

"But truthfully, even in all the concealments, even in the concealment within a concealment, certainly even there Hashem is enclothed. For certainly there is absolutely nothing that doesn?t contain in it the life-force of Hashem, for without His life-force it would not have any existence at all. Therefore, certainly, in all things, all deeds, and all thoughts, Hashem is, so to speak, enclothed within. Even if, G-d forbid, a person sins and does something against the will of Hashem, nevertheless, there is certainly the life-force of Hashem within that thing, only it is greatly concealed and constricted."

"But when a person flees from honor, minimizing his own honor and maximizing the glory of God, he attains the glory of God. No-one then investigates to see if he deserves it, for "The glory of God is to hide the matter" - it is forbidden to question his honor."

"But when the shochtim are worthy, the soul is elevated and the grossness of the body is humbled and subdued. The body is the seat of animality, folly, darkness and death, forgetfulness, harsh justice and alien wisdom. In their place, soul and form are elevated. These are the roots of all that is truly noble in man - understanding, light, life, memory, loving kindness and Torah wisdom. Through them the world is blessed with abundance and prosperity."

"But when there is no peace in the world, and worse still, when there is strife, men are not open with one another and never discuss the true purpose of life. Even when someone does discuss it, his words do not penetrate the hearts of others, because they have no interest in discovering the truth but only in winning the argument. They are aggressive and full of hatred and envy. When a person wants to win an argument, his ears are not open to the truth. The main reason most people are so far from God is that divisiveness and strife are so widespread today through our many sins."

"But why do you need to confuse yourself? Whatever you do, you do! As long as you don't do anything bad, heaven forbid."

"But you must guard yourself carefully to ensure that you have the strength to stand firm in this dominion and not let the ministering angels cast you down out of jealousy. The way to stand firm is by binding yourself to the souls of Israel . This is accomplished by bind ing yourself to the true leaders of Israel , the Tzaddikim."

"By discussing spiritual matters regularly with your friends you will all be able to benefit from each other's good points. This will enable you to break the "foreskin of the heart" - the lusts and desires that break a person's heart - so that you are filled with holy desire for God."

"By following this path you will complete many volumes and have a better comprehension than one who is overly precise. Such a person can become very confused and may even come to abandon his studies completely, ending up with nothing."

"By studying rapidly you will absorb a great quantity and you will be able to review each work many times. What you did not understand at first you will grasp the second or third time round , and eventually you will understand everything that it is possible to understand."

"Care for your physical body in order to give the body a share of the spiritual light attained by the soul."

"Certain popular leaders lack genuine credentials but sometimes imagine they have the power to work miracles. People come to them asking for children, and if later they are granted children, these leaders take all the credit."

"Charity given for the land of Israel is greater than charity for causes elsewhere. When you give charity for the land of Israel you become included in the air of the land of Israel , which is "holy breath without the taint of sin" ( Shabbat 119b) . Through this breath the forces of severity and darkness are banished from the world. One can also thereby escape alien thoughts and distractions during prayer, and one's mind and thoughts become clear and refined. This is the repair of the holy Covenant."

"Charity given for the needy in Israel is greater than charity for causes outside the land. When you give charity for the land of Israel you are included in the air of the land of Israel , which is holy breath without the taint of sin."

"Charity is the remedy for all wounds."

"Charity saves from sin."