Responsibility for the world

HH

Rabbi Yisroel Karduner said on his deathbed that he was atoning for the entire city of Tiberius, and that with his death the plague which was ravaging the city would cease and desist.

The entire city of Tiberius had committed terrible wrongs and atrocities against RYK, they even hired arabs to kill him, and in general they were completely against Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, to the extent that Saba wondered how there can ever be redemption. Yet even still Rabbi YK sought to protect them and looked out for their welfare.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman

Fraudulent Rabbis

HH

First of all that is the way it is. After Rabbi Nachman passed away there was no one who took the role as Rebbe. This was one of the main reasons the opponents based their baseless hatred and hisnagdus on Breslov, saying that one must have a live Rebbe, and they called Breslov - "Toyta chasidim" - "Chasidim of a dead Rebbe" - So the question why it has to be that way is valid, but that it has to be that way is certain, this is what Breslov was about in all the generations, this is why Breslovers were literally hunted down etc. etc. etc. - and the answer to the question can not be to take some half wit or even the smarted capable guy in the world as one's Rebbe - that is not Breslov - that is the antithesis of Breslov. In all the generations of Breslov there were always giants of Torah and Spirit, none of them ever did what the rabbis do today, they shirked away from any honor, power, prestige, anything, e.g. R' Shimshon Barsky a direct descendant of Rabbainu who put together לקוטי עצות and other important Breslov classics, he gave a shiur every midnight, and never ever would associate with those he was helping and teaching and guiding as their rebbe, he was simply like their older brother, he knew more he was more talented and holy so he shared the wealth. Not until recent times, maybe 40-50 years ago, did this disease take hold and begin in Breslov -  Rabbainu had predicted it - it is a documented tradition that Rabbainu said explicitly that even in his matter there would arise fraudulent rabbis - "meforsamim shel sheker", and alas that is exactly what happened - forget about clowns like a**sh and convicted perverts like his rebbe who he still defends etc. - but even in the Nanach there are people that have built up their own rabbanut, where they are called rabbi or rebbe, people kiss their hands, the whole nauseating thing - all the time wearing a Nanach beanie and even singing Nanach and the Petek. This is what Rabbainu foresaw, and there is no refuge from the evil, on the contrary the bigger one is the stronger the evil will rise up with him, as was revealed by Chazal.

Hopefully it is now clear the first premise, that there is absolutely no justification for any figure head rabbis in Breslov, and that Breslov was nearly wiped out completely GF unwilling to deter from this. What remains to explain is only the why it is, and has to be like that, and how to live this way. Even still let it be clear that even though there are no rabbis in breslov - and anyone professing to be such in Breslov is obviously a hypocrite and much worse - there were and are always followers of Rabbainu who were no less in stature than the most leading Rabbis in the outside world - no less holy no less wise, and on the contrary.... - and these followers were always happy to share their blessings with everyone as equals, as explained above, so the truth is that there is no real deficiency, the only thing deficient is the falsehood of hierarchy where one person takes a higher title than the rest.

Now to the crux of the matter. There are a few factors. 

One is what Rabbainu revealed in Likutay Moharan volume 2, Torah 80 that today no one is on the level of being a rabbi for the sake of Heaven. Even still, in that Torah Rabbainu seems to say that if the people insist strongly upon taking a person as their rabbi, then he can acquiesce. And this is what many of today's fraudulent rabbis claim, that they do not promote themselves whatsoever, they do not wish this at all that they should be called rabbi and have people kiss up to them etc., they are forced into this against their will..... Go figure, take one look at them, and if you believe their fantasy then you really need help - but there is much more, that was just to get started.

Rabbainu revealed in Likutay Moharan, volume 2, Torah 18, that even a true tzadik does not necessarily know how to give over Torah to others, and thus by their giving over their Torah to others they can be actual murderers, and adulterers, and thieves, and every evil perpetrator GF R"L every single second - so much so that even real murderers and the aforementioned completely pale against them - because a real murderer can only succeed in achieving his fancy once or a few times GF, but these people with their Torah are perpetrating these evils every second!!!!

The story is told of a Jew who entered a Breslov shteibel in Poland and went over to one of the chasidim and told him that he is a Jew who went of the derech and is mechallel Shabbos and now he wishes to repent - a goldmine! Which rabbi wouldn't get excited, another fish! But in the entire shteibel there was not one person who accepted to take this guy under his wing and be his guide, they all told him the same thing - we have no idea who your soul is, where your "place" is (as it says do not judge your friend until you know his place), how can we possible give you the proper guidance you need. What you need to do is start following the holy advice of Rabbainu, you need to start doing hisbodidus every day, you need to start getting up every night for chatzos etc. - because Rabbainu saw every single soul - from the time of Adam till the coming of the Messiah, and every single rectification for every single soul, and he addressed each one personally in the holy books he bequeathed.

Ultimately the main reason why there can not be any rebbe today, in my humble opinion, is because it is the very antithesis of what Rabbainu wants to achieve with us. When a person has a child, he dictates every single move and decision for that baby, and as the baby grows older he begins to make more decisions for himself, and ultimately he takes on responsibilities until he progressed to be completely independent. No one wants a twenty year old son that needs to be treated like a baby. In this same way Rabbainu wants us to grow up - to take responsibility for ourselves - he demanded that each person does hisbodidus and take responsibility for the whole world (-mischayaiv binafshoa kul hamitzius!  - Likutay Moharan Torah 52, and also see Torah 5), and true life always presents huge challenges that are way above our heads - but the answer is not to run to some rabbi - but to run to HY and do hisbodidus and figure out what to do. Rabbainu himself almost never gave direct orders to people: do this or this, he gave aitzoas - advice, and often he expected and desired people to contend with what he told them. When Rabbi Nussun asked Rabbainu whether or not he should become a rav of a city, something he was very well suited for and needed to provide bread for his family, Rabbainu answered definitely, and Rabbi Nussun knowing deep in his heart that this was against everything he had learned from Rabbainu, mustered up mesiras nefesh to ask Rabbainu if this was really true - Rabbi Nussun was often embarrassed and petrified of even opening his mouth and speaking to Rabbainu, and here he challenged him asking him if he had just lied to him!!!! And Rabbainu said yes, that is the truth. And here Rabbi Nussun mamash put his life on the line, and asked Rabbainu if this is the real truth!!!! And then Rabbainu was happy and told him, if you want the real truth, stay far far away from such a thing.... Rabbainu revealed that if not for Rabbi Nussun we would not have left over from Rabbainu even one page of shaimoas (discarded holy  items), and had Rabbi Nussun taken up the job as a Rabbi, he would have been left with precious little time to record a tiny fraction of what he merited, and he wouldn't have been able to go around from town to town sharing Rabbainu, and he wouldn''t have been able to build up Uman, in short the very redemption of Israel was at stake - and Rabbainu knew this, and decided that if Rabbi Nussun did not have the strength of character and conviction to stand up to him and challenge this directive of becoming a Rabbi, then the redemption simply could not be brought through him - HY is great, He will provide redemption a different way - as Abraham had to decide when HY commanded him to sacrifice the only continuation of HY's promise. And similarly Rabbainu told a great follower once that due to this followers tremendous impediments he was exempt and should not come to Rabbainu for Rosh Hashana, and the follower did not come, and then Rabbainu revealed that that was a travesty. And there are more such anecdotes. The point is that only the real true tzadik can take the role of being a rebbe and guiding people, because it is a very very tricky job, and only the real tzadik is capable of doing it, and even the real true tzadik - even Rabbainu expects from us sometimes to challenge him - and if we don't we disappoint him and miss the boat GF. 

In Likutay Moharan Tora 3, Rabbainu explains the mishna of make for yourself a rabbi - meaning make yourself your own rabbi!!!! So when people challenge the Breslov tradition with this mishna, first of all we have a rabbi, and tzadikim in their passing are all the more alive, and he is our rabbi, and he is the Rebbe of all of Israel, as he revealing in Torah 111 and elsewhere, end of story. And if we must make decisions and so forth, then we must man up, take responsibility, make our own malchus (kingdom) "make yourself the rebbe" - sure we can and must consult with friends as Rabbainu revealed in Torah 34, but he must not go to some rabbi GF - for in doing so he empowers the exile and banishment of Jews from their settlements (Torah 61) - he subordinates his own true freedom and responsibility enslaving himself and thus invoking this submission and exile on all of Israel GF. 

And for this reason Messiah can not come, because the people are just waiting for such a messiah - such a rabbi that will tell them: do this, do this, eat this, take this job, this operation, etc. - they want another rabbi to take away all their own responsibility and growth, to make all their decisions and be their figurehead so that they can be more confident of themselves and their dysfunctional society - where one hand washes the other - the people need someone to make all their tough decisions, and the rabbi needs the honor, money, and power, so he caters to the peoples needs.... and that is exactly what Messiah does not want. Messiah wants to bring us to even higher responsibility -  Rabbainu said that when Messiah comes everyone is going to be doing hisbodidus - real hisbodidus - to take complete charge of their lives. Messiah will give us further direction - but he is not to be another rabbi like those we know of today GF!

Regarding the claim that rabbis are needed in order to explain what Rabbainu wrote – I have already explained fully that this can be done with the help of friends, and no rabbi should ever be consulted for such help. In addition, one should be honest with themselves, that there is plenty of the teachings of Rabbainu that are very very readily understood, and if there are parts that aren't that is how all of learning is for everyone, even the most gifted and learned encounter teachings that they don't understand properly, and Rabbainu already revealed (Words of Rabbi Nachman 76) that a person should not be deterred by the things he doesn't understand when he is learning, he should do his best to understand and move right along as fast as he can, Rabbainu said that when the person will finish the entire book and another, and will then go back and learn them again, he will see that he already understands much of what he had previously given up on. So a person should be strong and resolute to learn directly from the holy books of Rabbainu himself and Rabbi Nussun, who wrote with Ruach Hakodesh (Divine Inspiration) having our very souls in mind, and one should not see the books of contemporary rabbis as books of Breslov, at best maybe maybe (halivaye) they are not injurious and damaging, but they are definitely not to be considered books of Breslov..

Enough said for now.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!

Every person is obligated to say, the whole world was created only for me! (Sanhedrin 37, Likutay Moharan 5)

HH

 When I first set course to promote the truth I had realized, I considered my personal advancement and contribution to society as a bonus to the general efforts on their part. With time I realized that I must recognize my own (and a few close Nanach associates) achievements as the rudimentary base of true direction in the world, and any advancement or contributions of others as a bonus.

This is something tricky to articulate without sounding like a false messiah or a deluded leftist. However the reality is that every person has to come to this realization (perhaps just like Rabbi Nachman says that every person must find the point of Messiah inside himself), and the determining factor and indicator of the reason, veracity, and intent of this realization is delineated by Rabbi Nachman in Likutay Moharan, Torah 5. Simply put, how much is the person working on fixing the world, and praying to G-d for the salvation of the world, and using even his simple idle talk to channel Divine mercy and pardon.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!

Make {for} Yourself A Rabbi

HH
There is no group which propounds the concept of the tzaddik more than Breslov. Rabbainu revealed that everything but everything is completely contingent on the tzaddik. So it is amazing that in the third Torah of Likutay Moharan, Rabbainu brings the famous dictum from Ethics of Our Fathers which commands, "Make for yourself a rabbi." This dictum is often prominently presented as the absolute proof that it is incumbent to have a rabbi, something that should be very welcome to Breslov, who argue that very point, that everyone must take Rabbainu as their Rebbe, so it is amazing that Rabbainu explains this dictum in the exact opposite, saying that the mishna is saying that, "make yourself a rabbi!" I.e. build your own identity, character, and personality (Malchus). This is a beautiful opening into understanding the true role and concept of the rabbi-tzaddik. Society loves rabbis, because they are part and parcel of the corrupt devolvement of humanity. A community hires a rabbi, offering him a salary, power, and prestige, and in return they are absolved of so much unwanted responsibility, now the rabbi will answer forthem all the questions they don't want to answer, whether it is what job to take, or whether or not to undergo surgery, and so forth. So they feed each other to mutual detriment, the rabbi is a sicko living for artificial honor and money, to cultivate a community in a way that they will never mature properly, and never confront themselves.
The real tzaddik is just the opposite, although he is definitely providing amazing support, he is totally not trying to live and decide the lives of others, on the contrary, he will give them even more responsibility. This what we see here in Torah 3, that the true Tzaddik, doesn't pounce on this dictum to assert and promote his hold over the people, but pushes it on the people to force them to get a grip on their lives and build their own reign. [This is similar to the story Rabbainu told of the guy who dreamed of a treasure buried under a far away bridge, upon going there he found out that it was in his own closet. The tzaddik is the bridge, a person has to come to the tzaddik to find his own self].
The messiah that people are always talking about is societies idea of some super grand contemporary rabbi who will tell them exactly what to do, every single question they have in life, when to get up, how much to sleep, what job to take, who to marry, everything he will answer for them and they will have such a wonderful carefree life of post Messianic era.... Even if the real Messiah would make his grand entrance into the world today the majority of the people would have the messiah relegated to this task GF, so how can he come?! Basically they want to remain immature children without any personality or character. Rabbainu says cone to me and I will give you even more problems and responsibility, and I will show you how to be king. The king is in the field, hisbodidus and music and all the advice and teachings of Na Nach that empower a person to rule for himself over his kingdom. This is in itself redemption, the Messiah will just cement the way.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'Uman

Women Contested

HH

The Netziv's (Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of the Volozhin, the first modern Yeshiva) wife was very learned and extremely proficient in Tanach (written Torah). Once she heard a simple uneducated man saying the blessing “that He did not make me a woman” with extreme fervor. She was aghast. What was this man so excited about, she herself knew more than this man knew. She confronted her husband who pacified her by saying that every male makes the blessing in relation to the females that correlate to him. The question is whether this is a true answer or just a placation. For the simple meaning of this prayer is that the male has the full 613 commandments and is the main player in the Supernal image.

In the Yeshiva world the story is told that a Yeshiva Bochur took out a BJJ (Beis Yakov of Yerushalayim) girl out on a date – to the lobby of a hotel (terrible custom of the litvaks), upon seeing the boozing of some of the clientele the boy exclaimed, B”H that He didn't make me a gentile. The girl spoke up and said, that Rebetzin Davis (the infamous head mistress of BJJ) had taught them, that when they make the daily morning blessing, “that He has not made me a gentile”, they should not think of a fall out or an ordinary gentile, but even the president, for it is such a blessing to be Jew. So the Yeshiva boy replied, that when he makes his daily morning blessing, “that He has not made me a woman”, he doesn't simply refer to any woman, but even Rebetzin Davis.

So the question is whether this goes against the above placation the Netziv gave his wife, or maybe Rebetzin Davis really isn't on par even with a Yeshiva Bochur.

All of this should be taken with good humor, I mean no respect to any gentile or woman, certainly not those that are better than I....

According to the Kabbala in the future the woman's status is higher than the man's, the woman will be the true “Woman of Valor” of which the verse (Proverbs) says, “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband”, the crown being higher. The Ramchal explains this quite beautifully but it is difficult for me to bring his words here. If this is the case how can it be that the woman has less commandments, which are seeming indications of higher responsibility?

Today it occurred to me that maybe this is an aspect of what the Ramchal revealed that originally Adam had only one commandment, and when he didn't keep it, there where additional commandments – the 7 mitzvos of the Ben Noach, and when Noach took drugs and all in all did not bring the desired rectification to the world, Hashem indoctrinated the requirement of the 613 mitzvos. Rabbi Nachman also points out that it was only due to transgressions that there was a proliferation of instructions (See Tractate Nedarim 22b, The Life Of Rabbi Nachman item #202 - His trip to Israel item #18).

From here it is possible to say, that in the end of time when all the sins and shortcomings of man will be rectified, the woman's fewer obligations will no longer be a sign of less responsibility, but a sign of superior connection to HY.

Keep in mind that Rabbi Nachman revealed that prayer – which is the aspect of the female – is much more important than learning Torah – the aspect of the male. Rabbi Nachman was ushering in the future time.

Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!

Secrets of the Torah

HH

Secrets of the Torah

Some people consider the Zohar and the works of the Arizal to be “nistar” (hidden) – the “secrets of the Torah”. However this is a big mistake. The Yosher Divrey Emess (“Straight Words of Truth” an extremely powerful little book composed of two long letters. Recently I found out that I am actually a descendant of this great person. My brother-in-law who is a big Rosh Yeshiva has a great aversion to this amazing book, because he has witnessed some of his best students become broken from it. What a blessing these boys were saved from living lives of mediocrity and tasting in their hearts and souls the utter necessity for true existence. Yes, if it can't break you it can't make you.) contends that this is ridiculous. How can books that are readily available to the public be considered secrets?! Who has a secret that he divulges to anyone interested? The Yosher Divrey Emess asserts that those scholars who have mastered the TaNaCh (Torah and Prophets – Written Torah), the Talmuds, and Medrash, and purport to being complete scholars of the revealed Torah, just deficient in the Concealed Torah, waiting for when they are worthy, these people are completely deluded living in hypocrisy. A person who has not mastered the entire Zohar, works of the Arizal, and other such works can not pretend to be a scholar what so ever. These are books readily available and readily understandible for anyone who sets out to study them and know them. So what then is the Concealed Torah?

Rabbi Nachman says that the secrets of the Torah are such that even when they are spoken and revealed they remain secret. Sometimes they can be grasped by a person only in passing, and later a person will not merit to fathom that which was in his grasp.

The Baal HaSulam explains with a parable, if you see two people whispering, it won't really interest you, but if you hear them whispering your name – that they are whispering about you, then you will be completely intrigued and extremely curious to know what they are saying. When a person studies the Torah and hears his name being whispered – he senses how the Torah he is studying is directly speaking to him personally, he is in essence learning the secrets of the Torah.

[This is where chabad lubavitch philosophy went off. The original holy leaders felt that if they would exhaustively explain and describe their personal attainments, they could somehow jump start their followers to taste their experience. However the true tzaddikim of the generations did not feel that this approach was truthful. Consider explaining to someone how pizza tastes by offering them a ten volume treatise on its ingredients and similarities to other food etc.. Or consider explaining to someone the thrill of a rollercoaster.... The secrets of the Torah are very much levels of personality in the Supernal Man, how can one relate responsibility by skirting it - spoonfeeding someone who should be called to duty?!]

The main secret is: Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!